http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Documentation/Help/Online A listing of the most recently indexed works about Articles and Documentation and Help and Online in the field of technical communication. en-us Copyright (c) 2005-08 by the EServer. All rights reserved. tclib-editorial@eserver.org (TC Library Editorial Board) webmaster@eserver.org (Geoffrey Sauer) http://tc.eserver.org/images/newlogo.gif http://tc.eserver.org/dir/Articles/Documentation/Help/Online http://tc.eserver.org/35642.html http://tc.eserver.org/35642.html If you've installed older software in Windows 7, you might notice that .hlp-formatted Help files aren't recognized or supported. Microsoft offers a free download to read and manage those WinHelp files. http://tc.eserver.org/34889.html http://tc.eserver.org/34889.html Lately I’ve been creating context-sensitive help for an online application. As part of my strategy, I’ve been trying to follow Theresa Putkey’s advice in “Usability in Context-Sensitive Help.” In her article, Theresa recommends providing more than just the steps for a specific task in the context-sensitive help window. Instead, she says to show more contextual links, including answers to why, when, and who questions, because too frequently the user who searches for help may have needs outside the specific task you describe. http://tc.eserver.org/34714.html http://tc.eserver.org/34714.html Embedded user assistance is only part of a complete documentation plan. It does not replace the need for other types of content. For example, embedded user assistance is not a good delivery mechanism for comprehensive concepts and detailed discussions of a topic with strategy and best practice guidelines. However, with a strong design, embedded user assistance can support the immediate needs of the user and provide a valuable, contextual link that steers the user into the other parts of the documentation as needed. http://tc.eserver.org/33634.html http://tc.eserver.org/33634.html As broadband Internet access becomes increasingly available, software providers are minimizing the local installation of help topics and instead moving some or all help to Web servers. While this approach may alienate users who have no Internet connection or lack broadband access, there are many advantages. Web servers offer features and options that aren't available with locally installed help. http://tc.eserver.org/33600.html http://tc.eserver.org/33600.html Last month, Forrester Research released results from a survey on how much consumers trust different sources for information. They didn't include online Help or knowledge bases in the survey, so we don't know how well or badly they would have come out in the survey. http://tc.eserver.org/33523.html http://tc.eserver.org/33523.html Knowing HTML alone is not enough to create HTML Help. What deliverables does the client need? CHMs (HTML Help)? Web-based Help (HTML files + other things that create the Toc, Index, Search tabs etc.)? Java Help? Oracle Help? Be aware of the limitations of some formats. http://tc.eserver.org/33335.html http://tc.eserver.org/33335.html Software documentation such as Help systems and user guides may be the best method of helping your customers to use your software effectively. However, one or more of these alternatives may be a better solution. http://tc.eserver.org/33159.html http://tc.eserver.org/33159.html Overview topics play an important role in creating a positive user assistance experience. Unlike procedures, which deliver critical information on how to solve a problem quickly, overview topics fill in the conceptual details and background "story." Here are some tips for writing thorough and informative overviews. http://tc.eserver.org/32979.html http://tc.eserver.org/32979.html Whilst applications are becoming more complex, many people believe that online user assistance hasn't changed much since WinHelp was introduced with Windows 3. This is a misconception. There have been many developments in this field aimed at increasing end-user productivity and satisfaction. http://tc.eserver.org/32980.html http://tc.eserver.org/32980.html Just as a romantic poet might choose to pen an ode to a single rose as opposed to the entire garden, perhaps we should look to the simplest elements of usability for inspiration. Perhaps it’s time to recognize the contribution of a single humble helper. Yes, it’s time for an ode to Balloon Help. You may smile, but it can be argued that Balloon Help is not only one of the most ubiquitous implementations of modern technological performance support but it is also one of the most underappreciated. http://tc.eserver.org/31990.html http://tc.eserver.org/31990.html Are you still wondering which help file format to use for your Windows software? The selection depends on your software and on the information that is in your help files. Each help file format has its own unique features that may be useful in certain situations. http://tc.eserver.org/31988.html http://tc.eserver.org/31988.html There are several main reasons why putting your software manual on-line is necessary. It makes your web-site attractive for search engine crawlers and therefore brings you targeted traffic from Google, Yahoo!, MSN, and other search engines. A good online manual presents your product as serious and credible. Moreover, if a user faces difficulty using your software and asks for technical support, you may easily resolve the issue by referring that user to a certain page of your online help. Simply give the page's URL. With just one click the user will see screenshots and explanations which will help them to resolve the issue. http://tc.eserver.org/31144.html http://tc.eserver.org/31144.html I would argue that 'Presentation Zen' contains ideas that are also relevant to technical communication. http://tc.eserver.org/30812.html http://tc.eserver.org/30812.html If you are delivering your help from a network location and you notice that .CHM files don't work anymore, don't be surprised. Recent Microsoft updates include