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This FAQ answers a handful of the most common questions people have when they are looking for systems to support content management, documentation management, knowledge management, and user assistance.
What is HelpServer
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HelpServer is a multi-platform, web-based solution to manage enterprise content. Teams of authors can create structured content in reusable and shareable objects. This enables them to keep up with the growth of information in easy to maintain projects. These projects can support documentation management, knowledge management, content management, or context-sensitive application help.
HelpServer is designed to access content in real time over the Internet. The HelpServer content objects remain in a database on a web server. People all over the world can access the content in real time over the Internet. Security and integrity are completely handled by HelpServer's server engine. Authors activate new content and changes to existing content by means of a click.
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Why HelpServer
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It is estimated that content is growing by 60% to 200% each year. Companies are drowning in information spread out all over the organization. So CIOs are asking themselves:
| • | How they can manage all that content. | |
| • | How they can respond quickly to customers’ needs. | |
| • | How they can enhance the usability of enterprise applications. | |
| • | How they can react efficiently to business opportunities. | |
| • | How they can anticipate constant changes. | |
They find themselves forced to support multiple systems for documentation management, knowledge management, and user assistance. They use authoring tools that produce static content in files that need to be distributed. This process is error prone as files get lost, links are broken, and the information goes out of date. The content is hard to maintain and after changes everything has to be redistributed.
HelpServer on the other hand supports real time access of content over the Internet.
This is a totally different approach. Sure, you can still export content in files. But because of the server-based/web-based concept the authors can activate new content and changes to existing content for the web by means of a simple click. They do not need to export and distribute everything again when only one part of the documentation has changed.
With HelpServer you have a single standards-based infrastructure for managing enterprise content in an affordable way and authors are able to spend more time working on improving the content.
The HelpServer software can either be purchased (in which case it will be hosted on your proprietary web server) or can be rented as SaaS.
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Is HelpServer just another authoring tool
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HelpServer’s solution differs from others because of its server based/web based architecture.
This makes HelpServer much more than an authoring tool. HelpServer is a multi-platform, web-based solution for the organization and management of all kinds of content throughout an enterprise.
It is based on server-side-scripting and can be deployed as a content management system and as a help system. It is equipped with a multi-authoring tool for managing complex document structures and CMS projects. Because of its server based/web based concept even geographically dispersed authors can easily work together over the Internet. And when the work is done, they do not need to worry about delivering or distributing the result. Changes to content are activated for the web by means of a click.
With HelpServer you have a single standards-based infrastructure for managing enterprise content in an affordable way.
| • | Customers, business partners, and company employees have real time and secured access to information over the Internet. | |
| • | Companies can increase the value of their content by linking it to existing web and desktop applications. | |
| • | Content authors can work in teams in projects with manageable objects over the Internet. | |
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What are the benefits
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HelpServer is comprehensive multi platform system with advantages concentrated around three main areas.
| • | Enhanced user assistance. | |
| • | Simplified content authoring. | |
| • | Reduced training and system costs. | |
Enhanced user assistance
| • | Knowledge workers can reduce the time it takes to locate information by providing the right information at the right place. | |
| • | Content is no longer restricted to specific geographics. It can be organized and distributed according to the needs of a company’s business units or its business processes. | |
| • | The usability of enterprise applications can be increased by linking them to active content. | |
| • | End users will become more productive because they can easily find all of the information that is related to their task in their own language. | |
| • | Collaboration with customers, company employees, and business partners can be enhanced because they have a single customized interface to personalized information. | |
| • | A server-based approach insures a high level of integrity, prevents broken links, keeps information up to date, and so increases the quality of enterprise content. | |
Simplified content authoring
| • | Shareable content components have proven to be able to ease maintenance of documentation and help projects significantly. | |
| • | Content authors do not need technical skills, so they can concentrate on creating content instead of on management and formatting tasks. | |
| • | No additional actions are required to create platform specific files that need to be distributed. As soon as a content object is ready, it can be published to the user community by means of a simple click. | |
| • | An application’s help items are defined on the "fly", no scanning of resources is required, no more time-wasting elaborations with programmers and web designers. | |
Reduced training and system costs
| • | Training and integration costs can be reduced by providing web and desktop applications with a high quality help system that meets the end user’s needs. | |
| • | HelpServer is a genuine web application. For user assistance on different platforms, a web-based approach is the only good, affordable, long-term solution. | |
| • | Information that can be reused by different projects on different platforms shortens content development cycles and maintenance significantly. | |
| • | Some systems require additional software to be installed on the client side; others are based on proprietary word processors or authoring tools. Content management software and solutions become fragmented and costly. HelpServer helps cutting costs because it is a complete infrastructure with a built-in authoring tool and no need for client-side installation. | |
| • | With HelpServer you can avoid the costly "big-bang approach". Its scalable architecture enables organizations to choose to implement the most crucial requirements first and to build progressively across multiple business areas. | |
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Is HelpServer available as SaaS
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SaaS or Software as a Service is a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor and made available to customers over the Internet. In other words, the software is not hosted on the customers' individual computers.
