Help Authoring Tools to Create High-Quality Documentation for Your Application

When working with various applications, such as word processors, image editors, email clients, file managers, and more specialized software, we often encounter issues. These issues can be related to the user interface of the application, or they may be related to a specific task that requires us to receive relevant information and instructions on how to complete it.

Fortunately, in most popular applications, you can find a help file. As a rule, the help file contains the Table of Contents, an alphabetical index, and the ability to search for topics by specific keywords. In addition, context-sensitive help allows the application to open a relevant topic depending on the function or window that you are currently working with.

By the way, many web services provide access to help documentation, which the developers have taken care of by including a Help section where users can find the information they need.

What are the Benefits of an Integrated Help System?

For an application developer, a help system can be useful for performing tasks such as:

1. Training of users on how to use the application.
2. The ability for the user to easily find information about how to install, use, get support for, and license the product.
3. Quick access to help for specific features of the application.
4. Reduction of technical support expenses.

How to Create High-Quality Documentation

Application developers understand the importance of a well-documented help system and know that to create one, they need to follow certain principles and carefully choose the help authoring tools. The selection of documentation software depends on various factors, including the required documentation formats, collaboration features, and budget.

To create high-quality technical documentation, a technical writer should also take into account several key factors.

1. Clear structure: A well-organized structure helps users navigate through the documentation easily.
2. Simple and concise content: Ambiguous or complex language can confuse users. Using simple and clear language is essential.
3. Logical flow: Organizing information logically ensures easy reading and comprehension.
4. Correct terminology: Choosing the right words and technical terms helps avoid confusion.
5. Tailored content: Adapting the content to the user's level of technical skills ensures they find the information they need quickly.
6. The use of screenshots and images to complement the text and make it more visually appealing.
7. Providing a full-text search function to help users find the information they need more easily.
8. Improving the overall design theme of the help system to make it more user-friendly.
9. Integration of the help file with the application or web-service.

Help Authoring Tools for Creating Documentation and Help Files

Among the tools for creating help files and documents, we can highlight such traditional applications as Adobe RoboHelp and MadCap Flare, which are professional tools capable of handling any tasks related to documentation creation. Software developers also often choose Help and Manual, which is another help authoring tool that provides a wide range of features for creating help files. However, a significant drawback of these tools is their price, which can exceed the budget of small companies. Fortunately, there are now alternative products available that provide a full range of features at a price that is more affordable, even for small companies or individual developers.

Affordable Help Authoring Tool with All the Necessary Features

One such solution is HelpSmith, a help file creation tool which is known for its intuitive interface, full set of features, and slight learning curve. Today this help authoring tool includes everything you need to create help files and documentation in various formats, including web-based help system, Windows help files in the .CHM format, and PDF documents. If you are familiar with Markdown, the help authoring tool allows you to import and export your documentation in this format as well, making it easy to transfer content between different programs and platforms with Markdown support.

While HelpSmith has numerous features, it can be a little more challenging to use than a regular text editor like Microsoft Word or Google Docs. By the way, the HelpSmith's text editor does borrow some functionality from MS Word. You will find a standard set of heading styles (Heading 1, Heading 2, and Heading 3), Normal, List, and Table styles available, which can be used to quickly setup and update the formatting of your documentation.

And for those who prefer to edit text formatting using standard tools, it even provides the Format Painter option. This tool works in the same way as it does in Word: you select the text with the desired formatting, then click the Format Painter button and select the text that you want to apply the style settings to.

You can also use Format Painter to apply formatting to multiple pieces of text simultaneously by double-clicking on it. For example, you can use this tool to quickly create numbered lists, which are often found in technical documentation. As a result, it allows you to focus on writing the content and design the look of your texts with ease.

Integrated Image Tool for Creating Screenshots and Annotations for Images

Another feature of the HelpSmith help authoring tool is its integrated image editor, which makes it easy to create and edit screenshots. Additionally, the Image Tool allows users to add various annotations, such as texts, shapes, and arrows, to focus the user's attention on specific elements in the screenshot. This allows you to create more comprehensive help documentation, where users can understand the instructions even without reading the texts of instructions.

Another interesting feature of the built-in Image Tool is the ability to create help files and documentation for the application's user interfaces.

This process works as follows:

1. Capture a screenshot of the application or website.
2. Add control annotations for UI elements.
3. Export the control annotations directly to a help topic.
4. Provide a description for each UI element in the topic.

It should be said that the annotation texts and their appearance, when added to a screenshot, can be edited and updated at any time. This also applies to annotations that have been uploaded to a topic. HelpSmith will simply update the list of annotations in the topic, retaining your own texts.

Creating Help Files with Code Samples in Various Programming Languages

If you are a developer who needs to include code examples in your documentation, HelpSmith offers a useful feature for you. The built-in syntax highlighter allows you to insert code written in various programming languages, such as C++, VB.NET, PHP, and JavaScript. At the same time, the syntax highlighting works directly within the topic editor, allowing you to make changes to the code directly within the code block.

In addition, you can customize the appearance, maximum height, and other settings for the code block in the settings, depending on the documentation format it will be exported to.

Summary

The process of creating help documentation is a specialized field that is occupied by both software developers and web service providers, as well as professional technical writers. If you delegate the task of writing documentation for your product, it is important for the technical writer to understand and follow the principles of documentation creation mentioned in this article. They should also understand the subject matter of your product and approach the choice of help authoring tools based on the specific needs of the project.