Essentials of RoboHelp HTML 2002 · How this assessment works Below you will find 10 course objectives for Essentials of Adobe RoboHelp 9 HTML.Before starting the book: Review each

™

Notice: Although IconLogic makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and quality of thesematerials, all material is provided without any warranty.

Copyright: 2011 by IconLogic, Inc., 3320 Breckenridge Way, Riva, MD 21140,410.956.4949. This document, or any part thereof, may not be reproduced or transmitted inany form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permissionof IconLogic.

Trademarks: IconLogic, Inc. and the IconLogic logo are registered trademarks of IconLogic.All companies and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of theirrespective companies. They are used in this book in an editorial fashion only. No use of anytrade name is intended to convey endorsement or other affiliation with IconLogic books.

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Essentials of Adobe RoboHelp 9 HTML

“Skills and Drills” Learning

Kevin A. Siegel


Rank Your SkillsBefore starting this book, complete the skills assessment on the back of this page.

How this assessment worksBelow you will find 10 course objectives for Essentials of Adobe RoboHelp 9 HTML. Beforestarting the book: Review each objective and rank your skills using the scale next to eachobjective. A rank of means No Confidence in the skill. A rank of means TotalConfidence. After you’ve completed this assessment, go through the entire book. Afterfinishing the book: Review each objective and rank your skills now that you’ve completedthe book. Most people see dramatic improvements in the second assessment after completingthe lessons.

Before Starting1. I can create topics.

2. I can create books.

3. I can link topics together.

4. I can create a Cascading Style Sheet.

5. I can create Frames.

6. I can import Captivate SWFs.

7. I can create a Browse Sequence.

8. I can create a Custom Window.

9. I can add Images to a topic.

10. I can add Dynamic HTML Effects to topics.

Now That I Am Finished1. I can create topics.

2. I can create books.

3. I can link topics together.

4. I can create a Cascading Style Sheet.

5. I can create Frames.

6. I can import Captivate SWFs.

7. I can create a Browse Sequence.

8. I can create a Custom Window.

9. I can add Images to a topic.

10. I can add Dynamic HTML Effects to topics.

IconLogic, Inc.3320 Breckenridge Way, Riva, MD 21140

www.iconlogic.com

Skills Assessment


Contents

Adobe RoboHelp 9 HTML: The Essentials

ii

About This BookAbout the Author ................................................................................... viiBook Conventions ..................................................................................viiiConfidence Checks .................................................................................viiiStudent Data Files................................................................................... ix

Download Data Files From the IconLogic Data Files Server ..................... ixSoftware and System Requirements ........................................................... xNeed More Books?.................................................................................... x

Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelpRoboHuh? What is RoboHelp? ....................................................................2Creating Help ..........................................................................................3

Preview a Help System.......................................................................3Create a RoboHelp Project ..................................................................4

Pods and Toolbars ....................................................................................7Explore the Pods ...............................................................................8

Workspaces........................................................................................... 10Create a Workspace......................................................................... 10

Project Titles and Names......................................................................... 12Retitle/Rename a Project.................................................................. 12

Topics................................................................................................... 16Edit an Existing Topic....................................................................... 16Create a New Topic ......................................................................... 18Rename and Delete Topics................................................................ 20

Table of Contents ................................................................................... 24Create a TOC Book .......................................................................... 24Add, Delete and Rename TOC Books .................................................. 26Organize TOC Books ........................................................................ 27Add Pages to TOC Books .................................................................. 29

The Default Topic ................................................................................... 31Specify a Default Topic..................................................................... 31

Generating ............................................................................................ 32Generate a Layout........................................................................... 32

Module 2: Adding Content and Project StructureAdding Content ...................................................................................... 36

Preview a Completed Project............................................................. 38Create a Blank Project ..................................................................... 39Import an HTML File ........................................................................ 41Import a Word Document ................................................................. 42Import a FrameMaker File ................................................................ 45Rename a Topic Title ....................................................................... 48

Project Structure.................................................................................... 50Create Project Folders...................................................................... 50Auto-Create a TOC .......................................................................... 52

WebHelp ............................................................................................... 54

© 1994-2011, IconLogic. All Rights Reserved.

Contents

Module 3: Topic FormattingCascading Style Sheets ...........................................................................58

Preview the Completed Project ..........................................................59Apply a Style Sheet to a Topic ...........................................................60Apply Styles to Selected Paragraphs...................................................63

Custom Style Sheets ...............................................................................65Create a New Style Sheet .................................................................66

Font Sets...............................................................................................69Create a Font Set ............................................................................69

Character Styles .....................................................................................71Use Inline Formatting .......................................................................71Create a Character Style...................................................................73

Spell Check............................................................................................75Use Spell Check...............................................................................75

Find and Replace Content ........................................................................78Find and Replace Text ......................................................................78

Compliance............................................................................................81Generate Compliant WebHelp ............................................................81

PDF Review............................................................................................83Create a PDF for Review ...................................................................83Import Comments From a PDF...........................................................87

Module 4: LinksFlashHelp Layouts...................................................................................90

Preview the Completed Project ..........................................................90Generate FlashHelp Output ...............................................................92

Linking to Content ..................................................................................94Link to a Word Document..................................................................94Edit a Linked Word Document............................................................97

Custom Toolbars ....................................................................................98Create a New Toolbar .......................................................................98Add Commands to a Toolbar .............................................................99

Links...................................................................................................101Insert Hyperlinks ...........................................................................101

Bookmarks ..........................................................................................104Insert Bookmarks ..........................................................................104

Importing PDFs ....................................................................................106Import a PDF Document .................................................................106

Popups................................................................................................109Insert Auto-Sizing Popups...............................................................109

Custom-Sized Popups............................................................................113Insert Custom-Sized Popups............................................................113

