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Products
HelpServer™ is a web-based single-source help
authoring tool and CMS for Help & Documentation. HelpServer™ enables
you to create dynamic content and context-sensitive embedded help,
manuals, and knowledge bases. |
Features
HelpServer™ is one of the most comprehensive end-user support
management systems in today’s market. Next is a list of the main features.
Task-based knowledge
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With HelpServer, you are able to control and distribute knowledge in the
context of a company’s individual requirements by organizing customer- and
business-critical information in an active central repository. |
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HelpServer’s content-management capabilities are flexible and extendable.
You can deliver accurate and consistent information to each department within a company
or to any business process that relies on content. |
Application integration
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HelpServer’s API enables integration with web and desktop applications.
Its standard help functions support application assistance on multiple levels:
the application, the windows, the panes, and the fields.
An application’s help can be extended by an index, a library, a FAQ, and search facilities. |
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Furthermore, HelpServer’s open standards allow companies to build custom integrations. |
HelpServer Assist
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HelpServer Assist is a new HelpServer feature to guide users as they do their work on web applications. As the user moves through a web application, HelpServer Assist displays vital information in a separate browser window. This window is a central location for help and support services, for troubleshooting and tutorials. |
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In addition, as the mouse moves over important fields in the target application, contextual information appears automatically as a tooltip over the field. This kind of contextual information can also be displayed at the bottom of the Assist window. |
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Future releases will support this functionality on desktop applications. |
Multiple content formats
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HelpServer provides a fast and simple way to add and organize all kinds of
existing documents: text, engineering drawings, images, audio, video, HTML, PDF, and so
on. For some types, metadata for search and retrieval is automatically created.
For other types, such as Word™ documents,
the files can be granulated to form discrete chunks of information with the hierarchic structure and the styles preserved. |
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The ability to handle new content formats in the future is a core feature of the system. |
Importing files and folders with drag
and drop
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You can import entire folder trees and all the files from your desktop by means of drag and drop. The entire folder tree is recreated and the files are kept in HelpServer’s database under the control of the integrity mechanism. Active links to files are registered, and files that are no longer referred to are removed automatically. |
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The ability to handle new content formats in the future is a core feature of the system. |
Exporting multiple output formats
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Any HelpServer folder or topic can be extracted from HelpServer’s database into a
fixed PDF, XML, structured HTML, Html Help, or Java Help file.
HelpServer uses PDF to support printed documents. Future releases will support other output formats. |
Conversion of RoboHelp projects
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You can convert RoboHelp projects created with RoboHelp Classic or
RoboHelp for Word to HelpServer folders and topics preserving links and
context-sensitive help. After convertion you can edit and maintain the information
in HelpServer. Converting projects from other tools in future releases is foreseen in the system. |
Conversion Winhelp projects
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Existing WinHelp projects can be converted to a HelpServer content folder. You simply drag and drop the Winhelp project file on the HelpServer Workbench and it will be converted into a full application help project or a documentation project. |
Conversion Word documents
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Word documents can be easily granulated to form discrete chunks of information with the hierarchic structure and the styles preserved. The ability to granulate other kinds of files or documentation projects in the future is a core feature of the system. |
Conversion AuthorIT XML
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You can convert XML from existing AuthorIT projects by dragging the XML file and dropping it on the HelpServer Workbench. |
Smartcontent & personalization
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HelpServer uses "smartcontent" to deliver relevant and focused knowledge.
Intelligence can be added to any content object on the basis of, for example,
an enterprise’s business units, the roles people have in a company, or the experience level people have in performing a task.
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Users can further personalize the information by adding their own comments or notes to a content object,
which are then stored in HelpServer’s database. |
Conditional paragraphs
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Small pieces of text or one or more paragraphs that
need to be displayed or printed conditionally can be marked with special tags. |
Globalization
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Multiple languages can be made available in the same HelpServer installation.
The multilingual authoring environment then enables translators to keep all translated
topics tightly together to facilitate the translation process. |
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Documents may combine localized content with content in a "fall back"
language, such as English. If a content object is not available in a specific language
then it is automatically replaced by its generic counterpart. |
Translation support
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Content can be submitted for external translation to translator companies of your choice.
