Link and import Word documents

  • Create a RoboHelp project by linking to or importing a Word document. You can import DOCX, DOC, DOCM, or RTF files.

  • Link or import Word documents into a RoboHelp project.

  • (For linked documents) Update the generated topics whenever any of the conversion settings or the source documents changes.

HTML files are not created until you define the conversion settings and generate the Help topics. The source Word documents are unaffected by linking and subsequent editing. RoboHelp creates a copy of the linked or imported Word documents before applying the conversion settings.

Create a project by importing a Word document

You can create a RoboHelp project by importing a Word document. To import Word files, you must have Microsoft Word installed on your computer.
Note: DOCX and DOCM formats are not supported by versions earlier than Microsoft Word 2007. See Microsoft Word Help for more information.

  1. In the Starter pod, click Word Document under Import.

  2. Select Word Documents from the Files Of Type pop-up menu, select the Word document, and click Open.

  3. Enter relevant details in the New Project wizard and click Finish.

Link a Word document to a RoboHelp project

  1. Create a project in RoboHelp.

  2. Select File > Link > Word Document.

  3. Click Browse to select one or more Word documents and click Open.

    Note: To import multiple documents with separate TOCs, select them in the order they should appear in the master TOC.

  4. Right-click the linked file in Project Manager, and select Properties.

  5. In the Word Document Settings dialog box, do the following:

    • To generate a TOC from the source document, select the Convert Table of Contents option, and specify a filename.

    • To generate an index from the source document, select the Convert Index option, and specify a filename.

    • To generate a glossary from the source document, select the Convert Glossary option, and specify a filename.

      Note: You can define the paragraph styles for a glossary term and definition in the project settings. See Convert Word paragraph styles to RoboHelp styles.
    Note: RoboHelp associates the generated TOC, index, and glossary files with the source Word document. So when the source document is updated, the TOC, index, and glossary files are also updated.

  6. Click OK.

Import a Word document into a RoboHelp project

  1. Create a project in RoboHelp.

  2. Select File > Import > Word Document.

  3. Click Browse to select one or more Word documents and click Open.

    Note: To import multiple documents with separate TOCs, select them in the order they should appear in the master TOC.

  4. In the dialog box, set conversion options for the TOC, index, and glossary, and click Next.

    For information about various conversion options, see Importing a Word TOC, index, and glossary.

  5. (Optional) To edit the conversion settings, click Edit.

  6. Modify conversion settings according to your requirements, and click OK.

    For information about converting headers and footers, see Convert headers and footers in Word documents

    For information about converting paragraph, character, and other styles, see Converting Word styles to RoboHelp styles.

  7. Click Finish.

Importing a Word TOC, index, and glossary

When you import a Word document into a RoboHelp project, you can also import the table of contents (TOC). Import the TOC into the RoboHelp project to retain, in Help, the navigation structure you defined in your Word document. If you import a Word-generated TOC, the first heading becomes a book. Lower-level headings become pages (unless a book exists at a lower level).

To import multiple documents with separate TOCs, select the Word documents in the Open dialog box in the order that they should appear in the master TOC. The converted TOC is based on the {TOC} field codes of the Word document. Ensure that:

  • Headings for main books have lower-level headings.

  • Headings for sub-books appear under main headings and have lower-level headings.

  • Headings for pages do not have lower-level headings.

For example, suppose you import a document with more styles than the TOC contains: The document contains heading levels 1 through 3, but the TOC contains only heading 1 and 2 entries. To ensure that heading 3 styles appear in the TOC, either include heading 3 in the Word TOC or auto-create the TOC in RoboHelp.

Import a Word TOC

  1. Select File > Import > Word Document.

  2. In the Content Settings dialog box, select Convert Table Of Contents.

  3. Select one of the following options:
    Add To Existing TOC
    Appends the TOC entries to any existing RoboHelp TOC present in the project. Select an existing RoboHelp TOC from the list.

    Create New Associated TOC
    Enter a name for a new associated TOC that is added to the RoboHelp project.

Import Word index entries

RoboHelp creates an index based on the index markers in the document you are importing.

  1. Select File > Import > Word Document.

  2. Select Convert Index in the Content Settings dialog box, and select one of the following options:
    Add To Existing Index
    Add the Word index entries to the existing RoboHelp index of the project.

    Create New Associated Index
    Enter a name for a new associated index that is added to the RoboHelp project.

    Add To Topic
    Add the Word index entries to individual topics in which they appear.

Import Word glossary entries

RoboHelp creates a glossary from the Word document you are importing, based on the paragraph styles defined for the glossary terms and definitions in project settings.

Note: RoboHelp creates a glossary entry by finding a term and a definition in the specified styles in the Word document. Consecutive instances of term styles or definition styles are rejected.

  1. Select File > Import > Word Document.

  2. Select Convert Glossary in the Content Settings dialog box, and select one of the following options:
    Add To Existing Glossary
    Add the Word glossary entries to the existing RoboHelp glossary of the project.

    Create New Associated Glossary
    Enter a name for a new associated glossary that is added to the RoboHelp project.