Text-Only Popups .................................................................................114Insert a Text-Only Popup ................................................................114

Link View.............................................................................................116Use Link View................................................................................116

Broken Links ........................................................................................117Resolve Broken Links .....................................................................117

© 1994-2011, IconLogic. All Rights Reserved. iii


iv

Module 5: Graphics and MultimediaGraphics ............................................................................................. 120

Preview the Completed Project ........................................................ 121Insert an Image ............................................................................ 122Add an Image Margin..................................................................... 125Rename an Image ......................................................................... 126

Background Images.............................................................................. 128Add a Background Image ............................................................... 128

Image Maps ........................................................................................ 131Add Hotspots to a Graphic .............................................................. 131

Sound................................................................................................. 134Add Sound to a Topic..................................................................... 134

Captivate Integration............................................................................ 136Import and Format Topics .............................................................. 136Insert an Adobe Captivate Demo ..................................................... 140

RoboScreenCapture .............................................................................. 142Create a Screen Capture ................................................................ 142

Quiz and Course Project ........................................................................ 145Icon Association............................................................................ 146Mid-Course Project ........................................................................ 147

Module 6: Build Tags, Variables and SnippetsBuild Tags ........................................................................................... 150

Create a Conditional Build Tag ........................................................ 150Apply a Conditional Build Tag.......................................................... 151Define a Condition......................................................................... 154

Content Categories............................................................................... 158Create a New TOC ......................................................................... 158Apply Topic-Level Tags................................................................... 161Create Content Categories.............................................................. 162

Variables............................................................................................. 165Create a User Variable ................................................................... 165Insert and Edit a Variable ............................................................... 167

Snippets ............................................................................................. 169Create a Snippet ........................................................................... 169Add a Snippet to a Topic ................................................................ 171

Module 7: Tables and DHTMLTables ................................................................................................ 174

Insert a Table ............................................................................... 175Insert a Table Row ........................................................................ 177Work With Table Styles .................................................................. 178Change Table Properties................................................................. 182

Lines, Symbols and Lists ....................................................................... 186Add a Horizontal Line..................................................................... 186Insert a Symbol ............................................................................ 187Add a Bulleted List ........................................................................ 188Create a List Style ......................................................................... 190Edit a List Style............................................................................. 192

Dynamic HTML..................................................................................... 194Apply a Fade-In DHTML Effect ......................................................... 194Apply Fly-In DHTML Effects............................................................. 197

Positioned Text Boxes ........................................................................... 201Work With Positioned Text Boxes..................................................... 201

Triggers .............................................................................................. 206Create a Trigger............................................................................ 206


Contents

Module 8: Indexes, Search and GlossariesIndexes...............................................................................................208

Preview the Completed Project ........................................................209Run the Smart Index Wizard ...........................................................210Remove and Add Index Entries ........................................................213Add Keywords via Topic Properties ...................................................214

Subkeywords .......................................................................................216Add Subkeywords to the Index ........................................................216

Relating Topics.....................................................................................218Create a See Also Keyword .............................................................218Insert a Link Control ......................................................................219

Search ................................................................................................222Add Custom Search Terms ..............................................................222

External Content Search ........................................................................224Create External Search...................................................................224

Glossaries............................................................................................227Add Glossary Terms .......................................................................227

Module 9: Skins and Master PagesSkins ..................................................................................................232

Preview the Completed Project ........................................................232Attach a Skin to a Layout................................................................233Create a Custom Skin.....................................................................235Customize the Search Highlight Color ...............................................239

Master Pages .......................................................................................240Create a Master Page .....................................................................240Edit a Master Page .........................................................................244

Breadcrumbs........................................................................................245Add Breadcrumbs to a Master Page ..................................................245

Mini TOCs ............................................................................................247Add a Mini TOC to a Topic ...............................................................247

Module 10: Windows, Browsing and CSHCustom Windows ..................................................................................252

Create a Custom Window................................................................252Browse Sequences................................................................................256

Create a Browse Sequence..............................................................256Publishing............................................................................................258

Publish a Layout ............................................................................258Application Help ...................................................................................262

Start Application Help.....................................................................262Context Sensitive Help ..........................................................................264

Review CSH Source Code................................................................264Create a Custom WebHelp Window...................................................266Assign Map IDs..............................................................................267

© 1994-2011, IconLogic. All Rights Reserved. v


vi

Module 11: Docs, ePub, Scripts and AIR HelpPrinted Docs ........................................................................................ 272

Enable Word Macros ...................................................................... 272Generate a Print Doc ..................................................................... 273

ePub .................................................................................................. 277Create an ePub Layout ................................................................... 277Generate an ePub File .................................................................... 278

Reports............................................................................................... 280Generate a Report ......................................................................... 280

Scripts................................................................................................ 282Run a Script ................................................................................. 282Edit a Script ................................................................................. 283

Adobe AIR........................................................................................... 285Create an Adobe AIR Layout ........................................................... 285Create Browser Based AIR Help....................................................... 286Create Adobe AIR Application Help................................................... 288

Addendum: Forms and FramesForms................................................................................................. 292

Preview the Completed Project ........................................................ 292Create a New Topic ....................................................................... 293Insert a Form and Form Element ..................................................... 294Add Radio Buttons......................................................................... 295

HTML Editing ....................................................................................... 297Add HTML Code to a Topic .............................................................. 297

Check Boxes and Menus........................................................................ 298Add a Check Box ........................................................................... 298Insert a Drop-Down Menu .............................................................. 299Add a Multi-line Text Field .............................................................. 301

Submit and Reset Buttons ..................................................................... 302Add Submit and Reset Buttons ........................................................ 302

Form Properties ................................................................................... 303Name a Form and Set an Action ...................................................... 303

Frames ............................................................................................... 304Import HTML Files ......................................................................... 304Create a Frameset......................................................................... 306Modify Frameset Attributes ............................................................. 311Link Topics Into Frameset Regions................................................... 313End-Course Project........................................................................ 317



About This BookIconLogic books are unique! They are created by instructors with years of software training experience. Before IconLogic books, our instructors rarely found a book that was perfect for a classroom setting. If the book was beautiful, odds were that the text was too small to read and hard to follow. If the text in a book was the right size, the quality of exercises left something to be desired.

