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Customer Corner |
Your Feedback is Welcome
Your feedback is important to us. Please click here
to send us your questions, comments or suggestions. |
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| Referral Program |
Refer a Friend; Get $50
Know someone who could benefit from Doc-To-Help?
If so, refer them to us and get a $50 gift card.
Contact sales now.
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Feature Spotlight |
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Automatic Print/Online Single Sourcing in Microsoft Word
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Doc-To-Help allows you to write in one medium and instantly publish to another. Take Doc-To-Help's Word support, for example.
You can create Word cross references (i.e., "For more information, see MyTopic on Page 4") and they will |
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automatically be transformed to hyperlinks in desktop and Web-based Help outputs. Margin notes are also automatically transformed to pop-ups
in the same outputs. Of course, the original format is preserved for print outputs. Conversely, hyperlinks written in HTML/XHTML can automatically
be translated to cross references.
Just another way Doc-To-Help saves you time. Download a trial
today and see for yourself. |
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Words from the Editor |
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Topic-based Authoring with Organic Organization
Gustavo Eydelsteyn, Co-founder
There is no doubt that adopting a topic-based authoring workflow will help you maximize the reusability and flexibility of your
content. When content is divided into small topics, it's easy to edit and highly portable. Despite these valuable benefits,
there is a drawback. When using a topic-based authoring workflow, |
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the author develops these "chunks" in no specific order and then is expected to assemble them later to create deliverables.
This can take more time and can result in lost information. At ComponentOne, our philosophy
is to give the best of both worlds. Doc-To-Help allows you to write your content in logical order (just like you were writing a book),
but then stores it in topic "chunks". Because you have organized as you wrote, Doc-To-Help is able to automatically create a
Table of Contents that you can easily customize or use as-is. Your end result is a list of portable topics that you can mix and
match at will and are organized logically from the start.
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Featured Article |
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What You Can do with the Doc-To-Help Ribbon in Microsoft Word
Nicky Bleiel, Senior Information Developer
Doc-To-Help gives an improved process when approaching the concept of topic-based authoring. An example of this is writing in book form in
Word while using the integrated Doc-To-Help toolbar, and then having Doc-To-Help break up that document into portable "chunks" for
reorganization and reuse. |
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Check out the latest
blog post* on Technical Communication Camp. Nicky gives you a
summary of what you can do in Word using Doc-To-Help's toolbar or ribbon.
* Note that this blog post is part of a series that discusses Doc-To-Help's unique workflow.
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What's New |
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New Website Launched
After more than a year of work, we have just launched a new and improved
Doc-To-Help website. The new design features simplified navigation, easier access to product information, and new branding. This undertaking
has been a collaboration by a full Web team. This effort includes representatives from Development, Design, and Marketing and Communications.
We hope you enjoy the new site as much as we do!
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Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 Coming Next Month
The third release of 2009, scheduled to be available in late October, brings convenient project management features, NetHelp improvements,
and built-in editor enhancements. Check your inbox for the announcement. Remember, if you are a current subscription holder, you get the update
free of charge.
Follow these instructions to check your subscription status:
- If you have registered your serial number on our site: Go to www.doctohelp.com
and log in.
- If you have not registered your serial number on our site: Go to
www.doctohelp.com/register, create an account, and register your serial number.
- If you are not sure: Contact our sales team or support.
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Ask the Expert |
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Q: Should I keep my source documents in Microsoft Word, or convert them to XHTML for use in Doc-To-Help's Editor?
Note: This question refers to the Word-to-XHTML converter included in Doc-To-Help, but the concepts also
apply to the differences between Word and XHTML in general.
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A: The answer to the question is, "it depends". Each has its advantages.
In Word, you can write in a traditional "book" workflow (chapters and sections) and Doc-To-Help will automatically create topics for you
(more on that here). It is also a convenient format for document review because most people have it. |
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XHTML has advantages as well - first of all, you can work in Doc-To-Help's built-in XML editor, so you can write, edit, and publish using
one application. And if you have been planning to move to XML, the documents follow the W3C XHTML 1.0 strict specification. XHTML also lends
itself to authoring topic-by-topic.
A distinct difference between the two is that Word will allow inline formatting while XHTML will not. In other words, you can make isolated
style changes (e.g., making a word red and bold) in Word, while such changes require a style in XHTML. If you have a document full of inline
formatting and want to preserve it, you should continue writing in Word. But, if you want to strictly enforce formatting, then you should
use Doc-To-Help's editor and XHTML.
If you have any additional questions on this subject (or any others), please email me at
asktheexpert@doctohelp.com.
Thanks, Nicky
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Event Center |
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UA Europe 2009
Visit us at UA Europe, the only European conference to focus specifically on software user assistance and online Help. Come by our table
ready with your questions and your business cards.
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Survey Center |
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September Quick Survey
Please take a moment to answer the following question. We will publish the results next month
so you can see what your peers had to say.
Which third party source control system do you use?
Please click your answer.
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Last Month's Survey Results
Last month, we asked if you needed to produce Help for mobile devices. Here are the results:
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