tighter security for .CHM files. After installing the updates you can no longer run .CHM files from a network location. However, you can still run a .CHM file on your local machine. http://tc.eserver.org/30573.html http://tc.eserver.org/30573.html The design team for a major new product approached our publications group about ideas on developing an online manual and/or online help. Together, we developed a task-oriented, easy-to-use online help system, and continue to work together to evaluate it. Where do we best put the buttons that access the help for various subsystems? http://tc.eserver.org/30499.html http://tc.eserver.org/30499.html In the PC products market, customers insist on excellent support at rock-bottom prices. The traditional model of customer support, having a phone technician answer customer questions, is becoming too expensive. http://tc.eserver.org/30430.html http://tc.eserver.org/30430.html One of the biggest problems facing Help developers is that of providing users with adequate methods of navigation through what can be huge amounts of information. After more than a two or three jumps, users can find themselves in topics that might be useful, but with no clear indication of how they got there or how to return to where they started. OS/2 gives the Help developer extraordinarily flexible tools for creating online documentation that can prevent this situation and provide users with a clearer path through online information than many other platforms can provide. However, this enhanced usability is not without its cost. http://tc.eserver.org/30388.html http://tc.eserver.org/30388.html Caterpillar is dramatically changing the way technical, product support information is authored. Book paradigms have been replaced by the more granular Information Element (IE) approach. The new integrated environment utilizes Unix based, TCP/IP connected, ECALS compliant tools on multi-tasking author workstations. Research data, in-process work approved IE's and relational indices are distributed to work group servers. Application software tools include a graphics editor and an interactive, context sensitive, SGML text editor. The environment is managed by a robust file management system that provides file tracking, revision control, workflow sensitive tool launching, burden planning and management reporting capabilities. http://tc.eserver.org/30247.html http://tc.eserver.org/30247.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/30136.html http://tc.eserver.org/30136.html If you are a technical writer or manage technical writers and have been asked to document Lotus Notes applications, this workshop will give you a jump start. You can use the features available in Notes to create an effective help system as a Notes database. This help database can either be a view in an existing Notes application or a stand-alone database linked to the application. In this workshop, you will learn the basics of creating help systems in Lotus Notes. http://tc.eserver.org/29988.html http://tc.eserver.org/29988.html There are still many circumstances when drawing a user's attention to changed text is important. How do we do that with Help systems? By borrowing techniques from paper manuals, we don't have to reinvent the wheel. So here's a good approach that will work for Microsoft Word-based HATs. http://tc.eserver.org/29992.html http://tc.eserver.org/29992.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/29926.html http://tc.eserver.org/29926.html Two questions any writer must deal with are: 'What do I write about?' and 'How much do I say about it?' Essentially, these questions deal with the scope and the depth of a document. Technical communicators have a tendency to want to document a topic as completely as possible, and we carry this instinct with us when we architect and write Help files. In this column, I challenge that prevalent instinct and offer an alternative way of thinking about the scope and depth requirements of Help systems. The benefits of this approach are, I hope, better Help for users and, for our clients and employers, a more efficient use of technical communicators' time. First, I'll discuss three principles that underpin my perspective, then I'll give some practical advice about writing Help that people will actually use. http://tc.eserver.org/29903.html http://tc.eserver.org/29903.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/29760.html http://tc.eserver.org/29760.html The web allows us to easily provide updated documentation to our users, but why stop there? There is more to making users successful quickly than just providing documentation. By creating a complete "Answer Station" that is accessible from the application or product, we can not only direct users to that updated documentation, but we can also provide information about technical support, consulting, training, sales, etc. This paper discusses writing a proposal for an Answer Station, determining content, working with other departments to gather information, designing the site, making that design work with an existing corporate website, dealing with tool issues, and finally, going live. http://tc.eserver.org/29867.html http://tc.eserver.org/29867.html 'Memory requests for some applications may be denied.' 'Error 404: File not found.' 'Invalid entry. Check your info and resubmit.' 'Fatal error. Procedure aborted.' It's often easy to identify what kinds of error messages don't help users, but it can be tricky to avoid them, and even more of a challenge to create the opposite: error messages that give users a clear indication of the problem, offer information to help them fix it, and provide tips on how to avoid the same situation in the future. This paper details the steps involved in creating understandable, helpful error messages, and suggests ways of communicating the value of good error messages to managers and executives. http://tc.eserver.org/28028.html http://tc.eserver.org/28028.