Finally tiring of using inadequate materials, our instructors started teaching without any books at all. Over the years, we’ve had many students ask if the in-class instruction came from a book. If so, they said they’d buy the book. That sparked an idea. We asked students—just like you—what they wanted in a training manual. You responded, and the results appear in this book.

We hope you enjoy the book. If you have any comments or questions, please see page x for our contact information.

About the AuthorKevin Siegel is the founder and president of IconLogic, Inc. He has written more than 100 step-by-step computer training books, including Essentials of Adobe Captivate 5, Adobe Captivate 5: Beyond the Essentials, Essentials of Adobe Captivate 4, Adobe Captivate 4: Beyond the Essentials, Essentials of Adobe Captivate 3, Essentials of Adobe Captivate 2, Essentials of Macromedia Captivate, Essentials of RoboDemo 5, Essentials of Adobe RoboHelp

8, Essentials of Adobe RoboHelp 7, Essentials of Adobe Dreamweaver CS3, QuarkXPress 8: The Basics, Essentials of Adobe InDesign CS3, Camtasia Studio 7: The Essentials and Camtasia Studio 6: The Essentials.

Kevin spent five years in the U.S. Coast Guard as an award-winning photojournalist and has more than two decades experience as a print publisher, technical writer, instructional designer and eLearning developer. He is a certified technical trainer, has been a classroom instructor for more than 20 years and is a frequent speaker at trade shows and conventions. Kevin holds multiple certifications from companies such as Adobe and the CompTIA. You can reach Kevin at [email protected].


viii

Book ConventionsThis book has been divided into several modules. Since each module builds on lessons learned in a previous module, we recommend that you complete each module in succession.

During every module, you will be guided through lessons step by step. Instructions for you to follow will look like this:

instructions for you to follow will look like this

If you are expected to type anything or if something is important, it will be set in bold type like this:

type 9 in the box

If you are expected to press a key on your keyboard, the key will be in brackets like this:

press [Ctrl]

Confidence ChecksYou will also come across the little guy at the right. He indicates a Confidence Check. Throughout each module you will be guided through hands-on exercises. But at some point you’ll have to fend for yourself. That is where Confidence Checks come in. They’re very important. You must be sure to complete each of them because some exercises build on completed Confidence Checks.


About This Book > Student Data Files

Student Data FilesThe data files necessary to complete the student activities in this book are available for download via our Web site. You will be walked through the steps necessary to download the files during the following activity.

Student Activity: Download Data Files From the IconLogic Data Files Server1. Download the data files necessary to complete the lessons presented in this

book.

start your Web browser and go to the following Web address:http://iconlogic.com/pc.htm

click the RoboHelp 9 HTML, Essentials of link and Save the file to your desktop

The zipped data files should be downloaded to your desktop as an EXE file.

2. After the file has fully downloaded, close the web browser.

3. Extract the data files.

find the RoboHelp9Data.exe file you just downloaded to your desktop double-click the file to open it (it’s an EXE file containing the zipped data files) click Run or Yes if presented with a Security Warning dialog box

confirm C:\ appears in the Unzip to folder area click the Unzip button when the extraction is complete, click the OK button and then click the

Close button

The data files needed for the lessons in this book are now on your hard drive (C:\) in a folder called RoboHelp9Data. As you move through the lessons in this book, you will be opening files from and saving to the data folder. When you have completed the lessons in this book, you can delete both the RoboHelp9Data folder and the RoboHelp9Data.exe file you downloaded.

© 1994-2011, IconLogic. All Rights Reserved. ix


x

Software and System RequirementsYou will need the following software and hardware before beginning the lessons in this book: Adobe RoboHelp version 9, Microsoft Word (Word 2010 is shown in this book but older versions will work), Intel Pentium 4, Microsoft Windows XP with Service Pack 3, Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 (32 or 64 bit), 512MB of RAM (1GB recommended), 1.2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation.

Need More Books?We are proud to offer books on the following subjects:

Contact Information and OrderingIconLogic, Inc.3320 Breckenridge Way | Riva, MD 21140 | 410.956.4949Web: www.iconlogic.com | Email: [email protected]

Editing and Grammar

Abrams’ Guide to Grammar: Second Edition

Editing With MS Word 2007

eLearning

Adobe Captivate versions 4 through 5

Techsmith Camtasia Studio versions 6 through 7

Help Authoring

Adobe RoboHelp HTML versions 6 through 9

PowerPoint

Microsoft PowerPoint 2008: The Essentials (for Mac)

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007: The Essentials (for Windows)



Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelpIn This Module You Will Learn About:

• Creating Help, page 3• Pods and Toolbars, page 7• Workspaces, page 10• Project Titles and Names, page 12• Topics, page 16• Table of Contents, page 24• The Default Topic, page 31• Generating, page 32

And You Will Learn To:• Preview a Help System, page 3• Create a RoboHelp Project, page 4• Explore the Pods, page 8• Create a Workspace, page 10• Retitle/Rename a Project, page 12• Edit an Existing Topic, page 16• Create a New Topic, page 18• Rename and Delete Topics, page 20• Create a TOC Book, page 24• Add, Delete and Rename TOC Books, page 26• Organize TOC Books, page 27• Specify a Default Topic, page 31• Generate a Layout, page 32

Adobe RoboHelp 9: The Essentials

RoboHuh? What is RoboHelp?RoboHelp HTML is the industry standard for Help authoring. It’s the preferred tool if you are a Help author, technical writer or programmer tasked with creating Help systems for desktop or Web-based applications.

