How to choose a Help Authoring Tool?

Published in

SoftServe TechComm

9 min readApr 8, 2024

DISCLAIMER: This article is based on extensive practical experience of SoftServe Technical Communicators and produced using Generative AI — Microsoft Copilot. Copilot assisted me in analyzing the presentations in PowerPoint, meeting recordings in Teams, and summarizing the materials in Word.

SPOILER: At the end of the article, there is a comprehensive diagram to help you with your selection. Keep reading😊

In today’s fast-paced world, where technology is constantly evolving, it’s essential for companies to provide their customers with comprehensive and easy-to-understand documentation. Help Authoring Tools (HAT) are software applications that enable Technical Writers and documentation teams to create, manage, and publish help content in various formats. In this article, you’ll explore the benefits of using different Help Authoring Tools, the features to look for when selecting a tool, and some popular options available on the market.

Let’s start with old but gold MadCap Flare and RoboHelp, that are quite popular Help Authoring Tools among Technical Communicators (TCs).

MadCap Flare

MadCap Flare is a powerful tool that helps writers create and manage content for multiple outputs from a single source.

Flare is known for its flexibility, with the ability to customize templates and create unique outputs. It offers a range of features, including an XML editor, flexible templates, and the ability to use CSS to customize the look and feel of outputs. Flare also provides nearly 20 out-of-the-box templates for both HTML and PDF outputs, which greatly simplifies the work of Tech Writers. Besides, support is included in the license, and there is a lot of educational content online. It helps Technical Communicators do their actual job and not spend their time on template creation.

MadCap Flare also offers a cloud-based platform, MadCap Central, which facilitates the review process with subject matter experts and provides analytics on user search phrases and viewed topics.

However, MadCap Flare has a steep learning curve and is old school in design. Besides, it can be difficult to use because of its numerous options and buttons, which overkill efforts for small projects. Another drawback is the license pricing, which might be a huge obstacle to obtaining the tool for a project.

Adobe RoboHelp

Adobe RoboHelp is a tool that assists in creating, managing, and publishing interactive and responsive help documentation as well as knowledge bases across various platforms and devices.

RoboHelp allows for different outputs to be generated and for responsive authoring, which enables the creation of content that adapts to different devices and screen sizes. Despite the editing possibilities in What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG), the interface may take some time to learn. And it is important to have a basis of HTML and CSS knowledge to fix glitches that may occur while using the tool as it is not perfect.

Besides, in RoboHelp, there is no option to create permissions for user roles to preview eligible outputs — only condition tags are possible in the topics, which is not always convenient. Thus, the developers need to back up the TCs for creating permissions when needed.

To the nowadays taste, the outputs created in RoboHelp may appear slightly old-fashioned, and there is a predefined structure that cannot be fully customized, as opposed to MadCap Flare. Frankly speaking, not all output features may be visible after generation, and there may be multiple bugs in the help system, such as image size, table of contents breaks, and non-functional thumbnails.

One more thing that might add extra work is that styles created for one output in a RoboHelp file may not be re-created in the same output in another RoboHelp file because each output may have its own predefined structure.

Meanwhile, the chatbot implementation might not succeed either. When Technical Writers were trying to implement chatbot, they found only one webinar on how to integrate it with Google Chatbot and hardly any documentation or other helpful resources to assist with the procedure itself.

And now, let’s explore some other tools that SoftServe Technical Communicators use less frequently: Docusaurus, ProProfs, and Oxygen.

Docusaurus

Docusaurus is a static site generator that supports markdown and customization. It is quite easy to use and has an intuitive interface.

I’m sure that your Product Owner will like that the tool is free. Docusaurus also provides out-of-the-box documentation features and is easy to install. You can customize layouts, styling, themes, and other UI aspects that are needed for your convenient work and editing. Docusaurus supports search functionality through Algolia DocSearch, Typesense DocSearch, Local Search, or a custom SearchBar component. It supports localization, allowing documentation to be translated into multiple languages that may come in handy for international projects. Also, it allows for versioning of documentation (that was not presented in the previous tools).

However, while Docusaurus provides a high level of customization, it may not be as flexible as building a site from scratch. It has a learning curve, and it may take some time to become familiar with the features and capabilities. Docusaurus is primarily designed for creating documentation websites and may not have all the features and functionality of a full-fledged content management system. It does not have a visual editor, but TCs can use a quota editor to preview markdown files. Docusaurus is not a cloud-based platform but a static site generator that needs to be downloaded and installed locally. Users also need to host their documentation on a server or a service like GitHub Pages. It has fewer features than Document360, such as conditional display, private notes, templates, variables, snippets, and glossary.

ProProfs

ProProfs is a Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that offers a wide range of solutions and cloud products: knowledge base, training software, quiz maker, live chat, help desk, CRM, etc.

IMPORTANT: My colleague has experience only with the ProProfs online knowledge base (KB), so the information further concerns only this service. ProProfs KB has both a WYSIWYG and an HTML editor view that is regulated by the customizable CSS stylesheet. The interface is user-friendly and intuitive. ProProfs KB is best for online usage, as PDF outputs may have corrupted formatting.