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/27651.html http://tc.eserver.org/27651.html Online help systems have evolved over the past 20 years to meet the needs of our users. Designers must consider the content, format, presentation, navigation, and access methods of online help systems. A series of design checklists based on the past 20 years of research are presented in this paper, which summarizes a journal article currently being considered for publication. The latest trend in online help system design is embedded user assistance, which includes integrating information into the interface and including an embedded help pane within that interface to display a context-sensitive online help system. http://tc.eserver.org/27642.html http://tc.eserver.org/27642.html The largest problem our participants had in using the help system wasn't in processing the procedural information in the help, but rather finding the correct help topic, a topic generally unaddressed in the literature on how to write a help system. Specifically, participants had difficulty in searching for topics because their terminology differed from the terminology used by the help system, and they became lost in the unclear structure of the system. http://tc.eserver.org/27650.html http://tc.eserver.org/27650.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/27084.html http://tc.eserver.org/27084.html This article looks at a methodology for developing a software user assistance (UA) system in a structured manner. The software UA system could have both paper-based user manuals and online help systems. http://tc.eserver.org/27030.html http://tc.eserver.org/27030.html Customers avoid web-based customer support if information is not relevant, out of date or hard to find. Without a business commitment to addressing these issues, customers will continue to prefer contacting a service representative by phone. http://tc.eserver.org/25870.html http://tc.eserver.org/25870.html In order to make a help system really helpful, you need to provide an effective index. But many online help writers face two dilemmas when it's time to index their help systems: How to prepare a useful index that meets the users' needs and how to code the keywords to make the index compile correctly. This article provides tips to help writers solve both problems. http://tc.eserver.org/24972.html http://tc.eserver.org/24972.html This presentation describes a strategy to meet a last-minute enterprise demand for online help for a software application program. We established design standards for writing online help, developed a process for gaining consensus from the project team on the content of the online help, and wrote the online help. We accomplished this in less than four months-a task that originally seemed impossible. http://tc.eserver.org/24925.html http://tc.eserver.org/24925.html Calls on technical communicators to suggest a new term for modular documentation accessible via a tri-pane interface. http://tc.eserver.org/24841.html http://tc.eserver.org/24841.html The Knowledge Products group at Cisco Systems, Inc., provides online help for both PC and UNIX-based applications. The online help team for the Cisco Works for Windows product comprised of five writers who coordinated the online help development efforts. The online help team worked closely to produce an integrated help system that was modularized for better process control. http://tc.eserver.org/24798.html http://tc.eserver.org/24798.html An industry-wide design standard for help systems does not exist. To develop a flexible and usable help system for our workstation-based product, we have evolved and changed our help system design. Over a five-year period our help system was influenced by several factors: http://tc.eserver.org/24805.html http://tc.eserver.org/24805.html Users complain that there is too much information in help. We will explore ways to move beyond help and provide users with the types of support they really need: re-using information on commercial information services such as CompuServe or America Online, on the Internet, and on dial-up phone and fax services. Making application interfaces self-documenting. Providing information in overlaid notes, cue cards, and wizards. http://tc.eserver.org/24801.html http://tc.eserver.org/24801.html How do you create an effective online help system and efficiently manage the project? This paper will cover some basics of practical online help design and project management. The presentation includes examples from a project we worked on. http://tc.eserver.org/24766.html http://tc.eserver.org/24766.html Two main forces affect a Help project: absurd deadlines and a complex web of hypertext files. Those responsible for managing such projects often ask: How do I gain control of all these forces? When do I need to start the project? How do I gauge its progress? Our demonstration will show how to successfully manage a Help project. We will illustrate how WordPerfect Domestic Documentation Services solves management problems using a timeline, checklist, and tracking database. http://tc.eserver.org/24729.html http://tc.eserver.org/24729.html In the eras of Windows 3.x and earlier versions of Windows 95, the only help system people worked with or even knew about was WinHelp. Problems started with the transition to Windows 95, when developers and users alike had to learn to deal with WinHelp 4.0's separate dialog with the Contents, Index, and Find tabs. http://tc.eserver.org/24658.html http://tc.eserver.org/24658.html Just as clothing styles change, and fall's fashion is different from summer's, so Microsoft presents it's new fall's fashion of online help to a fashion-consious entourage of software companies always eager to follow Microsoft's lead. http://tc.eserver.org/24510.html http://tc.eserver.org/24510.html With planning, an understanding of organizational devices such as expandable tables of contents, secondary help windows, and graphical navigational aids, you can make your help system easier to use, more attractive, and more useful. http://tc.eserver.org/24430.html http://tc.eserver.org/24430.html The