RoboHelp HTML has the letters HTML in its name; therefore, many people think that RoboHelp is a Web page development tool (much like Adobe Dreamweaver)—it is not. Although you can create terrific Web sites using RoboHelp, its primary mission is to let you quickly and easily create Help systems.

I bet you’ve got a few questions right off the bat. First, what is a Help system? And second, if RoboHelp is not a tool for creating Web pages, why does its name contain the letters HTML?

Great questions. Let’s start with the definition of a Help system. Simply put, a Help system is meant to provide information to a user (or customer) via a computer or mobile device. While most Help systems are designed to give assistance on a particular software application or operating system, Help systems can be used to present information on just about anything (such as a corporate policies guide).

How about RoboHelp’s name? HTML? RoboHelp HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language. Simply put, HTML is a formatting language. You put codes (markups) inside text files so that they can be read by browsing software. Currently, the three most popular browsing programs are Mozilla FireFox, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome.

In previous versions of RoboHelp, HTML was used “under the hood” and in the background as the Help author created content. At no time has there ever been a need to know HTML to create RoboHelp Help systems (although knowledge of HTML is encouraged).

While older versions of RoboHelp relied on HTML to create content, new versions of RoboHelp (beginning with Adobe RoboHelp 8) now use XHTML—the Extensible Hypertext Markup Language. XHTML, an application of XML, is similar to HTML (except for slight differences in the markup).

Which leads me directly to XML—the Extensible Markup Language. XML allows people to create customized tags that enable the definition, transmission, validation and interpretation of data between applications.

Note: If you open legacy RoboHelp projects in RoboHelp HTML 9, (projects created with versions of RoboHelp prior to version 8), RoboHelp automatically upgrades all of the HTML code to XHTML.

HTML, XML, XHTML, markup, codes, extensible... ouch! This stuff sounds confusing. Maybe you should give up on this RoboHelp and head for the hills! Perhaps this Help authoring business is going to be too difficult? Nahhhh. I dropped a couple of acronyms on you just so I could feel better about myself. As I mentioned earlier, you don’t have to know anything about HTML, XML or XHTML to create Help systems. In fact, you can let RoboHelp worry about that stuff.

Your job is to learn RoboHelp—and that is just what I designed this book to help you do. So let’s stop messing about and get at it...

2 © 1994-2011, IconLogic, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Creating Help > Preview a Help System

Creating HelpThe process of creating a Help system in RoboHelp begins with creating the basic elements (Projects and Topics). You need to author the content (topics), track and manage the project files, and then develop navigation (links, Tables of Contents, Indexes and Browse sequences) to help users find the important content you have added to your Help system.

In this module, you’ll get into RoboHelp and begin to familiarize yourself with RoboHelp terminology and the user interface. One of the first skills you will learn is how to create topics. As mentioned earlier, each topic you create or import becomes an XHTML file complete with all necessary tags to allow viewing by a Web browser.

After creating the topics, you will organize them into books within a Table of Contents so that users can find your topics via the Contents tab in the generated Help system.

Note: If you have not already copied your RoboHelp9Data student data files to your hard drive, complete the “Download Data Files From the IconLogic Data Files Server” activity that begins on page ix.

Student Activity: Preview a Help System1. Preview a completed Microsoft HTML Help project.

using Windows Explorer, open your hard drive (you should have installed the RoboHelp9Data files directly to your hard drive; if you installed the data files in a different location, go there now instead)

open the RoboHelp9Data folder

open the finishedProjects folder

open Learning_RoboHelp.chm

Note: If your folder options have been set to Hide extensions for known file types, the extension chm may not be visible.

The CHM file is the Help system you will be creating during this first module.

double-click the Print Publishing book to open it

open the Applications book

click once on some of the pages inside the book to view the topics in the right frame of the Help system

2. When finished exploring the Help system, close any windows.

© 1994-2011, IconLogic, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 3


Student Activity: Create a RoboHelp Project1. Start RoboHelp.

if you are using Windows XP, choose Start > All Programs > Adobe RoboHelp 9 > RoboHelp HTML; if you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, click the Start button, type RoboHelp into the Search field and open RoboHelp HTML

The RoboHelp Starter appears. This handy screen gives you access to Recent Projects, allows you to create new projects and more.

2. Show the New Project dialog box.

from the Create New area of the Starter, click More

The New Project dialog box appears. There are two tabs: New and Import.


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Creating Help > Create a RoboHelp Project

on the New tab, select the Application Help Project Type

review the information about the project that appears at the right of the dialog box

select the e-Learning Project Type and review the information about the project that appears at the right of the dialog box

select the Blank Project Project Type and review the information about the project that appears at the right of the dialog box

Not that there is anything wrong with starting a new project with any of the Project Types, I’d like to get you started with a project that is stripped to the bone. For that reason, a Blank Project will do nicely.

ensure Blank Project is selected and then click the OK button

The New Project Wizard dialog box appears. This is where you will give the project a title, file name and project location.

3. Give a project a Title.

in the Enter the title of this project area, type Learning RoboHelp HTML

Project titles will be seen in the title bar of your project by your end-users. The title can be descriptive and can contain spaces.

4. Give a project a Name.

in the Enter the file name for the project area, change the project name to Learning_RoboHelp



A project’s file name will not be seen by your users. However, the project file name will be used when you generate your output files as the Start page for your Help system (you will learn about generating output files later). Since you are likely to store your generated Help system output files on a Web server, where file names with spaces can cause myriad problems, you should not uses spaces in any file name.

