29 Sep 5 Popular HATs for Tech Documentation
5 Popular Help Authoring Tools for Technical Documentation
— Puja Mitra
The success of any product hinges on its user acceptance. Technical documents play a pivotal role in comprehending and effectively utilizing a product or service. Technical writers craft these documents to facilitate a seamless product lifecycle.
Help Authoring Tools (HATs) are attuned to the requirements of technical writers and their teams. They provide structured authoring environments, streamline content creation, and offer robust content management systems. In this post, you will know 5 popular HATs. This article covers the following topics:
- What is a Help Authoring Tool?
- Advantages of Using HAT
- 5 Popular Hats
- Comparing Hats
- Conclusion
What is a Help Authoring Tool?
A Help Authoring Tool (HAT) is a software application that is used for creating and managing support documentation and user assistance materials like online help documents, API, FAQs, instruction manuals, tutorials, and user guides.
Commonly used Help Authoring Tools:
Advantages of Using HAT
In addition to the primary function of creating and organizing help documents, HATs offer the following benefits:
- Provide Compliance Documentation: HATs help in creating compliance documentation in regulated sectors like healthcare and finance.
- Support Localization: These tools assist in the process of localizing documentation for different languages and regions, making it accessible to a global audience.
- Enable Collaboration: Many HATs come equipped with version control features, allowing teams to collaborate on documentation projects and track changes over time.
5 Popular Hats
Among the HATs mentioned above, the following tools have extensive use among technical writers.
- MadCap Flare
- Adobe FrameMaker
- Oxygen XML Editor
- Author-it
- HelpNDoc
MadCap Flare
Why Use
MadCap Flare is preferred by technical writers as it offers topic-based authoring and publishing, collaborative features, hosting choices, analytics capabilities, cost savings in the technology stack, and an enhanced review package process between Flare and MadCap Central.
Demo
To know how Madcap Flare works, click here.
Trial Version
Offers a 30-day free trial.
Adobe FrameMaker
Why Use
Adobe FrameMaker is integrated with Adobe Experience Manager. It, provides translation support through XLIFF, produces premium WYSIWYG PDFs, and facilitates effortless content adaptation for diverse output formats including print, PDF, HTML5, and mobile devices.
Demo
To know about FrameMaker, click here.
Trial Version
Offers a 30-day free trial.
Oxygen XML Editor
Why Use
Oxygen XML Editor offers CSS-Based visual editing and an advanced DITA support. It generates output in XHTML, PDF, HTML, JavaHelp, and Eclipse Help formats and provides XML Publishing Frameworks, such as DITA, DocBook, XHTML, and TEI. It easily converts DITA Maps to desktop and mobile WebHelp systems. and includes a Content Completion Assistant to streamline XML content management and creation.
Demo
To know more about Oxygen XML Editor, click here.
Trial Version
Click here to receive one trial license key for Oxygen XML Editor, Author, and Developer.
Author-it
Why Use
Author-it presents a scalable Content and Component Management System (CCMS) solution, featuring robust enterprise-level security. This solution facilitates seamless content import from MS Word, web sources, or legacy help systems. It promotes real-time collaboration and review processes, without requiring any coding expertise. Author-its comprehensive CCMS authoring solution also automatically identifies components necessitating translation, thereby, streamlining the localization process.
Demo
To know how Author-it can benefit you, click here.
Trial Version
A trial version is not available. However, it provides a highly valuable Resource Center.
HelpNDoc
Why Use
HelpNDoc facilitates batch exporting, offers conditional generation, and provides advanced customization choices. It generates a wide range of documentation types, including CHM help files, responsive HTML websites, PDFs, MS Word documents, mobile websites for iPhone and Android, ePub and Kindle eBooks, Markdown documents, and Qt Help files.
Demo
To discover how to utilize HelpNDoc, click here.
Trial Version
Free version is available for personal use.
| HAT | Output Formats | Content Reuse | Collaborating with Team | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
MadCap Flare
|
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Provides content reuse through snippets and variables |
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Adobe FrameMaker
|
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Offers content reuse through structured authoring and elements like variables and cross-references. |
|
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Oxygen XML Editor |
|
Excels in handling structured content, making it suitable for content reuse. |
|
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Author-it |
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Uses component-based approach, version control system and applies conditions to content components. |
|
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HelpNDoc |
|
Offers content reuse through snippets and variables. |
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Conclusion
You should decide which HAT to use based on requirements, team size, budget, and the complexity of your documentation projects. Each tool offers a unique set of features and advantages, so it’s essential to evaluate them based on the project’s needs.
“Technology is best when it brings people together.”
- Matt Mullenweg
About the Author
After completing her MA in Economics and earning an MBA, Puja commenced her career in HR management, content editing, writing, and technical documentation. With over 15 years of experience, she has become a seasoned professional in these fields.
Currently, she serves as the Managing Editor at engineering.com. She finds satisfaction in developing training programs for new hires as it allows her to assist both individuals and the company as a whole. During her leisure time, she enjoys indulging in her passion for painting.
Current Role: Managing Editor
Company: engineering.com
City: Kolkata
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