My Help Authoring Tool Manifesto

Adobe RoboHelp,MadCap Flare,MadCap,Adobe,Technical Writing,Technical Communication,Online Collaboration

I’m not perfect. I just check details if I’m going to bother to examine something at all. I’m within the circle in this industry. Probably to a greater degree than either Bill or Sarah since I physically deal with the product managers and software code developers. It’s the wings and beer connection and the fact that most of these eHelp people belonged to a family when they worked there.

Doesn’t mean I got tipped to Macromedia merging with Adobe. I had lunch in MACR’s SF lunchroom just a week prior and was just as surprised as everyone else. I was independently repping a media study for a great analyst firm at the time and even THEY were surprised.

Who Am I To Adobe And MadCap

I strongly believe that more innovation comes from a commitment to the end user and the ability to commit to listening to their conversation. I also believe that competition breeds a better product. That’s capitalism, right?

However, I’m into the truth. I’m into playing fair.

Let me be clear about this relationship. I get heavily discounted software from sources within Adobe and MadCap Software, mainly, among other vendors. I give them an honest, unbiased opinion which is valued by some and reviled by others.

I’m not an employee of Adobe or MadCap Software. I will, however, be looking into providing Help Authoring Tool services to my clients in the future and Adobe’s not impressed me with the RoboHelp solution to date. As you may have guessed from my posts.

I have been part of software beta testing for both companies however not for competing products at the same time, i.e. I don’t Beta test for MadCap Mimic and Adobe Captivate or Adobe RoboHelp and MadCap Flare. One year I’ll do Captivate and Flare, another year it will be other products.

Well, at least that was the plan up until RH6 came out and I started publishing my research.

I am very respectful of Intellectual Property and do not cross my Non-Disclosure Agreements. IP is bread-and-butter for a lot of people, and innovation is to be cherished, like a great tactical chess move gaining an advantage on the board.

To date, I have not received monetary compensation from either MadCap Software, Adobe, or any other HAT or eLearning software author. I sometimes get some cool swag like t-shirts and my kid has a killer Adobe bookbag. I don’t work booths at trade shows and unlike some bi-vendor technical communicators, the only logo’d items at these events you’ll see me wearing belong to my own company.

I personally like RJ Jacquez, but I will pound him in my statements for being untruthful if I catch him doing so. RJ’s done some spinning in the past year that MonkeyPi brought him to task about, and with RoboHelp he’s unfortunately drawn the short straw and been given a pig to put lipstick on. I just believe in Corporate Authenticity.

Doesn’t mean I won’t buy him a beer afterwards. He’s a heck of a nice guy. He might not take me up on it though.

Let me be clear about why I write.

Easy:I believe that more companies should work according to the Cluetrain Manifesto principles. Web 2.0 is an example of how this concept of integrating user feedback has grown from Cluetrain’s 1999 dotcom era Manifesto.

It’s ethical to let other people decide what the facts mean to them. To give them information to make their own observations on.

I’m an insider who worked in the industry at the ground level and saw how the wheels turned for the winning Superbowl team who won, year after year. It’s like working for the Indianapolis Colts, and watching some of the same players playing for other teams. eHelp was that team because of their players. How well would the Colts play without Peyton Manning, or without their entire defensive line?

Adobe got the name of the team, but cleaned out the roster. That isn’t what a coach or team owner does if they intend to keep winning. It is what they do when they want to cut spending and fly on fumes, coasting along to maximize profits.

Likewise, I will pound MadCap Software for being untruthful if I catch them doing so. So far, their marketing engine has not redlined my BS detection. Their confidence in providing a better product  - well, they tend to back it up.

By pound, I mean to at first request clarification, and if the spin starts getting too out of control, request more clarification. If there’s still spin, or a refusal to answer, then I post my question with my raw data research and let the free market figure it out.

I may sound partial to MadCap - well, I was on the fence about this whole thing until RoboHelp 6 was released. I was still very impartial, yet critical of Adobe until they lined up and shot their RoboHelp brain trust.

After that, I started analyzing what I now call the RoboHelp Timeline. My analysis was rooted around the request of a longtime client in what they should use going forward. What would save them the most money, and assist them in their own Software Configuration Management.

I have been reporting what I’ve discovered since then pretty much as it happens. Mostly as a cautionary update to Adobe, after all, if they’re reading it, they can change things.

I’m betting that not much will change with Adobe. I don’t think that big ship can turn fast enough. And I’m ashamed at the innaccuracies with the stories I’ve heard.