---
title: "10 Reasons Not to Upgrade to Robohelp 6"
date: 2007-02-07
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $("
canonical_url: https://idratherbewriting.com/2007/02/07/10-reasons-not-to-upgrade-to-robohelp-6/
---
# 10 Reasons Not to Upgrade to Robohelp 6
**1. Communication from Adobe is bleak.**

Have you ever posted a comment on their blog? After I finished the [RoboHelp podcast on Tech Writer Voices](https://idratherbewriting.com/2007/02/03/discussion-about-robohelp-6--interview-with-rick-stone/), I posted a comment on the [Adobe RoboHelp blog](http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2007/02/single_sourcing_in_robohelp.html#comments) letting them know about the podcast. I assumed my comment was in moderation, but apparently it was filtered. Maybe Adobe didn't like the podcast.

I followed up to ask if the comment got lost in the moderation queue. No response. Today I just checked again and saw that someone else's comment had been approved. Vivek Jain, Adobe's RoboHelp blogger, either is totally clueless about responding to comments, or he doesn't understand that a blog is not a PR marketing vehicle. But even the senior project evangelist, R.J. Jacquez, seems like he's a mute. Sorry Adobe, but you really get a D when it comes to communication.

**2. RoboHelp doesn't support character level indexing.**

This is probably the biggest strike against using RoboHelp as a single sourcing tool. If all you create is online documentation, the printed documentation indexing glitch isn't an issue. But if you do output to print, your index will never be accurate because all the keywords are crammed into the topic headings rather than where they appear in the document. So if your topic spans 3 pages, and the keywords relate to the last page, the index will point the reader to the first page, where the header is.

**3. RoboHelp doesn't support cross references.**

If you link to another topic in the online help, when you output to printed documentation, the link doesn't translate into a cross reference. So basically you would have to manually do all your cross references, or use a touchy [macro workaround](http://www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/printing/print_issues.htm).

**4. RoboHelp isn't compatible with Word 2007.**

RoboHelp isn't compatible with Word 2007 ([nor with Vista](http://www.adobe.com/cfusion/knowledgebase/index.cfm?id=kb400353)), so when Vista and Office 2007 become mainstream, Adobe will either have to fix or bury RoboHelp. If they bury it, they will anger an immense group of RoboHelp users who recently spent $500 for the upgrade.

**5. RoboHelp requires at least 15 macros to clean up printed documentation output (e.g., numbering).**

I don't know how anyone who outputs to printed documentation with RoboHelp can go straight to PDF without extensive cleanup. I run at least 15 macros in my output before the output is acceptable. Numbering is particularly problematic. I guess this all depends on your printed documentation style.

**6. With RoboHelp, figure references are problematic.**