What is Adobe® RoboHelp® 9?: Adobe RoboHelp 9 software provides a fast and easy way for technical communicators to author, collaborate, personalize, and content for help systems, policies and procedures, and professional knowledgebases.
What are the new features in RoboHelp 9?: RoboHelp 9 offers essential new features including next-generation review and collaboration capabilities, dynamic user-centric content, and automated context-sensitive help (CSH) authoring. You can reuse resources across authors and projects to save time and maintain consistency, customize AIRHelp skin, and enable user-generated content, moderation-enabled commenting workflow, and topic-rating. Use advanced analytics to optimize content, and output to Web 2.0 delivery mechanisms.
What is the difference between Adobe FlashHelp® and Adobe® FlashHelp Pro?: Adobe FlashHelp® is a revolutionary help format that combines Flash and XML technologies to provide consistency across popular browsers and platforms. FlashHelp can easily be generated with Adobe® RoboHelp® 9 without any knowledge of the Flash authoring tool. FlashHelp Pro is the server-based version of FlashHelp that is available in RoboHelp 9. FlashHelp Pro enables authors to publish a help system based on Adobe Flash technology to Adobe RoboHelp Server 9 software.
Does RoboHelp have international language support?: Yes, RoboHelp 9 supports Unicode, which enables you to author and edit help topics in many different languages. RoboHelp 9 can publish help systems in many languages: Brazilian Portuguese, Bulgarian, Canadian French, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Latvian, Lithuanian, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Swiss German, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish, and Vietnamese. RoboHelp 9 checks spelling, auto-corrects words, and creates a keyword index in any of these languages. The generated help system, including navigation, appears in the selected language. Full text search is also operational in any of the languages.
Which authoring environment does RoboHelp 9 support other than the built-in HTML editor?: RoboHelp 9 supports Adobe Dreamweaver® CS5, Adobe Dreamweaver® CS4; Dreamweaver CS3; Macromedia® Dreamweaver 8 from Adobe; Microsoft FrontPage 2003; HomeSite 5.5; and Microsoft Word versions 2010, 2007 and 2003.
Does RoboHelp 9 integrate with Adobe FrameMaker®?: You can import FrameMaker 10 MIF and FrameMaker files with style mapping, conditional tags, user-defined variables, and Adobe Captivate® content intact. Additional RoboHelp 9 and FrameMaker integration can be experienced through new Adobe Technical Communication Suite 3.5 software, that includes RoboHelp 9, FrameMaker 10, Adobe Captivate 5.5, Photoshop® CS5, and Adobe Acrobat® X Pro.
Can I submit a feature request for a future version of RoboHelp?: Adobe appreciates any suggestions for new features. Submit your request to the RoboHelp Help Community.
How can I participate in future RoboHelp beta programs?: To participate in future RoboHelp beta programs, send an email to the RoboHelp Beta Community.
Can I import a project created in other help authoring tools, for example, AuthorIT, Component One, and Flare?: You can import the final help system output, but you cannot import proprietary file formats from third-party authoring tools.

Pricing and purchasing information

To the top

How much does it cost to purchase a RoboHelp 9 or RoboHelp Server 9 license?: The full version of RoboHelp 9 costs US$999. The full version of RoboHelp Server 9 costs US$1,999.
I own an older version of RoboHelp or RoboHelp Server. What is your upgrade policy?: If you own Adobe RoboHelp 7, you can upgrade to RoboHelp 9 for US$599.

If you own Adobe RoboHelp 8, you can upgrade to RoboHelp 9 for US$399.

If you own Adobe RoboHelp X5, 6, 7 or 8, you can upgrade to Adobe Technical Communication Suite 3.5 for US$1,299.

If you own RoboHelp Server 7 or 8, you can upgrade to RoboHelp Server 9 for US$999.
Can I try RoboHelp before I buy it?: Yes, you can download a fully functional, 30-day free trial version.
Does Adobe have a maintenance program for RoboHelp?: Yes, Adobe provides maintenance programs for customers who participate in our volume licensing programs. Learn more.

