Top 7 Online Help Authoring Tools

Online documentation authoring is tough. And, it’s not getting any easier without the right tools at hand.

Documentation is not a single article covering some topic, but a set of articles united in a single system with the use of structure, content presentation, common look, references, and other means.

Do technical writers need some special tools to produce such a complex product? Sure! Some tools they can buy, and some they already have. Using them right is what matters. Let’s see what those tools are.

Transcript

1. Top 7 Online Help Authoring Tools
2. Online Documentation Platform Brought to you by
3. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors Online documentation authoring is tough. And, it’s not getting any easier without the right tools at hand. Documentation is not a single article covering some topic, but a set of articles united in a single system with the use of structure, content presentation, common look, references, and other means. Do technical writers need some special tools to produce such a complex product? Sure! Some tools they can buy, and some they already have. Using them right is what matters. Let’s see what those tools are.
4. Tool #1—A Keyboard A keyboard for a tech writer is an equivalent of a sword for a knight. Let’s be honest, you are spending more time with your keyboard than with your friends or family. Nowadays keyboards combine comfort, style, and personality. Check out this blog post on modern keyboards to find see for yourself what ‘personality’ means in this context. Warning: there turned out to be a lot of crazy keyboards out there. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
5. Tool #2—Planning Whatever help system you are creating, it is always a good idea to start with planning. This will help you organize the content in a logical way. But don’t mix planning with the actual content creation or it’ll probably result in poor structure and you’ll have to redo it later. If you take planning seriously it will pay off soon. Consider creating a documentation plan. All the vital information will be conveniently stored in one place, your team cooperation will be established, the scope of work defined, etc. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
6. Tool #3—Targeting The idea is simple — you need to know your target audience to produce good content: • Experience level in the knowledge field - determines the language of the documentation, the depth of specific terms explanation, etc. • The overall experience with computer software - determines the technical parts detalization. • Most used software functions. This determines the table of contents structure, the quick links you may want to put on the Start Page, and the overall information flow. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
7. Tool #4—Structuring There are many practical approaches to structuring a document: using text blocks to highlight important notes, using columns, creating mini-TOC in the beginning of a topic, using expandable blocks, using text formatting like bold and underlined text, and much more. To make sure you are always using the right structure, it is a good idea to use several document templates. Each of the templates may represent certain visual structure and may be used for a certain topic type — function reference, concept description, tutorial step, FAQ page, etc. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
8. Tool #5— Proofreading Proofreading is a necessary step in technical content creation. Here are some quick tips: • Read the text the next day/week — this will give you a fresh look at it. • Read out loud — helps you control the rhythm, and catch silly mistakes. • Ask colleagues — this gives your team an editor-like function, without a dedicated editor position. • Use automatic spell checkers — they are not ideal, but they may be useful. • Use text-to-speech systems to listen to your own text being read by a program. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
9. Tool #6—Consistency In order to achieve consistency across the documentation, stick to the rules: • Follow strict naming standards for software functionality, UI elements, actions. • Stick to one sequence of logical parts of a help topic (may differ for different topic types). • Standardize the UI of the documents, and strictly follow this standard. Design is another part of consistency. User manuals are not just plain text, they need to have some design that would coincide with the corporate style, be subtle, and, at the same time, it must be a circuit in the UX mechanism. Details matter here —  warning boxes, readable fonts suited for the occasion, coloring - your user guides should look professional and create positive image for your company. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
10. Tool #7—Documentation Writing Software Based on your needs, your choice of the software may differ. Specific technical writing software is the best tool for specific tasks. So, as a technical communication professional, you may need to have several tools in your arsenal. Since we are talking about online documentation authoring, as a part of the technical communication field, we can’t avoid mentioning our help authoring tool — ClickHelp. It is built specifically for online documentation, FAQs, and tutorials authoring. The word online here means exactly what it means in the Internet era — the content you create goes online with a few clicks. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
11. Summary As you can see, the most important tools are accessible to your right now, and most of them are free! Additional tools may be needed, but the seven tools mentioned above are the basis for good online documentation development. So, go ahead and use them all to produce perfect online documentation for the benefit of your readers. Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors
12. Thanks for watching! Provided to you by ClickHelp.co - best online documentation tool for SaaS vendors. https://twitter.com/ClickHelpNews https://medium.com/@clickhelp http://www.linkedin.com/in/clickhelpsupport Best Help Authoring Tool For Web Application Vendors