5. Specify a working location for the project.

in the Enter the location for the project area, click the yellow folder at the right of the dialog box

navigate to RoboHelp9Data\RoboHelpProjects (you should have copied your RoboHelp9Data files to your hard drive earlier)

once inside the RoboHelpProjects folder, click the Open button

The location of your first project should now be RoboHelp9Data\ RoboHelpProjects. If you saved your data folder to a different location, you can still proceed. However, some steps in this book will not exactly match what you see on your screen.

6. Specify a title for the project’s first topic and the language to be used.

in the Enter the title of the first topic area, type InDesign

ensure English (US) is selected from the Language drop-down menu

click the Finish button

A folder called Learning_RoboHelp has been created in the RoboHelpProjects folder (within the RoboHelp9Data folder). All of the files you create for this particular project will automatically be added to your new folder. Now that you have clicked Finish, you are ready to begin putting RoboHelp through its paces.


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Pods and Toolbars > Create a RoboHelp Project

Pods and ToolbarsWhen a new RoboHelp project first opens, the project contains one topic. The lone topic in this project contains a headline that reads InDesign. There are two placeholder paragraphs in the topic. The headline text you see is a direct result of you typing InDesign as the title of the first topic just a moment ago. You will soon be editing the topic and creating others.

Your RoboHelp window should look similar to the picture below.

The RoboHelp window contains several panels. The panels are known as Pods, and you’ll become familiar with them soon. Pods are windows that can float anywhere on your display. If you are working on a large monitor (or multiple monitors), you can drop the pods anywhere that works for you (even if that means the pods will be located far away from the RoboHelp application window). There are also several toolbars near the top of the window.

Pods

Your first topic is open in Design view and ready for editing.

Toolbars



Student Activity: Explore the Pods1. View a Pod.

choose View > Pods > Snippets

The Snippets pod appears in the upper left of the window, just below the toolbars. You can add custom HTML code snippets to a project and insert them later into a desired topic. When you modify a code snippet shared by different topics, the changes to the code snippet are reflected in all the associated topics. You will learn to work with Snippets beginning on page 169.

2. Close Pods.

on the top of the Snippets pod, right-click the word Snippets and choose Close

3. Explore the Project Manager pod.

choose View > Pods > Project Manager

By default, the Project Manager pod appears in the upper left of the RoboHelp window, just below the toolbars. You can use the Project Manager to edit, delete and create project files.

4. Expand and collapse the folders in the Project Manager pod

from the main RoboHelp menu, choose View > Expand All

All of the folders within the Project Manager pod open.

from the main RoboHelp menu, choose View > Collapse All


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Pods and Toolbars > Explore the Pods

5. Close all of the pods and windows by clicking the X at the top of each window (or right-click the name of each pod and choose Close).

The RoboHelp window should look like this:

Note: By default, RoboHelp is set to show menu items after a short delay. While this feature certainly keeps the menus short, it also means that you may not be able to quickly find menu items. If you would like to see all of the menu items without the delay, choose View > Toolbars > Customize. On the Options tab, select Always show full menus and then click the Close button.



WorkspacesGiven the fact that there are so many pods available within RoboHelp, you will appreciate the ability to create multiple Workspaces (environments) within RoboHelp. For instance, if you find yourself working on the Snippets pod most of the day, you can create a Workspace where the Snippets pod always appears in a specific location on your display and is grouped with other pods you use frequently.

Student Activity: Create a Workspace1. Ensure that all of the pods and windows within RoboHelp have been closed.

2. View and position the Snippets pod.

choose View > Pods > Snippets

drag the Snippets pod to the middle of the RoboHelp window

choose View > Pods > Project Set-up

3. View and position the Project Set-up pod.

move the Project Set-up pod just to the left of the Snippets pod (you can move a pod by selecting the pod’s name and dragging)

position and resize the pods until your RoboHelp window looks similar to the picture below

4. Save the Workspace.

from the upper-right of the RoboHelp window, click the Workspace menu and choose Save


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Workspaces > Create a Workspace

The Save As dialog box appears.

navigate to C:\RoboHelp9Data

change the File name to Snippets_ProjectSetup

click the Save button

The Workspace has been saved with an RHS extension. You can load saved Workspaces into any RoboHelp project.

5. Load the default Workspace.

from the upper-right of the RoboHelp window, click the Workspace menu and choose Default

The RoboHelp Workspace returns to its default appearance.

6. Load a saved Workspace.

from the upper-right of the RoboHelp window, click the Workspace menu and choose Load

The Open dialog box appears.

open the Snippets_ProjectSetup.rhs Workspace you created a moment ago (you should have saved the Workspace file to the RoboHelp9Data folder)

Both the Snippets and Project Set-up pods should reappear in the exact location specified when you created the Workspace.

7. Load the default Workspace.

from the Workspace menu, choose Default

The RoboHelp window once again returns to its default appearance.



Project Titles and NamesWhen you created this project (see page 4), you were instructed to title it Learning RoboHelp HTML and name it Learning_RoboHelp. If you were to generate the project now (it’s too soon to do that because your project does not have much in the way of content—yet), the title would appear in the title bar of the window when the generated Help system opens. The project file name corresponds to the default output file you generate. For instance, if you were to generate HTML Help, the output file you would create would be Learning_RoboHelp.chm.

You are about to learn how to change both the project title and project file name. Keep in mind that changing the project’s title (from Learning RoboHelp HTML to Becoming a Print Publisher) will not result in any obvious changes; however, after you generate the project, the resulting HTML Help window will display the new title. Changing the project name will instantly pay dividends—you will see the new title in the title bar at the top of the RoboHelp window as you continue to author your content.