Support information

To the top

What is activation?: Activation is a mandatory process that requires the software to connect to Adobe servers via the Internet and associates the products you have bought from Adobe with the computers on which you use those products. Activation helps protect your computers and environment from malicious code by ensuring you are using genuine Adobe software.
What information is passed to Adobe during activation?: Adobe does not gather, transmit, or use personally identifiable information during activation, other than the computer’s IP address.
How many times or how often will I have to connect to the Internet?: The machine with RoboHelp 9 installed must connect to the Internet at least once within 30 days of the first launch of your serialized product.
Do I need to do anything to activate the software?: Activation occurs silently in the background after installation when the system detects an Internet connection. You don't have to do anything proactively to activate.
How long can I use the product before I need to activate?: The product must connect to the Internet at least one time within 30 days of the first launch of your serialized product. If the product has not been activated after 30 days, the application will not launch until an Internet connection is detected and the software can be activated.
What happens if I do not have Internet connection or do not activate my product?: The software will silently try to connect to the Internet to activate for the first seven days after the first launch of your serialized product. If the software has not activated within the first seven days, you will receive a reminder for the next 23 days on every launch that the machine must connect to the Internet and activate the software. As soon as the software detects an Internet connection, it will silently activate the product.
If I don’t have Internet connection, can I call Support for phone activation?: No. Activation of the product via the Internet is required for RoboHelp 9. If your system is connected to the Internet and you receive an activation reminder, please contact your local Customer Support for assistance. Customer Support, however, will not be able to activate your software over the phone if you don’t have an Internet connection.
I have an Internet connection, but received a reminder I still need to activate my product. What do I need to do?: If your system is connected to the Internet and you have received a reminder asking you to activate your product, please contact your local Customer Support. The phone numbers for Customer Support can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/.
I work for a company that has a volume license agreement with Adobe. Do I still need to activate?: Yes. All RoboHelp 9 users will need to activate their product. If your company has firewall restrictions that prevent the machines from connecting to the Internet, please have your IT Administrator contact your local Customer Support. The phone numbers for Customer Support can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/.
I work for a company that has a license with Adobe and I’ve already activated one of my computers. Do I need to activate the others?: Yes. Every computer that has RoboHelp 9 installed will be required to activate in order to continue using the software.
I work for a company that has a license with Adobe and our company systems do not connect to the Internet due to firewall restrictions. What do I need to do to make sure the software doesn’t stop working?: If your company has firewall restrictions that prevent the machines from connecting to the Internet, please have your IT Administrator contact your local Customer Support. The phone numbers for Customer Support can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/.
Can I choose not to activate my RoboHelp 9?: Activation of RoboHelp 9 is required via the Internet to continue use of the product. Activating your product helps protect your computer and your environment by ensuring you are using genuine Adobe product. Activating your product has other benefits as well, please visit http://adobe.com/product/activation/ for more information. The machine with RoboHelp 9 installed must connect to the Internet at least once within 30 days of the first launch of your serialized product or the product will stop working. If you work in a company that has a firewall that prevents your system from connecting to the Internet, have your IT Administrator contact their local Customer Support. The phone numbers for Customer Support can be found at http://www.adobe.com/support/contact/
I didn’t know I needed to have an Internet connection when I purchased RoboHelp 9? Is there a way to activate without having an Internet connection?: No. Activation of RoboHelp 9 is required via the Internet. Each machine with one of these applications installed must connect to the Internet at least once within 30 days of the first launch of your serialized product to continue use of the product.
I didn’t know I needed to have an Internet connection when I purchased RoboHelp 9? What is the return policy?: For details on Adobe return policies in your region, go to http://kb2.adobe.com/cps/153/tn_15327.html
Are activation and registration the same thing?: No. Activation is a mandatory process that requires the software to connect to Adobe servers via the Internet and associates the products you have bought from Adobe with the computers on which you use those products. Activation helps protect your computers and environments from malicious code by verifying you have genuine Adobe software. Registration is an optional process that gives you access to a wide range of benefits and options including access to support, notification of product updates, newsletters, special offers and invitations to Adobe events.
I have registered my product but am still being asked to activate. What do I need to do?: Registration and activation are completely different. Activation is a mandatory process that requires the software to connect to Adobe servers via the Internet and associates the products you buy from Adobe with the computers on which you use those products. Activation helps protect your computers and environments from malicious code by verifying you have genuine Adobe software. Registration is an optional process that gives you access to a wide range of benefits and options including access to support, notification of product updates, newsletters, special offers and invitations to Adobe events.
I misplaced my product key. How can I get a new product key?: Contact Customer Service from 6am to 5pm, Pacific Time, Monday through Friday, at 800-833-6687, or submit a request online at any time. For faster service when calling, please have your invoice number available.