CHM Editor 1.3.3.4 comments:

By: Tina

Tina — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 17:46:37 -0500

Installed and activated on XPHome SP2 and activated with no problems. Haven't really tested it a lot yet, but I think this will be useful. I have an older one called 'Help Creator' as well, and will be interesting to see how to two compare. I do write html by hand so that will be a plus.

By: None

None — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 12:07:52 -0500

to #28 Fubar, Curt wasn't necessarily incorrect: In 2002, Microsoft announced some security risks associated with the .CHM format, as well as some security bulletins and patches.[1] They have since announced their intentions not to develop the .CHM format further, and will be moving to a new generation of Windows Help called Microsoft Assistance Markup Language in the Windows Vista operating system.

By: Boris

Boris — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:32:24 -0500

Exactly what was the mindset behind blocking Ctrl-V method for copying the serial to the program? I know it's a pretty insignificant annoyance, but if the programmers show such little sense with the very first thing you do with this program, it doesn't bode well for the more important tasks later.

By: JAZ

JAZ — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:06:00 -0500

Fubar's comments are right on the mark. The former version was frustrating since you could only open existing files. This version helps you create new files... much, much better. Also, having the previous version installed, installing this was a breeze. Thanks GOATD and Gridinsoft.

By: gonwk

gonwk — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:56:07 -0500

Can't download the Trial Version from the Author Website ... how dependable can their software be!?!? G!:)

By: mike

mike — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:12:17 -0500

#64: Thanks Giovanni... The Vizacc app you referred to looks interesting. You wondered what use something like CHM Editor might be for non-developers... Speaking just for myself, many, many times I want/need to explain how to do something, but trying to do it in plain text is tedious & can sometimes be hard for others to understand -- a picture (or diagram) can really be worth a thousand words. Yet I don't have the time, or often motivation ;-) , to spend a fair amount of time creating html or more complete CHM files for something like that -- especially since when you're doing that much work the scope of the project seems to expand on its own. CHM Editor might be a good way to knock something out pretty quickly. ------ Those experiencing errors running CHM Editor might want to post in the GridinSoft forum... There was a similar post dated last November, & the developer thought it was fixed. ------ #77: "Is there a list on machine FUNCTION shortcuts / “Hotkeys built into windows or ???”" Google on something like Windows Shortcut key.

By: Cad Delworth

Cad Delworth — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:35:39 -0500

Firstly, on my XP SP3 machine here, I don't have the 'Files tab' problem that other seem to be having >shrug<. I've written several Help files professionally, and I have to say that CHM Editor is OK for small Help projects or for use by inexperienced Help writers, but it lacks several features which a 'pro' Help author would expect. It's not possible to build your own Index or Keywords, for example, and worst of all, there's no way to insert a table (an absolutely ESSENTIAL feature for any Help file beyond REALLY simple ones). The developers of CHM Editor seem to be really proud of their automated Google or Yahoo! translations; the reality is that anyone needing to write a multi-language Help file would either bite the bullet and pay to have it translated professionally, OR pass the file to a colleague (or Internet buddy ;)) who is a native speaker of whatever language. Automated translations invariably look 'wrong' to native speakers and are frequently laughable: so I wouldn't be plugging that as a USP if I were them. On the other hand, looking at the 'free' alternatives, HelpMaker is still (after all these years!) somewhat buggy in places, but CAN insert tables and support manual index building, as well as 'pop-up' or 'extra' Help windows, and is VERY MUCH worth grabbing in its current version, before they finally produce their 'super duper' new version which seemingly will be supported by a database (oh dear!), and which will in my opinion wreck their product. It's currently my relctant preferred product in the freeware arena (try it and you'll soon find the 'huh?' editing bugs in it). To confirm: yes, HelpMaker CAN produce CHMs, and well as HLPs and pure HTML. HelpNDoc is also pretty good, and would be my choice if I had to produce a printed document and Help file from a common source file. As you correctly, say though, it's not free for 'commercial' use, and I'm not sure it's worth their asking price. It has slightly fewer features than HelpMaker, but is much less buggy in my opinion. If you don't need the more 'fancy' stuff that HelpMaker can do, or if you're working on a commercial project, HelpNDoc would be the better choice. CHM Editor, then, is great for the small stuff which doesn't need much in the way of formatting or tables ;), or for the newbies, but not really suitable for anything more complex. I also worry about the standard of English on the Gridinsoft site...maybe they auto-translated it from the original Ukrainian using CHM Editor?!! :D So I'd give CHM Editor itself a 4/5 for beginners, but only a 2/5 for larger Help projects.

By: Rick

Rick — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 18:00:58 -0500

Installed and activated fine on Vista. Copy an pasted fine for me using registration box, not included text file. Havent used product but did notice it also includes a transilator.

By: Fubar

Fubar — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:56:41 -0500

FYI another ending deal. Raxco has released PerfectDisk 10 (disk defragmenter). It's Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Hyper-V certified, and supports Windows 7 (Microsoft isn't certifying anything for Windows 7 yet). Coupon code PERFECT10 gets you 20% off through the end of this month.

By: Marshall

Marshall — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:05:55 -0500

Thanks #15, that did the trick! Even though I tried cutting & pasting from the readme.txt it still didn't work. But your trick of right clicking on the selected text & copying & then right clicking & pasting worked great. I probably won't use this program very much but I've occasionally wished that I could edit .chm files & make them readable in Linux. Here is hoping.