Writing help files for software products

For help, I've stuck with the CHM format. It does what I need and is easy to integrate with a .Net application. I must admit though I haven't spent time investigating alternatives and I've just gone with what I know about.

I used to find the process of developing a CHM a bit laborious. I'd use Microsoft FrontPage to generate HTML pages and then use the Microsoft Help Compiler to turn them into a CHM. There were always index files etc. to edit in Notepad. The process wasn't really diffcult, just a bit lengthy. I tend to put pictures into my help files too and maintaining help pictures with overlayed text and pointers in something like Paint .Net is a bit tedious.

Nowadays I use a package called Help & Manual (www.helpandmanual.com). This is a superb, well-rounded package that allows you to write WYSIWYG help and invokes the Help Compiler for you. It also includes its own image editor that allows you to easily write text and pointers/ arrows in different layers. When screenshots change, all you need do is update the background image and the text and pointers can be reused. This saves me hours and hours of time when I release an updated version of a package.

The other thing I like about Help & Manual is that you can generate output in different formats just by making a simple selection from a dropdown.

For example you can generate a PDF document of your help file. This can then be placed on your website for download or made available to users in printed form.

Another other output format I use Help & Manual to generate is HTML help. I upload a HTML help version of the help file to my website. This adds about 90 pages to my site - all full of good keywords relating to my applications. Google is supposed to like bigger sites so the extra pages hopefully help me in looking bigger and more information heavy.

With Help & Manual you can edit a common header/ footer for your pages. I make sure the header and footer include hyperlinks to my homepage. If any of the help pages are landing pages, visitors can use the hyperlinks to find their way to the main part of my site.

by ML