Re: Hosted Help - server specs?

Subject: Re: Hosted Help - server specs?
From: Hannah Drake <hannah -at- formulatrix -dot- com>
To: "Robart, Kay" <Kay -dot- Robart -at- tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us>
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 2013 15:37:53 -0500

thanks for the clarification. I thought as much, but didn't know for sure.
So I guess they chose right in using CHM files. :)


On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 3:28 PM, Robart, Kay <Kay -dot- Robart -at- tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us>wrote:

> Generally speaking, CHM files are designed specifically for non-Web
> applications and WebHelp files for Web applications.
>
> Just in case no one mentioned that.
>
> Kay
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+kay -dot- robart=tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com[mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+kay -dot- robart=tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> Of Robart, Kay
> Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 2:26 PM
> To: Julie Stickler; techwr-l
> Subject: RE: Hosted Help - server specs?
>
> We deliver our Help as WebHelp but to the server where our application is
> located. Customers have access through our security application from the
> applications or just on our web site for public applications.
>
> I don't know any down sides except that there are a lot of files to work
> with, but that's a very small issue. We will sometimes generate a .chm file
> of the Help just so we can easily give it to internal users who want to
> look at it without logging in to the application.
>
> The Help can be delivered to the server separately or with the
> application, depending upon whether the developer is doing a release for
> the app or not. The files just need to be copied to the correct directory
> on the server.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: techwr-l-bounces+kay -dot- robart=tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com[mailto:
> techwr-l-bounces+kay -dot- robart=tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf
> Of Hannah Drake
> Sent: Wednesday, December 04, 2013 1:54 PM
> To: Julie Stickler; techwr-l
> Subject: Re: Hosted Help - server specs?
>
> We do, because of the first issue I mentioned -- half of our customers
> are online, half aren't (they don't have to be for some of our products)
> and some have very conservative IT people who don't like programs accessing
> the internet.
> CHMs seem easier to package than webhelp. But maybe there is something I
> don't know? It was the format they used when I got here in Jan, and I'm a
> newb to TW tools. I also assumed webhelp was meant to be hosted on a
> website.
>
> However, we are kicking around the idea of producing webhelp for at least
> one of our products (I also use Flare).
>
> Hannah L. Drake
>
> On 12/4/2013 2:49:24 PM, Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
> Also I find it kind of interesting that you talk about "the traditional
> CHM" as backup.
>
> I've been a technical writer for over a dozen years now, and I've never
> produced a CHM file. I've always produced some flavor of WebHelp. Are
> people still producing CHM files? (not to derail my own topic, but I'm
> curious).
>
>
> On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 2:11 PM, Hannah Drake wrote:
>
> > 1) Are all of your customers hooked up to the Internet? any
> > high-security customers? These kinds of things can cause hosted "help"
> problems.
> > 2) Most companies that have online help also do the traditional CHM as
> > a backup, so you can't completely get rid of in-product help.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Dec 4, 2013 at 1:31 PM, Julie Stickler wrote:
> >
> >> I've had several requests from various product managers about moving
> from
> >> having our Help files built into the product to having our Help and
> >> documentation hosted on a Web site somewhere. I'd love to make this
> >> change, because Release Notes are always changing up to the very last
> >> minute, and then we have to rebuild the installer and run through the
> >> QA test suite again. Decoupling the doc deliver from the builds would
> >> have so many benefits for not just our process, but would allow me to
> >> make doc updates as needed (vs. on the release schedule).
> >>
> >> I've got several ideas about how to go about this, but before I head
> down
> >> to talk to IT about getting server space, I thought I'd tap the
> collective
> >> brain power of TechWrl and see if there's anything I haven't thought
> >> of, or good advice from the TW brain trust.
> >>
> >> Anyone made the move to Hosted docs? Have any lessons learned to share?
> >> Success stories? Horror stories? Stuff you wish you'd done differently?
> >>
> >>
> >> --
> >> Julie Stickler
> >> http://heratech.wordpress.com/
> >> Blogging about Agile and technical writing
> >>
> >>
> >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> >> authoring.
> >>
> >> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
> >>
> >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> >>
> >> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as
> hannah -dot- drake -at- formulatrix -dot- com -dot-
>
> >>
> >> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> >> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
> >>
> >>
> >> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
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> >> and info.
> >>
> >> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
> >> online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
> >>
> >> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our
> >> public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
> >>
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Hannah L. Drake
> > Lead Technical Documentation Specialist Formulatrix, Inc.
> >
> > 781-788-0228 x137 (office)
> > 617-610-6456 (cell)
> > hannah.drake.formulatrix (skype)
> >
>
>
>
> --
> Julie Stickler
> http://heratech.wordpress.com/
> Blogging about Agile and technical writing
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as hannah -dot- drake -at- formulatrix -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kay -dot- robart -at- tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kay -dot- robart -at- tea -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as hannah -dot- drake -at- formulatrix -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and
> info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online
> magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public
> email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>



--
Hannah L. Drake
Lead Technical Documentation Specialist
Formulatrix, Inc.

781-788-0228 x137 (office)
617-610-6456 (cell)
hannah.drake.formulatrix (skype)


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


References:
Hosted Help - server specs?: From: Julie Stickler
Re: Hosted Help - server specs?: From: Hannah Drake
Re: Hosted Help - server specs?: From: Julie Stickler
Re: Hosted Help - server specs?: From: Hannah Drake
RE: Hosted Help - server specs?: From: Robart, Kay
RE: Hosted Help - server specs?: From: Robart, Kay

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