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"PDF just sucks as a help medium" (was: RoboHelp: Ready to Publish...how do I do that?)
Subject:"PDF just sucks as a help medium" (was: RoboHelp: Ready to Publish...how do I do that?) From:Robert Lauriston <robert -at- lauriston -dot- com> To:ASK TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Thu, 14 Jan 2010 10:16:25 -0800
You're comparing apples and oranges. A local online help system is
faster than downloading a PDF because it's local.
When viewing over the Web, I have on several occasions found PDFs
generated with Fast Web View and hosted by a compatible Web server
loaded faster than Web help generated by WebWorks. (Quadralay may have
improved performance, I haven't used releases past WWP 2003.)
PDF isn't the best format for online help, but it's by no means the worst.
On Thu, Jan 14, 2010 at 9:48 AM, Rick Stone <rstone75 -at- kc -dot- rr -dot- com> wrote:
> PDF just sucks big ole rotten swiss cheese as a help medium. Have you
> ever waited eons for a PDF to open? Then try to find what you are
> looking for inside it if you are in a hurry? There simply is no
> comparison between PDF and Help Systems. Now if you want the end user to
> be capable of printing a manual, PDF is useful.
>
> Missy Smith wrote:
>> My new employer wants to make our help system available to our customer to download. What files are needed to create a "portable" help system? Is this still WebHelp?
>>
>> Personally, I don't know why it is so critical to offer a downloadable help system to customers. I can't understand why they can't use a .pdf. All of our products are unique and the manuals are quite navigatable through pdf. Any thoughts?
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