Choosing a technical documentation tool is not an easy task. For instance, you should compare a lot of platforms and make a final decision. This blog will explain the difference between Confluence and ClickHelp so you can choose an appropriate tool for your needs.
What Is Confluence?
Confluence is a web-based collaboration and document management platform created by Atlassian. It provides a centralized repository for organizations to create, store, and organize their content, including text-based documents, media files, and other digital assets.
The platform is designed to support various use cases, including project management, knowledge management, and team communication. Nevertheless, this tool is not perfect, and we will explain why.
Disadvantages of Confluence
Confluence has some disadvantages, including:
- Complexity. Confluence can be complex and overwhelming for new users, even those familiar with collaboration and content management tools.
- Performance issues. Confluence can slow down or become unresponsive when handling large amounts of data, especially when integrated with other Atlassian tools like Jira.
- Bad search. The Confluence published documentation is not easily searchable, making it difficult for readers to quickly find the required information.
- Integration limitations. The integration of Confluence with other tools can be limited and may require additional configuration or custom development work.
- Price. Confluence is a paid service, and its cost can be a barrier for some organizations, especially smaller businesses and startups.
If you're encountering any of those challenges with Confluence, it may be time to consider ClickHelp as a reliable alternative to any Confluence edition. This robust help authoring tool is worth a closer look and deserves your attention. Let us explore its features and benefits in more depth.
What Is ClickHelp?
ClickHelp is a cloud-based software documentation tool that provides features such as single-sourcing and content reuse, collaboration and teamwork, full-text search, and analytics. It enables contributors to create and manage user manuals, knowledge bases, and other types of content for both internal and external use.
The platform offers integrations with other tools. With ClickHelp, contributors can deliver accurate and up-to-date information to their customers and teams, streamlining their documentation processes and improving their overall documentation experience.
Advantages of ClickHelp
Here are the following benefits of ClickHelp:
- Easy to use. ClickHelp offers an intuitive and user-friendly interface that makes it easy to create, publish and manage technical documentation.
- Reader preview mode. With Reader Preview, you can get an idea of how your document will look and feel when it is published. This feature allows you to make any necessary changes before finalizing your document and publishing it to your target audience.
- Readability metrics. Utilizing metrics such as the Flesch Reading Ease, Gunning Fog Index, New Dale-Chall Formula, and others can greatly enhance the effectiveness of your documentation. For example, Confluence doesn’t support such metrics.
- A custom domain name. You may desire for the documentation portal to have its own subdomain under your main company domain, for example: docs.my-company-website.com. This way, the link will not display 'clickhelp.'
- Conditional content. This feature enables you to tailor your technical documentation and user manuals to specific groups of users, providing a more personalized experience.
- Full-text search. This feature allows you to quickly find the information you need and provides a seamless experience for readers who are looking for specific information within the documentation. The full-text search in ClickHelp is designed to be fast, accurate, and flexible, with options to sort the results.
- Branding. A reader interface is important. Companies usually want their documentation to reflect their style: logos, fonts, colors, and so on. Since ClickHelp was created specifically for user documentation, these elements are well-crafted here.
Steps to Migrate From Confluence to ClickHelp
With ClickHelp, you can effortlessly import your Confluence Space. The process is streamlined and requires no exporting or manual file transfer.
- Simply open the Author Dashboard, click the Import Document button, and follow the easy steps in the Import Project Wizard.
- Choose Confluence as your import source, and then specify the project language. You'll have the option to create a new project or add the topics to an existing project. With ClickHelp, a Project is the equivalent of a Confluence Space.
- Enter your Confluence portal URL, login information, and password. ClickHelp will try to recognize your portal URL automatically if you're unsure.
With just a few clicks, your Confluence Space will be seamlessly imported into ClickHelp. However, if accessing the Confluence portal or API is not an option, fear not. You can still import your content with ease using the following formats: HTML and DOCX. So follow the steps:
- Import the exported content into ClickHelp. ClickHelp provides an import wizard that allows you to import your content from Confluence in a few clicks. ClickHelp provides a mapping feature that allows you to map Confluence content to ClickHelp topics, ensuring that all your content is properly structured and organized in the new platform.
- Review and update the content. After the import process, you may need to review and update your content to ensure that it is accurate and up-to-date.
- Publish the content. Once you have reviewed and updated your content, you can publish it to make it accessible to your audience.
Conclusion
If you think that Confluence is not a perfect fit for your company, pay attention to ClickHelp. Our platform boasts a number of advantages, including the ability to track readability metrics, choose a custom domain name, and use conditional content. Moreover, it’s easy to migrate from Confluence to ClickHelp. So we are waiting for your team here!
Good luck with your technical writing!
ClickHelp Team
Author, host and deliver documentation across platforms and devices