Product Overview of ClickHelp
ClickHelp is an all-in-one online solution designed to streamline the creation, authoring, hosting, and delivery of user guides, manuals, and other types of topic-based documentation. Here’s a comprehensive overview of what ClickHelp does and its key features.
What ClickHelp Does
ClickHelp serves as a centralized platform for technical writers to create and manage documentation content. It provides a single place for contributors to work on content and for clients to access user manuals. The platform supports the entire lifecycle of documentation, from authoring and reviewing to publishing and maintaining the content.
Key Features and Functionality
Documentation Portal
- ClickHelp allows you to create a hosted documentation portal that can be branded and customized according to your preferences. Each portal has a unique address, and you can opt for a custom domain name.
Project and Topic Structure
- The platform organizes content into projects, which are containers for help topics. Topics are the structural parts of a project, akin to individual articles or sections of a document. This topic-based authoring approach helps in dividing long user manuals into smaller, logically organized pieces.
Single-Sourcing
- ClickHelp’s single-sourcing functionality enables you to reuse existing content and produce different outputs from the same source. This feature ensures consistent terminology and definitions across your knowledge base.
Workflow and Review
- The platform offers robust workflow and review tools, including automatic topic locking, review notes, and custom workflow statuses. These features facilitate collaboration among contributors and streamline the review process.
Translation and Localization
- ClickHelp includes a built-in translation and localization ecosystem, allowing you to create multi-language documentation without relying on third-party solutions. It also supports machine translation.
Content Migration and Export
- The tool simplifies content migration from various formats (CHM, Word, ODT, HTML, RTF) and provides easy export options in multiple formats such as PDF, Word, EPUB, RTF, ODT, and MHT.
Advanced Editing and Formatting
- ClickHelp features a powerful topic editor with Word-like functionality, as well as an HTML Source Editor for more advanced editing needs. Additional tools include a syntax highlighter for code samples and the ability to enrich content with multimedia elements like screenshots, charts, and video tutorials.
Branding and Customization
- The platform offers extensive branding possibilities, allowing you to customize your documentation portal with your company’s style and logo. You can also customize printed output and ensure a responsive UI that works across various devices and browsers.
Security and Backup
- ClickHelp ensures data security with SSL encryption and daily backups. You can also protect sensitive user manuals with password protection.
Integrations and Analytics
- The tool supports a wide range of integrations, including Zendesk, Google Analytics, Salesforce SSO, and more. It also includes advanced analytics to help you analyze user behavior and plan your documentation projects effectively.
Collaboration and Feedback
- Features like co-authoring, topic comments, and topic rating facilitate real-time collaboration and feedback collection. The platform also includes email notifications and social media sharing buttons to enhance user engagement.
In summary, ClickHelp is a comprehensive solution for technical writers and documentation teams, offering a robust set of features that enhance content creation, collaboration, and delivery, while ensuring flexibility, security, and user engagement.