Perfect Help Authoring With An Excellent Help Creation Tool

A big number of desktop applications and web services today provide their clients with a help system or manual. Such a help file solves a number of important tasks, such as explaining to users how to use a specific feature or accomplish something with the software, reducing the effort spent on technical support, and so on. Despite a good help file is an integral part of your app, its creation is most frequently still not an easy task. As the help author, you have to define what help format to use, what help authoring tool as well as other utilities to use, how to connect the help file with your app and provide context-sensitive Help, etc.

The initial idea behind HelpSmith was to make a quality help authoring app, which has a professional feature set and slight learning curve, and let developers to compile high-quality help manuals and printed documentation with a minimum of effort. HelpSmith currently supports different help formats such as CHM HTML Help, browser-based Web Help, and Printed Manual. Morever, HelpSmith allows you to compile PDF files with a third-party PDF printer utility. The vendor of the help authoring tool combined an easy-to-use interface with features making it possible to create excellent help systems and provide documentation in different help formats. Note that a single source project can be exported into any number of output help formats, due to single-source support.

The main features included in HelpSmith are a built-in text editor with live spell checker (dictionaries for many languages are available) and tools for quick creation of the TOC, keyword index, and other navigation elements. HelpSmith also has support for Unicode, Dynamic Styles, Topic Templates, and Variables. There is a smart Project Merge feature that simplifies working on the same project by a team of tech writers and making translations into other languages. HelpSmith offers you an advanced way to manage multi media files and allows you to use all widely used graphical and video formats, including MOV and SWF animations. Of course, it is also possible to integrate HTML Help and Web Help systems into your and provide context-sensitive help documentation.

The ability to create and use Text Variables

Our help authoring tool includes text variables support, which are divided into user and system ones. A variable is an object which can be added into topic, topic template, or in the text of values. When you build your help file, the variable objects are replaced with their real values. This is really useful, because you can store any value that appear in many places of your help file. And when you need to update a particular value, simply change it in the window that controls all of the variables for your help authoring project.

Better management of your multi-media content

HelpSmith includes an advanced approach to working with multi media files. The help authoring tool automatically puts all multimedia files into a single media repository saved with your project. This, in turn, gives you the following benefits: you do not have to copy any media files manually (so it is easier to distribute your help project), and it is easier to update a screenshot which is used in more than one help topic because you simply modify the image in the media repository and do not have to find and edit the topics manually. Thus, the Media Repository feature is used to organize images and video clips into groups, that is also useful for large help projects.

Writing help topics will clearly be the largest part of work on any help file. Due to a full-featured text editor with dynamic styles and topic templates feature, HelpSmith lets you concentrate on writing. You can use multiple languages, use graphical and video clips, tables, insert hyperlinks to other help topics in your help project and/or links to any resources on the Internet, insert breadcrumb placeholders, and everything else you may need. Dynamic styles and templates are powerful possibilities that you can use for customizing the view of your help system at any time, without editing each help topic manually.

Final help systems and Providing Context-Sensitive Help

HelpSmith offers various features which let you quickly write professional help systems with customized appearance, a professional feel, and good navigation. The help authoring tool includes even more features than those mentioned above. But let us look at the result of using this help authoring program - help files compiled in the CHM help, HTML-based, and Printable Manual output formats.

Both Web Help and HTML Help systems can be linked with your application. On the HelpSmith website you'll find resources describing how to add context-sensitive Help for applications developed in different programming languages. Also, the product's help file contains information on integrating a WebHelp system with your web application or service.

Give HelpSmith a try!

You have seen how HelpSmith can help you a lot with your help authoring jobs. As a help authoring tool for easily creating high-quality help systems and documents, it allows you to create a help project with NO nee to master technical aspects. In fact, you do not have to know anything about HTML or CSS to create professional help files. Thus, HelpSmith is a help authoring tool which allows you to truly concentrate on writing help topics.