exporting to web help

July 19, 2013 20:33

I want to export from Confluence to something like the web help generated by RoboHelp, Flare, WebWorks, or MIF2Go, with JavaScript-based interactive page tree TOC and search.

I can't see how to set that up with HTML Exporter.

Does the DocBook exporter support one of the open-source web help generators or would I have to figure that out for myself?

Eclipse Help could work but it would be harder to integrate into our application than typical web help.

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12 comments

Sabrina Wingfield January 14, 2014 16:21

I would like to export from Confluence to web help, also. Currently, we export to Word, then generate web help through WebWorks Publisher. I would prefer not to have to have the intermediate step of going through Word. We have tried using the Scroll HTML Exporter to export our content, then using DoctoHelp to generate web help, but that was unsuccessful.

I know I could use Confluence as my help and link directly to pages in Confluence, but this is not practical for us.

Are there any suggestions or best practices for generating web help from Confluence?

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Robert Lauriston January 14, 2014 17:30

I'm using Scroll DocBook Exporter and DocBook+WebHelp. Here are my notes (I'm on a Mac so probably some differences using Windows):

instructions:
http://docbook.sourceforge.net/release/xsl/1.76.1/webhelp/docs/content/ch02s01.html

settings:
/opt/local/share/xsl/docbook-xsl/webhelp/build-properties (see attached)

note re "No more DTM IDs are available" error:
http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fhabrahabr.ru%2Fcompany%2Falawar%2Fblog%2F193726%2F
- long story shore: change classpath="${xercesImpl.jar}" to classpath="${xslt-processor-classpath}"

to build:
in Confluence, Tools > Export to DocBook
save .zip
extract .zip file and rename folder to docbook_export - Users/robert/docbook_export/docbook.xml must exist
cd /opt/local/share/xsl/docbook-xsl/webhelp/
ant webhelp

build.properties

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Nils Bier January 15, 2014 09:07

Hi Sabrina,

we are currently working an a template for the Scroll HTML Exporter with a search functionality included.

Besides we've started to develop a Scroll CHM Exporter to export CHM files from Confluence. Currently the CHM Exporter is only available as Beta-Version and only works if your Confluence runs on a windows server.

If this is not a problem for you, we could provide you with this beta version, altough I'd recommend to use the Scroll HTML Exporter with the updated template.

Hope that information helps.

Cheers,
Nils

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Sabrina Wingfield January 15, 2014 15:05

Yes, we would love to try the beta CHM Exporter , as well as the Scroll HTML Exporter with the search functionality. We are currently running Confluence 4.3, but plan to upgrade to the latest 5.x within a few months. Will the CHM and Scroll HTML Exporter (with the new search feature) run on both versions?\

Thanks,

Sabrina

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Robert Lauriston January 15, 2014 18:40

Note that CHM works only on Windows.

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Sabrina Wingfield January 21, 2014 17:47

Nils,

Can we test the Scroll HTML Exporter with the new template that has search functionality? We would like to do so as soon as possible.

Thanks,

Sabrina

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Nils Bier January 27, 2014 09:25

Hi Sabrina,

we are currently finalizing the template and are planning to finish it within this week.

I'll contact you as soon as we've completely finished the work on the template (hopefully at the beginning of next week).

Cheers,
Nils

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Sabrina Wingfield January 27, 2014 22:59

Great news!

Thanks,

Sabrina

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Nils Bier February 04, 2014 10:56

Hi Sabrina,

I just wanted to let you know that the finalization of the template is not yet finished. I'll let you know as soon as we are ready.

Sorry for the delay.

Cheers,
Nils

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Sabrina Wingfield February 04, 2014 14:10

Thanks for the update!

Sabrina

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Rakefet Zur July 17, 2014 08:32

Hi,

Was the template finalized? We are also looking for something that will give us capabilities similar to WebHelp.

Rakefet

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Nils Bier July 18, 2014 09:06

Hi Rakefet,

are you interested in the CHM export solution, or the new Scroll HTML Exporter template with search functionality? Both projects are not yet released and publicly available. Nevertheless I could send you a beta version of the current HTML template (if you are using Java 1.7, which is a requirement to use the template).

If you are interested in the CHM Exporter, we'll contact you directly with further details.

Just let me know which solution you prefer and I'll be happy to help.

Cheers,Nils

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