RoboHelp 2019 – Update 2 (October 2018)
This blog post was co-authored with Amitoj Singh, Product Manager for Adobe Technical Communication tools at Adobe.
Please continue to send us your feedback. We’re listening and will continue to improve Adobe RoboHelp as we go along at a fast pace.
The detailed release notes are available here.
In this post:
What’s new and better
Support for Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS)
You can now use Microsoft Team Foundation Server (TFS) version 2018 for version control from RoboHelp 2019. You can check in, check out, view differences between versions, resolve merge conflicts, and sync files using TFS. Just set up a TFS connection profile in Collaborate → Connection Profiles. You can even create multiple TFS profiles.
For more information, see the Adobe RoboHelp 2019 online help: Collaborate using Team Foundation Server.
Support for Map Files
If you want to create a context-sensitive help file to give the users of your software an easy way to access the right help topic, RoboHelp 2019 with Update 2 makes this super easy for you now.
With Update 2, you can now map topics or bookmarks to unique map IDs with an easy to use map editor. In the Output tab, click on Map Files. Easily add the map id & map number for a topic. Drag-and-drop new topics using the easy-to-use interface. You can also import map files, edit and create mappings with unassigned topics, and see the list of topics with bookmarks during mapping. Also, you can export mappings in a .h file, and publish mappings in WebHelp, Responsive HTML5, and Microsoft HTML Help output types.
For more information, see the Adobe RoboHelp 2019 online help: Work with context-sensitive help.
Support for Multi-level Lists
We have added three templates to make creating for multi-level lists (also known as “nested lists”) super easy. And of course, you can fully customize multi-level lists using RoboHelp’s built-in CSS editor. We have also improved the import of multi-level lists from older RoboHelp Classic versions.
For more information, see the Adobe RoboHelp 2019 online help: Work with lists.
Support for Auto-numbering
We have added a new option to define auto-numbering four your paragraph styles. You can now apply auto-numbering to any paragraph and heading style in your topic by editing the associated style sheets.
To add auto-numbering, simply edit the paragraph style in RoboHelp’s built-in CSS editor and select the define the auto-numbering scheme you want to have. We have also added support for import of auto-numbering from older RoboHelp Classic versions.
Better support for Bookmarks
Working with bookmarks (also known as “anchors”) is now much more fun with Update 2 for RoboHelp 2019. You can now toggle the display of bookmarks in both the Contents panel and in the topics. But that’s not all: Now you can even drag & drop a bookmark from the Contents panel into a topic to create a hyperlink – within the same topic or to another topic. You can also create TOC entries for bookmarks, and use bookmarks in context-sensitive help (CSH) map files.
- You can now show/hide bookmarks in the authoring area of the topic.
- Bookmarks automatically show up in the Contents panel.
- Drag and drop bookmarks to create links and adding to the table of contents.
Sample Colors with the new Eyedropper
Not sure which exact color definition this box has? With the new eyedropper feature in RoboHelp, it is easy to find out. Just click the eyedropper icon (
Support for Image Maps
Imagine you could make a screenshot or a photo of something and define areas within that picture. Areas, where your readers can click on to get more information. That’s possible – with so-called “image maps.” But there is no need to hand-code them or use third-party tools. You can do that right within RoboHelp 2019. With Update 2, we give you an easy to use visual image map editor. Create, edit, and publish image maps. It’s fun and super easy.
Have some image maps defined in RoboHelp Classic projects? We take care of them now as well and make upgrading your existing RoboHelp 2019 Classic Project even more smooth.
Table Editor Reloaded
Selecting a whole table row or a whole table column is super easy now. Just move the mouse cursor over near the top border of a table to select a column. Or near the left border of a table to select a table row.
Stay tuned for even more enhancements on working with tables in upcoming updates!
Table of Contents Navigation reloaded
The clever search bar with predictive search in the responsive HTML5 output of Adobe RoboHelp 2019 is great. It gives your readers an easy way to find the content they are looking for. But no professional software documentation, comprehensive technical documentation or policy and procedures portal works without giving the reader also an easy way to navigate through the content. This navigation – or “Table of Contents” – is a central part of every better help center.
With Update 2 we bring two enhancements to Adobe RoboHelp 2019: “Custom navtitle” and a “TOC Protector.”
Custom topic titles for your help navigation
The title of your topic is great. And long. And now you want to have a short title in the navigation of your online help. Or just a different title that might make more sense in a navigation. The DITA folks out there know this as navtitle. We have added the same functionality to RoboHelp 2019 in Update 2.
Now you can do create your own custom navtitles very easy: Just select the topic in the Table Of Contents and change the title in the Properties tab under General to anything you want. This title is specific to the Table of Contents Navigation in the published output only. It will not change the title of the topic itself. If the title field is empty, the title given in the topic itself will automatically be used for the TOC navigation in the final output. Easy, isn’t it?
TOC Protector
So, now you have build your own custom navigation. And it’s big. But what if your documentation changes? If you decide to remove a topic? Or merge two topics? Or … What if the topic your TOC entry is referencing just does not exist anymore? It will result in a broken user experience for your readers. They click on the TOC entry and … nothing happens or the result is a 404. With RoboHelp 2019 you’re on the safe side. If any file on the disk is removed or if its name changed, you will see a × mark in the Table of Contents and you can easily fix it.
How to get Update 2 of RoboHelp 2019 release
The best way to update Adobe RoboHelp 2019 is to click on Help → Updates to download and install the latest patch.
Found a bug? Want to suggest an improvement? Let us know!
There’s a channel for that: We call it “Adobe Tracker.” Adobe Tracker is your place to go when you find a bug and want to report it to us so that we can fix it in the next update/release. You can also file in your feature requests, ideas, requests for improvements. It’s very easy to do and the reports go directly into our system, and our product managers, engineers, and support people have direct access to it.
You can report a bug here.