Student Activity: Retitle/Rename a Project1. Change the title of your project.

choose File > Project Settings

The Project Settings screen appears. Remember that you gave your project a title when you first created it. The Project Settings give you a chance to change the title. The title is important because it is the first thing your users will see when the Help system appears (the title appears on the window’s title bar).

if necessary, select the General tab

change the Title of the project to Becoming a Print Publisher

from the Primary Output drop-down menu, select Microsoft HTML Help

from the Language drop-down menu, ensure English (US) is selected

click the OK button

As mentioned above, changing the Project Title does not result in any obvious changes to your project. You will learn to generate a layout on page 32, and the new title will appear in the Help window’s title bar when the layout opens.


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Project Titles and Names > Retitle/Rename a Project

2. Change the name of the project.

choose File > Rename Project

change the Project Name to print_publishing

click the OK button

As the project is renamed, it will automatically close and then reopen. You can confirm that the project has been renamed by observing the name that appears in the RoboHelp application title bar.

Note: If you ever need to change the name of a RoboHelp project, do not change the project name outside of RoboHelp (for instance, do not change the project file name using Windows Explorer). While using Windows Explorer would certainly be an easy and tempting way to change the project name, doing so could lead to myriad problems too numerous to discuss here.



Confidence Check1. Choose Tools > Options.

The Options dialog box will appear. There are six groups of Settings along the left side of the dialog box.

2. Click on each Setting group and review the contents.

3. Select the Recent Projects group.

You can remove projects appearing in the Project List that you see when you first start RoboHelp.

If you want, you can clean up the recently used list by selecting the file name and clicking the Remove button. (You can elect to leave the file names alone—removing names from the list will not affect the lessons in this book.)


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Project Titles and Names > Confidence Check

4. Select the General group and ensure your options match the picture below.

5. Select the File Association group. In the HTML Editors area, select Design View and click the Set As Default button. Then click the Use Default Editor radio button at the bottom of the dialog box.

6. Click the OK button to close the Options dialog box.

The changes you have just made while in the Options dialog box will not have an obvious effect in RoboHelp.



TopicsYour generated Help project will contain at least three navigation options at the top of the Help window: Contents, Index and Search. When users click the Contents tab, they will typically see books that, if opened, will lead to additional books and/or topics.

Your project currently contains just one topic (InDesign) and no books. In the next few activities, you will edit the existing topic, add new topics and add books (the books will house your topics and will appear on the Contents area of your generated Help system).

Topics are quite possibly the most important part of your project. Without well written, relevant topics, what kind of help would your Help system really be? Each new topic you make actually creates a single HTML file—you do not need to know HTML to create HTML topics.

Student Activity: Edit an Existing Topic1. Load an existing Workspace.

from the Workspace menu, choose Load

from the RoboHelp9data folder, open the NoClutter.rhs Workspace file

The NoClutter Workspace is one that I created for you to use during this book. This Workspace features just a few pods. Specifically, notice that the Topic List pod appears at the bottom of the window.

2. Open and edit an existing topic.

from the Topic List pod at the bottom of the RoboHelp window, double-click the InDesign topic

The InDesign topic opens in Design view, ready for your edits. You can switch between Design and HTML view by clicking either button located just above the ruler (which you can see just above the topic’s headline).


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Topics > Edit an Existing Topic

By default, you’ll always be editing topics in the Design view. However, you can right-click a topic in the Topic List pod, select Edit With and choose another application (such as Word 2007 or NotePad). You could choose Tools > Options and, from the File Associations group, select Auto-select Editor. Selecting this option means that RoboHelp would attempt to open the topic in the application that created it. (For this book, it is assumed that you will stick with the Use Default Editor option you set on page 15.)

highlight all of the topic text from “This is the first topic in your project” through the end of the topic

replace the selected text with: InDesign is a print publishing application primarily used to produce magazines, brochures and flyers.

Now that you have made a change to the topic, notice that the topic’s tab sports an asterisk after the title. The asterisk indicates that the changes have not yet been saved.

3. Save changes.

from the left side of the Project toolbar, click the Save All command.

Note: There are two similar commands on the Project toolbar worth discussing: Save Component and Save All. The Save Component command will save just the selected component of a project (such as an active topic which is being edited). Since you can have several components of a project open at one time (the project file and topics for instance), the Save All command would save everything at one time. Personally, I use the Save All command almost exclusively over the Save Component command.



Student Activity: Create a New Topic1. Create a new topic.

choose File > New > Topic

The New Topic dialog box appears.

ensure that the General tab is selected and type Welcome into the Topic Title area

Note: The Topic Title is what appears in the end-user’s Search results pane and can help them make a better choice when selecting from many results. And when displayed as a page in a TOC book, the Topic Title provides the text (see page 29).

Notice that a File Name has been assigned to your topic that currently matches the Topic Title. Although you can always change the File Name (either now or later), by default, RoboHelp prevents you from using spaces in topic file names.

click the OK button

The new topic is created and opens in Design view. You can ensure that RoboHelp never uses spaces in new topic file names by choosing Tools > Options. From the General group, ensure Use underscores in file names is selected. Why are spaces in file names a bad idea? There are many reasons. First and foremost, if you were to use spaces in the file names, your project would not Generate properly. In addition, some servers (you will most likely be posting your Generated Help files to a server so your users have access to the Help system) do not allow for file names with spaces. You should also avoid file names with non-alphanumeric characters (such as %$* and ^).

2. Add body text to the new topic.

highlight the text Type topic text here.

type This Help System will assist you with starting a career as a desktop publisher.

At the top of the Welcome window, notice that there are two tabs: InDesign and Welcome. You can have multiple topics and windows open at the same time. To switch between open topics, you can simply click the name on the tab across the top of the window, press [Ctrl] [Tab] on your keyboard, or select the open topic from the Windows menu.


