RoboHelp or DITA

[Scott Abel]

There has been some recent listserv chatter about RoboHelp and DITA on  
other listservs to which I belong. I'm certain members of this list are  
also interested in that topic. Here's what I shared with the DITA-Users  
listserv that might be of interest to TECHWR-Lers.

On the subject of RoboHelp and DITA...

RoboHelp  -- as others have pointed out here -- is a help authoring  
tool; DITA is an XML topic-based architecture that facilitates  
standardized creation of structured XML content. Whether you should use  
RoboHelp (with or without FrameMaker) to create DITA content is the  
real question.
 
My advice for today:

- Use FrameMaker if your primary need is to create and publish to  
print, pdf and various other types of output. You really can't beat  
FrameMaker in this arena.
- Use RoboHelp if you primarily need to create embedded help systems  
and knowledgebases.
 
My advice for the near future:

- Look for Adobe to announce support for DITA in the new version of  
RoboHelp (No, RoboHelp is not dead!)
- Look for new plugins for DITA (and for S1000D) in the next few  
weeks/months
- Look for even more in the next release of Framemaker (in my crystal  
ball I see a version 8 on the horizon)

Also, expect some really exciting improvements that will facilitate the  
creation of DITA content from Framemaker and into the new version of  
RoboHelp.

You don't need a crystal ball to see that Adobe is increasing its  
commitment to the tech comm space. All you need is a web browser:

   
http://www.adobe.com/products/special/crossproduct/tech_communication/ 
faq.html.

Of course, I could be wrong. :)

Scott Abel, Content Management Strategist, The Content Wrangler, Inc.
abelsp at netdirect.net  *  941-359-3416  *  skype: abelsp

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