#30777
Standards in an Uncertain World 
Today, Help authors take HTML for granted. But XML is starting to displace HTML, bringing with it new technologies like DITA and Web 2.0, as well as the potential for disruption. Perlin examines how to prepare for the change through adhering to standards.
Perlin, Neil E. Intercom (2008). Articles>Documentation>Standards>Help
#24307
How do customers expect to access online Help? Once in the Help system, how do they expect to navigate toward the information they need? In the absence of detailed research that tells us what customers know about getting and using online Help, we can look for clues in the marketplace. A survey of the Help systems in more than sixty Windows 95 applications (including those in the major suites from Corel, Lotus, and Microsoft) shows some clear trends. These trends can help us understand what customers are coming to expect from online Help based on their experience with other Windows 95 applications.
Elley, Frank. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24302
Strategies for Using Information Types in HTML Help
Information types are a new feature of HTML Help, but they are not a new concept to technical communication. Information types are simply categories of information that can be assigned to a discrete piece of information so the information can be displayed or hidden, based on the category selected by the user. The goal of this paper is to get help authors thinking about ways that they can use information types to help their users filter, sort, and understand the structure of the information presented to them through online help.
Houser, Rob. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>HTML>Help
#18325
Shovelware is becoming the norm in computer software documentation. Many companies no longer furnish printed books with their products, and it’s usually impossible to produce (from the on-line help files) a reasonable facsimile of a coherently organized, double-sided, printed book with page numbers, running headers and footers, table of contents, glossary, and multilevel subject index.
Emory, Dan. InFrame (2000). Articles>Documentation>Help
#12969
Shovelware is becoming the norm in computer software documentation. Many companies no longer furnish printed books with their products, and it’s usually impossible to produce (from the on-line help files) a reasonable facsimile of a coherently organized, double-sided, printed book with page numbers, running headers and footers, table of contents, glossary, and multilevel subject index. The current sad state of affairs is epitomized by the FrameMaker user manual and on-line help. In the last release (V5.1) of FrameMaker+SGML for which Frame Technology was responsible, the printed user’s manual was quite comprehensive at 900+ pages, and the on-line help was extensive, well-designed, and effective. But the Adobe-produced V5.5 user’s manual (including the separate “Getting Started” manual for FM+SGML) has 300 fewer pages, even though many new fea-tures (e.g., HTML and XML export) in V5.5 had to be covered in addition to all those features common to both releases. Not only that, but the effectiveness of the on-li
Emory, Dan. TECHWR-L (1999). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#21707
An overview of documentation development for online help.
Unni, Tharun Kumar. STC India (2003). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#29992
Microsoft HTML Help is actually a suite of technologies. CHM is one part; the HH viewer (a cut-down Internet Explorer with CHM processing abilities) is another. To provide a Table of Contents (TOC) and index for Web-based Help (over HTTP), to support Web applications for example, there are two other Microsoft HTML Help components. One is an ActiveX TOC control, and the other is a Java TOC applet. While these components provide Web-based Help with a TOC, they do not allow context-sensitivity AND a TOC at the same time, because the TOC displays in a frameset.
HyperWrite (2004). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#20007
Toil and Trouble: HTML Help and NetHelp
Toil and trouble. That’s what this year’s online help crystal ball predicts. It shows two flavors of HTML-based help and to make matters worse, their names are confusing: HTML help (which is not the same as HTML-based help) and NetHelp. Oh, me nerves. Well, let’s try to calm ourselves and explore these new concepts.
Grissino, Ann-Marie. Carolina Communique (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24290
Top Ten Blunders in Online Documents and Help Facilities
As a consultant I get called in after the wreck to figure out what went wrong. Across a wide range of industries and products, the same problems recur again and again. In this presentation, I’ll show you what these common problems are and simple ways to avoid them.
Horton, William K. III. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#29903
Transitioning Print-Based Training into WBT Delivery: Lessons Learned
This panel discussion will explore a specific project conducted by the Mercer Engineering Research Center (MERC) in which existing MERC-designed United States Air Force print-based training was rapidly converted to web-based training. Specific issues discussed are differences in design strategies for print and web instruction, development and authoring approaches, rapid prototyping, usability testing, project management concerns, and lessons learned.
Codone, Susan K. and Lance Stuckey. STC Proceedings (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#27650
Trends and Opportunities in Software User Assistance: Part 1
This article provides an overview of the latest trends in software user assistance based on surveys, interviews, and observations by the author and other experienced user assistance professionals. The article defines the key terminology, highlights the most important issues and elements, and offers both short and long-term predictions for the field. The article will appear in four installments. The next installment will be in February.