Under the HelpServer SaaS model the vendor, 4.ST, is responsible for the creation, updating, and maintenance of the HelpServer CMS software. You, the customer, buy a subscription to access it, which includes a separate license, or seat, for each concurrent author that will use the software. The number of seats can be increased as your business grows. This is usually faster and cheaper than purchasing another license and adding it to another computer, as with traditional software.
Choosing the HelpServer SaaS model has great benefits.
| • | Shifting the burden of software hosting and maintenance to the vendor speeds up the time it takes for you to see a return on the software investment. | |
| • | Compatibility: all your users will have the same version of the software. | |
| • | Easier collaboration , for the same reason. | |
| • | World wide accessibility. | |
| • | No large investment up front, no hardware or software to buy, install, or maintain. | |
| • | Faster implementation: your HelpServer SaaS environment is deployed within minutes. | |
| • | Service and support is automatically included in a HelpServer SaaS contract. | |
SaaS is becoming an increasingly prevalent delivery model as underlying technologies that support Web services and service-oriented architecture ( SOA ) mature and new developmental approaches become popular. Meanwhile, broadband service has become increasingly available to support user access from more areas around the world.
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Can I use HelpServer as a document and file management system
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Many documents based on files that remain on a desktop file system are subject to error sooner or later. Files in a desktop file system can be deleted or removed accidentally. Data integrity is not guaranteed, and content management becomes expensive and time-consuming with the manual tracking of active links and references.
With HelpServer, however, you can add all kinds of files and folders from your desktop to a central repository and neatly organize them in folder structures in HelpServer's Workbench. The files remain under the control of the integrity mechanism. Active links to files are registered, and files that are no longer referred to are removed automatically.
This a major asset: you do not have to be concerned about what happens with your file references when you move an object from one folder to another since links remain active at all times.
If a file is changed, you simply reload it to the Workbench to refresh the contents in the HelpServer database.
For most types, metadata for search and retrieval is automatically created.
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Can I use HelpServer as a knowledge management system
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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.
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.
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Can I integrate HelpServer content in my applications
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HelpServer’s open standards allow you to build custom integrations. The HelpServer content is accessible over the Internet in real time by means of a URL. Applications can launch a web browser, passing this URL and so pop up the requested content as a web page. Additional parameters in the URL allow the HelpServer server engine to compile the content dynamically and in this way you can provide your users with personalized and up-to-date information.
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What kind of legacy content can I load in HelpServer
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The biggest problem faced by large organizations with numerous content providers is legacy content. How do you deal with ageing content with little in the way of central control? HelpServer's authoring tool allows you to convert and load all kinds of content in the HelpServer database.
| • | 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. | |
| • | RoboHelp projects created with RoboHelp Classic or RoboHelp for Word can be converted to HelpServer folders and topics preserving links and context-sensitive help. After conversion you can edit and maintain the information in HelpServer. Converting projects from other tools in future releases is foreseen in the system. | |
| • | 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. | |
| • | You can convert XML from existing AuthorIT projects by dragging the XML file and dropping it on the HelpServer Workbench. | |
| • | Also plain html files can be converted by dragging the files and dropping it on the HelpServer Workbench. | |
| • | FrameMaker projects and pdf files can be converted using the Adobe Acrobat 9 Pro(a product of Adobe Systems) software. | |
| • | Your company's legacy content can be transformed in HelpServer own HelpServer's XML format. And it is ready to be imported in the HelpServer database. | |
| • | You can import content from files that have the .dita or the .ditamap extension. You can also generate output that produces DITA files. Note however, that HelpServer does not yet validate against the DITA scheme. However, you can use a third party tool such as XMetal to create your structured DITA files. | |
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What kind of output formats are supported
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The HelpServer content can be exported or extracted from the database into a variety of formats:
| | • | Pure, structured html, a typical web resource type. | |
| | • | PDF, to support printed output. | |
The export function can be performed in the Workbench by authors but also users who browse information in the web browser can engage the export function. This can be an alternate way to use content when Internet based access to HelpServer’s database is unavailable. Furthermore, if the optional notification system is engaged people can be warned when their offline output has changed so that they can re-export it.