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Topics > Create a New Topic

3. Show paragraph markers.

still working in the Welcome topic, choose View > Show > Paragraph Markers

You should be able to see a paragraph marker after the headline Welcome. If you still cannot see the paragraph marker, repeat the last step.

4. Edit the current headline.

click after the word Welcome (just to the left of the paragraph marker)

press [spacebar]

type to the Resource Tool for Print Publishers

Take a look at the Topic List pod at the bottom of the Workspace. Each topic has two names: the topic Title and File Name. By default, the main headline in any new topic will match the Title you give a topic when you create it. The headline now appearing in the Design view for the Welcome topic no longer matches the topic’s Title in the list of topics. Headlines within the topic have no relationship with either a topic’s Title or File Name. A topic’s Title, File Name and main headline do not need to match. However, keeping all similar might avoid confusion for you and your co-authors down the road.

Topicheadline

Topic File Name and Title



Student Activity: Rename and Delete Topics1. Create a new topic using a shortcut menu.

in the Topic List pod, right-click either of the existing topics and choose New Topic from the menu

name the new topic Ooops

confirm the File Name is Ooops.htm

click the OK button

2. Rename a topic’s Title and File Name.

on the Topic List pod, right-click Ooops and choose Properties

The Topic Properties dialog box opens.

change the Topic Title to New Name

change the File Name to new_name

click the OK button


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Topics > Rename and Delete Topics

The updated names appear in the Topic List pod.

3. Delete a topic.

on the Topic List pod, right-click the New Name topic and choose Delete

You will be asked to confirm the deletion.

click the Yes button

The file has been removed from the project and moved to the Recycle Bin (the picture below shows an open Recycle Bin in Windows 7). If you wanted the topic back within your project, the recovery process is not as simple as Edit > Undo. Instead, you would need to move the topic out of the Recycle Bin and then import the topic back into your project. You will learn how to import content into a project beginning on page 41.



Confidence Check1. Create the following new topics:

QuarkXPress

Photoshop

FrameMaker

Illustrator

Flash

Word

You should now have eight topics—and they are all probably open.

2. Choose Window > Close All to close all of your topics (click the Yes button if you see the Save change confirmation dialog box).

3. Save the project.

4. Open the Flash topic from the Topic List. Highlight the text “Type topic text here” and replace it with the following:

Flash is a program used to create interactive multimedia presentations for the Web.

5. Replace the existing body text in the FrameMaker topic with:

FrameMaker is a print publishing application primarily used to produce long, technical documents.

6. Replace the existing body text in the Illustrator topic with:

Illustrator is a graphics program used to create original artwork.


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Topics > Confidence Check

7. Replace the existing body text in the Photoshop topic with:

Photoshop is a powerful graphics program for manipulating digital photographs, scanned images and other artwork.

8. Replace the existing body text in the QuarkXPress topic with:

QuarkXPress is a print publishing application primarily used to produce magazines, brochures and flyers.

9. Replace the existing body text in the Word topic with:

Microsoft Word is a powerful word processor. Most people use Word to type a majority of their text and then import the text into print publishing programs such as InDesign, QuarkXPress and FrameMaker.

10. Notice the red, underlined words in the Word topic. This is the Check spelling as you type feature.

11. Right-click any red, underlined word and choose Spelling. If the word is misspelled, you can select the correct spelling from the menu. If the word is spelled correctly, you can elect to Ignore, Ignore All or Add to Dictionary. For the purpose of this book, when in doubt, choose Ignore All.


13. Close all of the topics (Window > Close All).



Table of ContentsA typical Help system has a Contents tab which you create in the Table of Contents folder on the Project Manager pod. A typical Contents tab is made up of books and pages. Books can contain pages or other books. The pages typically point to topics in your project.

Student Activity: Create a TOC Book1. Toggle the Project Manager View.

on the Project Manager pod (the pod is located in the upper left of the NoClutter Workspace), click the Toggle Project Manager View tool (it’s the first tool on the Project Manager pod and will look like one of these two tools or )

There are basically two Project Manager views: Global and Detail . Unless otherwise instructed to do so in this book, ensure that the Project Manager remains in Global view (which is shown below).

2. Open the Table of Contents folder.

on the Project Manager pod, double-click Table of Contents to open the folder (or click the plus sign to the left of the folder to open it)

There is currently a default Table of Contents called Learning_RoboHelp within the Table of Contents folder. You can edit the default or create your own. You will learn to work with new TOCs later. For now, you will edit the default.

3. Rename the Table of Contents.

right-click the Learning_RoboHelp (Default) TOC and choose Rename

change the name to print_pub and press [Enter]


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Table of Contents > Create a TOC Book

4. Add a book to the Table of Contents.

from within the Table of Contents folder, double-click print_pub (Default)

The TOC opens in its own pod to the right of the Project Manager pod.

from the top of the print_pub pod, click the New TOC Book command

The New TOC Book dialog box appears.

on the General tab, type Print Publishing Applications into the Book Title area

click the OK button

The default TOC now contains a single book. It doesn’t contain any pages just yet (aliases that point to topics), but you will add those soon enough.



Student Activity: Add, Delete and Rename TOC Books1. Add a new book.

right-click within the print_pub TOC and choose New > Book

The New TOC Book dialog box opens again.

type Delete Me into the Book Title area and then click the OK button

A new book called Delete Me appears on the TOC.

2. Delete the newest book.

right-click the Delete Me book on the TOC and choose Delete

Note: Deleting items from a TOC does not delete project assets. Instead, deleted TOC items are only deleted from the TOC. You could easily add them again.

3. Add a new book.

right-click within the print_pub TOC and choose New > Book

type Rename Me into the Book Title area and then click the OK button

A new book called Rename Me appears beneath your first book.

