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DreamWeaver lacks much of the automation for painlessly implementing
many Help features (which is why there are HATs).
Unless you're doing print or will be leveraging all other programs
included save for FM, Adobe TCS will be overkill for your needs.
MadPak is a good choice, especially if you're looking to localize your content.
As far as capabilities, RH and Flare are about on par. Some people
favor one over the other, but looking at strict capabilities they are
pretty much a draw. It's more about what fits your overall workflow
and preferences.
Bill
On Thu, Jul 21, 2011 at 4:28 PM, Matt Moore <MMoore -at- connectwise -dot- com> wrote:
> I am in charge of deciding on a new documentation platform/tool for our software company and putting a plan together for the conversion. We are evaluating Robohelp (Technical Suite), Flare (MadPak) and even considering Dreamweaver. We already have DW in house and many other Adobe products.
>
> What are your thoughts now in July of 2011. So much of the information online that I have found is dated..
>
> Do you have any comments and thoughts considering our situation or your personal experiences with one or both that might help me.
>
> Input -We have over 1000 pages on a web based content management system that has become unmanageable and there are a lot of technical issues with this system. All of these pages will need to be converted using with a HTML import or copy/paste.
>
> Output - We will be outputting to WebHelp and will likely output to PDF as well in some cases. Mobile output is a possibility in the future as well.
>
> Format - One of our bigger concerns to customizing the output to look more modern. The frame based output looks dated to us and may look like we are going backwards to our customers. It sounds like with Flare there is some ability to customize the javascript. I have not yet had time to research RH ability to customize the output. We do internal graphic designers and web developers.
>
> Support - I keep hearing that Flare is very good and RH is not so good. Agree?
>
> Features - Seems to me that they are probably fairly similar and surely Flare will be better at some things and RH will be better at others.
>
> Experience - Our technical writer has 2 years of Flare experience and very little RH experience.
>
> I appreciate it!!!
>
> Matt Moore
> Business Consultant
> Email: MMoore -at- ConnectWise -dot- com
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Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. http://www.doctohelp.com
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