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Is DITA supported
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You can import content from files that have the .dita or the .ditamap extension. You can also generate output that produces DITA files. Note however, that HelpServer does not yet validate against the DITA scheme. However, you can use a third party tool such as XMetal to create your structured DITA files.
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Does HelpServer support dynamic content
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The way HelpServer supports dynamic content is unique in its kind. It is called 'Smartcontent'.
HelpServer offers a unique feature to deliver the right content to the right people over the web. It is called 'Smartcontent' and it is the most important feature of the HelpServer software. The concept is about real-time personalized dynamic content for users. There is no need to write scripts nor are any programming skills required. Instead, the dynamic character of the content in HelpServer relies on conditions defined in the system. These conditions can for example be based on an enterprise’s business units, or the roles people have in a company, or the experience level people have in performing a task.
Authors create content that relates to all the conditions. Even small pieces of text or one or more paragraphs that need to be displayed or printed conditionally can be marked with special tags that for example represent different audience segments. All content is nicely kept together in HelpServer's Workbench to facilitate maintenance and translation.
When people browse the content the HelpServer server engine evaluates the condition by means of settings in the user profile, the occurrence of predefined events, or variable/value pairs entered in the URL or provided by an exit routine. Next, the server dynamically compiles the chunks of content that match with the result of the conditions. And in this way, people can browse, export, or print their preferred content without having to hunt for it.
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Does HelpServer support multiple languages
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HelpServer is a multi-lingual authoring environment with double-byte support and fully Unicode content authoring support. 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 maintenance.
Documents may combine globalized 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.
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What are the security concepts
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As more and more information is available on the web, securing that data becomes increasingly important. In the HelpServer CMS a basic security mechanism handles a common security profile for the entire content collection. In environments where different people have access to the content then different parts of the content might require a distinguished security setup. In that case setting up and maintaining the security can become a burden for your business. And that's where HelpServer's extended security feature comes in.
This feature allows the set up of multiple security profiles necessary to control the access to content for different kinds of user communities and/or authors. Each security profile grants the required permissions to the user accounts and is attached to a specific project or a subset of the content objects. The result is a security model that becomes transparent for the administrator and hence easier to maintain and to extend.
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How is team authoring supported
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HelpServer provides a team-authoring environment that uses a shared, object-based content database that provides excellent support for day-to-day collaborative authoring activities. A virtual unlimited number of authors can use HelpServer's Workbench in team to create, maintain, translate, review, and publish content in real time over the Internet.
The HelpServer Workbench uses an automatic check out/check in procedure with exclusive locks for editing. Authors simply cannot work concurrently on the same object. 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.
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Is structured authoring supported
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Structured authoring is a method of writing and arranging content that relies on rules and a way to enforce these rules. It also separates content from structure and presentation. Structured authoring improves the management of information by creating a consistent content structure that is used throughout a document or in a project. This structure helps to create smaller chunks of information that are stored in reusable objects.
In HelpServer you achieve this by defining content architectures and documentation standards through the use of classes. Once defined, these classes guide content through the development process. This approach may restrict you at first, but it saves time in the end by forcing documentation to be complete, consistent, and designed for re-purposing.
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Are structure and content separated
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Something that is mentioned a lot is the importance of separating structure from content. Understanding the difference between structure and content can be difficult at first, especially if you're used to not thinking about the semantic structure of a document.
In HelpServer's Workbench you do not work with the actual content objects. Instead, all content objects (folders, topics, etc) you see in the Workbench are in fact references (i.e. links) to content objects. You can compare these references with the shortcuts in Windows Explorer. However, in Windows Explorer you have also access to the actual content objects (the files and the folders) while in the HelpServer Workbench the actual content objects are hidden and are only manipulated by the system.
This approach allows a full separation of structure and content and it makes reusing an object just a matter of copying and pasting. In this sense, you are not just separating things in one place, you are bringing them together in another.
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How easy is it to reuse and share content
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The HelpServer repository is a single web based content source shared by applications, customers, business partners, and authors. You can reuse a content object in several assets without losing visibility of the impact of changing it just by means of a copy/paste or a drag/drop operation. This prevents redundancy and updates to reused content cascade everywhere, ensuring content accuracy for all deliverables. So, people can easily reuse content throughout the entire organization, leveraging existing content in future documents.