4. Rename the book.

right-click the Rename Me book and choose Rename

The book’s text is selected. You can now type a new name.

type Delete Me

press [Enter] on your keyboard to accept the new name


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Table of Contents > Confidence Check

Confidence Check1. Delete the “Delete Me” book.

2. Rename the book Print Publishing Applications as Print Publishing.

3. Create a new book with the name Applications.

4. Create a new book with the name Training.

5. Create a new book with the name Careers.

6. Create a new book with the name Pricing.

7. Compare your TOC to this:


Student Activity: Organize TOC Books1. Move books.

select the Careers book on the TOC

from the top of the TOC pod, click the Move Right tool

The Careers book moves right and is now considered a nested book.

with the Careers book selected, click the Move Left tool

The Careers book moves left.

with the Careers book selected, click the Move Down tool (you may have to look for the Move Down tool from among the additional tools hiding in the Toolbar options area or make the TOC pod wider)

The Careers book moves beneath the Pricing book.

with the Careers book selected, click the Move Up tool at the top of the TOC

The Careers book moves back to its original position.




Confidence Check1. Move the following books right: Applications, Training,

Careers, Pricing.

Your TOC should look like this:



Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Table of Contents > Add Pages to TOC Books

Student Activity: Add Pages to TOC Books1. Add a topic to a book.

from the Topic List pod, select the Flash topic

drag the Flash topic to the TOC pod and drop it when your mouse pointer highlights the Applications book

Your TOC should now look like the picture below (one of your topics has been added to the Applications book on the TOC as a page).




Confidence Check1. Add all of the remaining topics as New TOC Pages to the

Applications book (including Welcome).

2. Select the Welcome page on the TOC and drag it above the Print Publishing book.

3. Delete the Training book.

4. Delete the Careers book.

5. Delete the Pricing book.

Your TOC should look like the picture below (the specific order of the pages within the Applications book is not important):



Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > The Default Topic > Specify a Default Topic

The Default TopicThe Default Topic is the first topic users will see when the Help system appears. In this case, you would like the Welcome topic to be the Default Topic.

Student Activity: Specify a Default Topic1. Show the Properties of a Layout.

on the Single Source Layouts pod (the pod is located in the lower left of the NoClutter Workspace), right-click Microsoft HTML Help (Primary Layout) and choose Properties

Note: If the Single Source Layouts pod is not visible on your screen, reset the NoClutter Workspace via the Workspace menu by clicking the name NoClutter. If all else fails, you can manually open the pod via View > Pods.

The HTML Help Options dialog box appears. The Output Folder and File Name area tells you what your published file will be called, and where you can find it on your computer. After generating the layout, you can give the CHM to the application developer or to your IT team so it can be deployed. Since CHM files can be opened by just about anyone who has purchased a PC running Windows in the past several years, you can also give the CHM directly to any Windows user and they will be able to open it.

2. Change the name of the CHM that will be generated.

from the Output Folder and File Name area, change the name to the right of Microsoft_HTML_Help\ to printPub.chm

3. Select a Default Topic.

click the Select button (to the right of the words Default Topic)

select Welcome from the list of existing topics

click the OK button and then click the Save button



GeneratingYou have already created some topics and added books and pages to a TOC, the core elements behind most RoboHelp projects. But when the time comes to hand off your project so that it can be accessed by your users, you have to Generate (also known as compiling) the project. Remember to re-Generate the layout should you make any changes to the project down the road.

Student Activity: Generate a Layout1. Generate the Microsoft HTML Help Layout.

choose File > Generate > Primary Layout (Microsoft HTML Help)

The HTML Help options appear again. This time the dialog box has a Save and Generate button at the bottom of the dialog box.

click the Save and Generate button

As the project is generated, it is also compressed. Since the project is small, the process takes only seconds and then you will see Compilation complete at the bottom of the Workspace (in the Output View pod).

click the View Result button

The Layout opens in the Windows Help viewer. This is exactly what your users will see. Notice that the Welcome topic appears at the right of the window because it is the default topic.


Module 1: Introduction to RoboHelp > Generating > Confidence Check

Confidence Check1. Open the Print Publishing book.

2. Open the Applications book and spend the next few moments opening the topics (pages) you find inside the book.

3. When finished exploring the generated Help window, close the compiled Help window.

4. Back in RoboHelp, close the project (File > Close Project).

5. Minimize RoboHelp so you can see your desktop.

6. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the RoboHelp9Data folder.

7. Open the RoboHelpProjects folder.

8. Open the Learning_RoboHelp folder.

Inside the Learning_RoboHelp folder you will find that there are HTML files for each topic you created during this module. You should never delete the HTML files without using RoboHelp’s Project Manager or Topic List pod. If you delete a file outside of RoboHelp, you’ll receive error messages when you open the project in the future, and your project may not work properly.

You’ll also see several support files that RoboHelp needs to open your project and compile it. For instance, notice the file print_publishing.xpj. This is the project file and is the file that RoboHelp first opens when you open your project.

9. Open the !SSL! folder (SSL stands for Single Source Layout).

10. Open the Microsoft_HTML_Help folder.

The file printPub.chm is the file that you would give to your users or developers.

11. Double-click the CHM file.

The Help system you created during this module re-opens. Keep in mind that users will not need the RoboHelp application to open the CHM file. In fact, if your users are using Windows 2000 or newer, they have everything they need already installed on their computers to open and use your CHM file.

12. Close all windows.

13. Return to RoboHelp so that you can begin work on the next module.




Documents

Essentials of RoboHelp HTML 2002 · How this assessment works Below you will find 10 course objectives for Essentials of Adobe RoboHelp 9 HTML.Before starting the book: Review each