The tool also offers single sourcing, feedback collection, and statistics tracking. One more strong point is extensive, though complicated, restrictions and permissions for setting up view and edit rights for internal and external users. You can show or hide folders and individual topics for different users.

Internal commenting for TCs makes it more convenient to review each other’s work and cooperate. However, it is impossible for two people to work in one topic simultaneously.

As for the experienced cons, ProProfs KB has reoccurring bugs and issues that affect the speed of TC’s work and the quality of the final output. Also, ProProfs does not provide release notes of its updates and changes, making it difficult for Tech Writers to keep track of the new features and fixes.

Oxygen XML Editor

Oxygen XML Editor that has a predefined data structure that follows topic-based authoring principles.

Oxygen supports multiple languages and formats, such as XML, HTML, DITA, JSON. It also has content validation. Technical Communicators that work with it a lot state that they have a bug-free experience.

However, Oxygen has an old-fashioned interface. There is a possibility to generate PDFs from Oline Help, but they are a little bit odd. Also, there are no user permission settings, and since Oxygen XML Editor is a desktop application, it is not a collaborative tool.

And the cherry on top — the tools that have already integrated Gen AI to support TCs in their work.

Document360

Document360 is a cloud-based Markdown tool that offers an intuitive interface, efficient publishing, and the ability to create custom workflows.

The interface is user-friendly and modern, so you get the pleasure from working with the tool. Also, it integrates with Microsoft Teams and allows for the integration of rich media and conditional display of topics for different reader groups. The creation of private notes for authors and reviewers is possible as well, which is helpful when working with multiple Technical Communicators on the project. You can review content created by other TCs faster and work together in one file. Additionally, Tech Writers can customize CSS and landing pages, create templates, variables, snippets, and glossaries.

AI-powered assistant (Eddy) may help you reduce customer support tickets and provide valuable recommendations with your content creation.

However, Document360 has limited version comparison, namely inability to compare workflow versions — only published versions. Also, the API docs add-on has a rather limited functionality. And the biggest con that may stop your Product Owner from approving the license purchase is that the enterprise pricing starts from $600 per month.

Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer support platform that provides a ticketing system, a community, and a knowledge base. Zendesk also offers automation, workflow management, reporting, and analytics. It has a huge integration ecosystem and provides customization and branding options.

Zendesk has an intuitive interface, quick publishing, and smart features, but it offers limited editor options. Zendesk has two types of editors, one of which is WYSIWYG, and the other is HTML. The WYSIWYG editor has basic capabilities such as formatting headings, paragraph lists, code snippets, images, videos, and tables.

Zendesk also has an article status feature that allows tracking edits and updates and scheduling the publishing of articles. The tool offers features such as content cues and AI-generated suggestions that are convenient for:

Creating articles based on tickets raised by users.
Archiving or editing articles that are not getting views.
Updating articles that get a lot of views.

Zendesk provides editor license with a range of permissions to adjust to every need. The Tech Writer who shared the feedback on Zendesk has the most limited license, which doesn’t let to perform a lot. However, the admins have all permissions possible, editor options, and single-sourcing functionality.

IMPORTANT: Heretto analysis is based only on the demo sessions provided by the Heretto team, our team has no practical experience with this tool yet.

Heretto

Heretto is a cloud-based app with collaborative tools helping users to write faster.

In this tool TCs may view project information, switch between branches, track translations, and see how changes will look for the end users while editing. Heretto supports multiple languages and formats, including API, CCMS, HTML, DITA, with customizable author and XML editor modes that allow working with DITA elements. Heretto is more expensive than Oxygen XML Editor, but it can combine all the main needs into one tool. It requires Developer support to create permissions for end-users as lots of the mentioned above.

The in-built AI assistant (Etto) is the most valuable feature, as it greatly supports TCs in their work.

Conclusion

Help Authoring Tools are essential for Technical Writers and documentation teams to create, manage, and publish comprehensive and easy-to-understand help content. There are various options available on the market, each with its set of features, advantages, and drawbacks. MadCap Flare and RoboHelp are powerful tools that offer flexibility and customization but have a steep learning curve, where MadCap Flare can be expensive and RoboHelp — cheaper. Tools like Document360, Docusaurus, and ProProfs offer intuitive interfaces and efficient publishingbut can have limited functionality. Oxygen is an XML editor with content validation , but it has an old-fashioned interface and limited collaborative features. Zendesk and Heretto are tools that have integrated AI to additionally support Technical Communicators in their work.

Ultimately, the choice of the tool depends on the specific needs and requirements of the current project. It is important to consider factors, such as

The size and complexity of the project.
The desired outputs and formats.
The integration with other tools.
The level of customization and flexibility required.
The number of people involved in the project (including support from Developers).
The budget available for purchasing a license or subscription.
The learning curve and ease of use of the tool.
The viewing permissions for the target audience.

By carefully evaluating these factors and comparing the features and capabilities of different Help Authoring Tools, you can make an informed decision and select the tool that best meets your project’s needs.

My fellow colleague, Vasylyna Burger helped me a lot and made the following diagram. Enjoy the ease of choosing your best matching HAT!