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How are broken links handled
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In HelpServer your content is stored as objects in a central database. The server manages these objects from creation through destruction. If you add a new object the system allocates the object for you and you actually work with the reference of the new object. If you rearrange objects in a folder you rearrange the references. If you copy or cut an object and then paste it, you paste the reference. And if you remove an object you remove its reference. So, the remove function operates on the reference to a content object and never on the actual content object. If after removal the system detects that there are still references left to the data object then it will not be deleted, only the reference is removed. This approach ensures integrity and eliminates broken links
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Is the look and feel customizable
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HelpServer fully separates the presentation from the content by means of page styles. This kind of separation lets you factor out repetition and shared aspects, and deal with them just once. In this way controlling the presentation of a document becomes much easier and the same document can be presented in several ways. Even more, every user or group of users can have a specific interface to the same content.
HelpServer's page styles are very flexible, require no scripting or programming skills, and meet the requirements of most help and documentation projects.
HelpServer’s adaptable look and feel enables you to determine the way in which navigation bars, action bars, and the body of all the HelpServer web pages are laid out and presented to the user within his browser window. You can change the background and foreground colors, the font size and style, the icons, and the look of the buttons. You can also add sound effects and animation, select default options, and specify your own custom images.
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Is a spelling checker available
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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.
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How scalable is HelpServer
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HelpServer's underlying architecture is designed to accommodate virtually unlimited growth. In a multi-server environment, HelpServer takes full advantage of techniques such as load balancing to provide high-performance response times. For huge-volume transactions, HelpServer's multi-platform technology enables the mainframe as an environment.
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Do I need an additional text processor or another proprietary software
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HelpServer has its own text-processing tool with editing capabilities comparable to most common text processors. There is no need for other proprietary software.
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Do people need to install something on their PC to access information
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The HelpServer content is accessed in real time over the Internet. HelpServer uses lightweight HTML web pages that conform strictly to W3C recommendations. This means that HelpServer can be used with virtually any commercial browser of recent history. No installation or plug-ins are required.
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What operating systems or platforms does HelpServer run on
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HelpServer is a Java application and can run on virtually any platform that can be equipped with a Java Runtime Engine.
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What kind of web server is required
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By default, HelpServer uses its own web-server. However, HelpServer runs under any web server that can run Java servlets from version 1.2. Your web server should have 'servlet containers', which can be freely downloaded from the web.
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What kind of data-access mechanism is used
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By default, HelpServer uses its own data-access mechanism. However, you can use any database management system that has ODBC (Open Database Connectivity) capabilities.
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How is service and supported handled
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About our Service & Support center
We offer our customers and prospects the possibility to communicate directly with our support team using an interactive web-based Service & Support center. It is actually a remote HelpServer Workbench (running at your side) that is connected to the 4.ST servers.
Sure regular email is a smooth way to communicate, but then your messages are confined to an individual mailbox. And good service and support is much more then a one man's job.
Our Service & Support center on the other hand, stores your entire communication in dedicated folders on our server. Furthermore, you communicate directly with the entire HelpServer support team and your question is automatically delegated to the engineer with the appropriate skill and expertise. Over the years, this approach has proven to be the most effective way to deal with our customers' questions and problems.
Registering to the Service & Support center
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Access to the Service & Support center is restricted to registered customers and prospects. Contact to request a registration. We suggest that you request one registration per trial version and the moment you have acquired a permanent license you can request a registration per licensed HelpServer author.
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The working principles are explained in working in the Service & Support center
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What about the documentation and manuals
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HelpServer's documentation consists of hands-on-training guides. Hands-on-training turns out to be smooth, natural and effective. Everything is explained step by step using simple examples and many, many screen shots. The best way to learn about HelpServer is to install a trial version and to walk through the steps demonstrated in the authoring guides. A link to this content is sent to you when you request a trial version and you can also access the documentation directly from the help menu item in HelpServer's authoring tool. And then you simply have to plunge in and learn from your own experiences.
All documentation remains in 4.ST's own HelpServer production database. It is constantly adapted, extended and improved. We don't provide any files nor printed output. Instead, the documentation is accessible in real time over the Internet. In this way you have access to the latest information at all time. If you like you can always create a printed version (a pdf file) of all or parts of the documentation.
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What is the pricing
What are the license agreements
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