The content is extracted from the HelpServer platform and can be automatically passed to language suppliers
or agencies where it is translated. As soon as the translation has finished the translated content is automatically
retrieved and is moved back into HelpServer’s lifecycle. |
Localized interface in French, German, Dutch, or Japanese
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HelpServer’s interface is by default available in English. But it can be provided in French, German, Dutch, or Japanese, and other languages on request (delivery time is 1 month after request). |
Spelling checking
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HelpServer uses a spelling checker equipped with lexicons in American English,
British (international) English, Canadian English, and 11 European languages.
These lexicons can be extended by special domain lexicons and customized lexicons. |
Versioning
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HelpServer’s versioning system enables you to save and to restore older copies of content. On publish a new copy of an object is created and linked to the original object. The copy is tagged with a timestamp and you can provide a version number or a name. The trail of previous copies is preserved and can be tracked, viewed, restored, or removed. The versioning can be switched on/off. It can be manual or automatic |
Metadata
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Metadata are field/value combinations that are attached to content so that it can more easily be managed, retrieved, and searched for. Those fields/values are defined by the administrator and linked to folder and topic classes. |
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When authors add folders and topics they can be prompted to assign or select values for one or more of the fields. Some of those values can be assigned automatically. If allowed, the metadata can be changed in the folder or topic properties afterwards. |
Templates
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You can create templates to determine the structure, security, style, content, and properties of other objects. The ability to base new objects on a template can be switched on/off in the folder and topic classes. A template can be preselected in a class or the author can select a template on creation of a new object. |
Separation of content and structure
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HelpServer’s object model enables content to be organized and assembled into
multiple virtual documents without duplication of information.
Changes made to any of the content objects are immediately active in all of the documents. |
Cross browser/cross platform
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Information is presented in the web browser. The pages are in plain HTML
that conforms strictly to W3C recommendations. This means that HelpServer can be used
with virtually any commercial browser of recent history. |
Customizable look and feel
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HelpServer uses schemes to specify the way in which the information is laid
out and presented to the user in his web browser. Even more, every user or group of
users can have a specific interface. |
Reusable and shareable components
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Applications, customers, and business partners share a single knowledge
source. The same piece of content can be reused in several assets without losing
visibility of the impact of changing it. This prevents redundancy and thus enhances
manageability. |
Simplified team authoring
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Authoring is performed in an environment designed to enhance and ease maintenance
of content by non-technical authors working in a team.
No actions are required to create platform specific files that need to be distributed.
A simple click enables the authors to publish their work as soon as it is finished. |
Structured authoring
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You can control the kinds of items that can be added at a specific point in a document structure.
By enforcing structure rules, the authors are guided through the available items while creating documents.
This helps them work more efficiently and it enables formatting according to company standards. |
Web-based authoring
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Authors are able to change topics displayed in the web
browser "on the spot" simply by switching to HelpServer’s edit mode,
which invokes the integrated environment in their web browser.
This feature allows immediate reactions to sudden, perhaps temporary conditions. |
Collaborative authoring
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HelpServer provides a team-authoring environment with an automatic and/or manual check out/check in procedure with exclusive locks for editing. Authors simply cannot work concurrently on the same object (folder, topic, etc). While an author makes changes, others are only able to view the changed object. When the author has finished, he can release the object(s) for use by others. |
Server-based content
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All data are stored as objects in a database. Each data request is responded
to immediately from this data source. HelpServer manages its records automatically from
creation through destruction. This approach ensures integrity, eliminates broken links,
and enables data to be easily kept up to date. |
Offline content
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Users can export the content they are viewing into files stored on their local disk. This ‘offline content’ can than be used when they the online access to HelpServer’s database is temporary unavailable. |
XML support
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All content objects are stored in XML format. XML has become the standard
for inter-enterprise collaboration. It ensures multipurpose use of knowledge and
enables an entire suite of customers, business partners, and employees to be supported.
HelpServer also applies this language to integrate with legacy data. |
Scalability
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Scalability is a critical issue since the amount of information in an
enterprise increases every year. HelpServer’s underlying architecture is designed to
accommodate virtually unlimited growth. In a multiserver environment, HelpServer takes
full advantage of techniques such as load balancing to provide high-performance responds.
And for huge-volume transactions, HelpServer’s multiplatform technology enables the mainframe as an environment. |
Security
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HelpServer’s security model is simple and effective. It uses a permission
mechanism to determine what functions can be executed by whom, and user-based and
role-based permissions can be assigned to define precisely who can read, change,
or delete specific content objects.
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Import user accounts
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You can import user accounts from other resources such as Window’s Active Directory to the HelpServer database. This prevents the administrator from redefining these accounts.
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