Welinske, Joe. WritersUA (2005). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online
#31597
User Assistance: Writing for a High-Context Culture
What we consider to be good technical writing often reflects an American cultural perspective. One facet of this cultural orientation is that technical writing tends to use a low-context style. Most notably, we tend to write user assistance as if users have never seen the user interface we are explaining. Secondly, we tend to write user assistance as if users have never even used software before. But users rarely go to Help before they have tried to accomplish a task on their own first, and most users today have extensive experience using software and are familiar with the standard ways of interacting with user interfaces. So a user interface is a high-context artifact—one a user has already seen before reading our documentation and that uses rules and conventions the user already knows.
Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2008). Articles>Documentation>Help>Technical Writing
#23727
User Guides and Online Help Systems
Resources relating to user guides and online help systems.
Technical Communicators Resource Site. Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#24274
Using Hardcopy Documentation in the Transition to Online Documentation
In the transition to online documentation, one of the communicator’s most effective tools can be a hardcopy document. Providing your users with a printed manual that introduces them to your product and your online documentation might be just the thing they need to get started using both. To create an effective hardcopy document, you must begin by gathering feedback, analyzing your audience, and setting your goals. You can then use that information to determine what to include, what to exclude, and what to call your hardcopy document.
Collier, Karen E. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#20729
Using HTML to Deliver Context-Sensitive Online Help
Computerized Medical Systems needed to develop content-sensitive online help for a UNIX-based application. We found that this could be done using standard HTML, with each help topic in its own file and displayed in a web browser. With careful planning, we were able to create a map of the applications coded pages to our help files, giving us context sensitivity. We were able to add both keyword and full-text search capabilities. Site management is done using a source control system and a set of link check and HTML validators.
Rupel, Roberta A. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#21795
Why would anybody want to use JavaHelp? The answer is not necessarily obvious, especially to help authors.
Info Action (2002). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#19978
Using Standards to Build Quality into Online Help
The panelists present two cases of development of standards for online Help: one for mainframe database applications developed in ISPF and the other for technical engineering applications developed in Windows. The panelists focus on common principles to follow to make online Help 'fit for use,' and they show examples from the Help systems and from the two standards manuals.
Bibus, Connie M. 'C.J.', Kristy J. Dale, Donna M. Marcotte, Joyce B. Davis and Monica Hoganson. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#20346
Technical communicators today cope with incomplete and changing software, aggressive schedules, multiple deliverables, and a reduced staff in diverse locations. Using Info Slicing, these challenges can be met effectively. Info Slicing promotes communication within the project team, shortens the writing effort, and minimizes document maintenance.
Burkholder, Anne C. STC Proceedings (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#19792
Using What You Have to Write Help
Writing online Help carries an unwarranted mystique. Fancy tools, research, and a cooperative development team help a technical writer produce online Help content. What if you have only the software and an assignment? You can use what you have. This approach will help you be a more marketable writer. You will be a more versatile writer, and a better production team member. You can use this easy method to write and organize online Help topics with minimal resources. We hope to take away the mystique.
Anderson, Douglas and Jason R. Huntington. STC Proceedings (1995). Articles>Writing>Documentation>Help
#26310
Using XML for Document Authoring and Management
An introduction to XML (Extensible Markup Language) and how technical writers can use it to create and manage their documentation.
Nesbitt, Scott. DMN Communications (2004). Articles>Documentation>Help>DocBook
#11751
Voters Learn the Importance of Usability
It has been an exciting few months, what with the usability flaws in the 'butterfly ballot' in Florida possibly changing the course of history. The good news is that the controversy put usability into the public conversation with news articles, press releases, and even new research articles. It was an opportunity to explain 'what we do' to friends, relatives, and associates. Some of the lessons from the 2000 Presidential election are the basics of Usability 101.
Quesenbery, Whitney. Usability Interface (2001). Articles>Documentation>Help>Usability
#30247
Warp Speed: Creating Online Information for OS/2
Information Presentation Facility (IPF) is the tagging language you use to tag, compile, and debug online information in an OS/2 environment. This workshop This part of the workshop looks at using error log files to examines how to use IPF, provides code samples, and points participants to reference material.
Coe, Marlana A. and Leigh Waller. STC Proceedings (1996). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
#12968
Thanks to all of you who responded to my recent questions about WebHelp and HTML Help. I've put together an informal summary of my findings, but please feel free to make comments or add to it.
MacLemale, Laura A. TECHWR-L (2000). Articles>Documentation>Help
#15225
Defines embedded help as user assistance that is part of the behavior and real estate of the user interface of a software application. Discusses three types: the right embedded help pane, process-embedded help, and instructional embedding.
Zubak, Cheryl Lockett. Intercom (2000). Articles>Documentation>Help
#28028
MAML is part of a new approach to help in Windows Vista. This approach is both more integrated with the software and more focused on user tasks. MAML provides a structre in which you can write user assistance information, which can then be presented to the user in a variety of locations.
Tech Write Tips (2006). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