basic requirements for creating accurate and useful technical documentation are good writing skills, an understanding of the audience, knowledge of the tools used for producing documentation, ability to use the product, and ability to successfully interview subject matter experts. While the same skills are essential for creating an online help system, writers also need to understand how help projects are set up, how to modify their writing to produce modular help topics, how to test the program-to-help links between the product and the help topics, and how to align help file development with engineering build dates. In addition, writers expand their hypertext awareness to include new terms such us jumps and pop-ups. http://tc.eserver.org/24410.html http://tc.eserver.org/24410.html IDX Systems launched two separate HTML-based help authoring efforts simultaneously. The results were two very different HTML-based help solutions. One solution emphasized thorough and complete information while compromising accessibility. The other solution emphasized accessibility while compromising thoroughness and completeness. In both cases, the compromises were forced by the limitations of current web technologies. The two writing efforts have now been merged into one solution that uses HTML, database technology, and Active Server Pages. http://tc.eserver.org/24407.html http://tc.eserver.org/24407.html Technical communicators are facing a revolution in how we develop online help for software applications. No where is this more apparent than in the development of help systems for applications written in Java. Sun Microsystems, Inc., expects to roll out JavaHelp in the early part of 1998. Until JavaHelp arrives, technical communicators will have to find creative ways to implement HTML help systems for Java applications. The best news is that we have some standards to follow, like HTML, and some methods for browsing HTML help today. The key is to develop scalable help systems designed with the future in mind. This paper discusses some ways you can create HTML help content that works with your applications today and tomorrow. http://tc.eserver.org/24326.html http://tc.eserver.org/24326.html We have all heard the terms, ‘telecommuting,’ ‘groupware,’ and intra- or internet at one time or another. However, the best designed information retrieval system is useless if you cannot get on-line to use it. Most companies are taking advantage of technology, and publishing their policies and procedures on their own intranet or Local Area Network. Unfortunately, some organizations with field offices, off-site agents or consultants, even executives on travel are not always ‘plugged-in’ to this information. There is a way to make dynamic information available to enterprises without internet accessibility or LAN/WAN connections. What follows is one solution to the quest for getting ‘plugged in’ and taking advantage of dynamic data exchange. http://tc.eserver.org/24320.html http://tc.eserver.org/24320.html This paper describes an online documentation delivery and feedback solution developed to meet the needs of a fast-paced project in which designers, developers, marketing specialists, technical writers, and beta-test customer sites were located all over the world. During the development of the IBM Health Data Network, we needed a way to provide drafts of the product documentation to all of the developers, reviewers, and users on a real-time basis. We also needed a way to get input and updates from the developers, and feedback from the people in the field who were working with beta versions of the new system. This paper describes how we set up a Web-based solution to meet these needs. http://tc.eserver.org/24307.html http://tc.eserver.org/24307.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/24290.html http://tc.eserver.org/24290.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/24274.html http://tc.eserver.org/24274.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/24258.html http://tc.eserver.org/24258.html If everything on the desktop was proceeding as planned, nobody would ever press F1. But people do press F1--a lot-- and it’s our job to give them the information they need when they need it. This paper suggests design strategies, organizational strategies, and writing tips that can help make the information in your WinHelp files more accessible. http://tc.eserver.org/24212.html http://tc.eserver.org/24212.html There are many roles involved in developing a successful online help project. Understanding the relationship between these roles can increase everyone's awareness of the requirements and tasks necessary for a successful project. In many projects, individuals fill more than one role, moving between roles as needed. http://tc.eserver.org/24074.html http://tc.eserver.org/24074.html Basic steps to developing successful online help include content planning based on available resources and user needs, use of a style guide, effective design and access, prototype development, usability studies, and being open to changes. Defining “quality” as “customer satisfaction” we can place the online help development process into the context of a continuous quality process model that focuses on meeting customer needs. This quality process includes identifying output, identifying customer and customer requirements, converting requirements into processes, measuring the output, and evaluating results. http://tc.eserver.org/23800.html http://tc.eserver.org/23800.html Designing and developing an embedded help solution involves several stages. A successful solution starts with identifying user wants and needs. As you sort through these needs, identify common threads and design a solution that addresses these common threads. Consistency, flexibility, and experimentation are keys to developing a successful solution. Your design should be intuitive to use, and should provide users with the options they need. As you design your solution, consider your develop and maintenance requirements. You want the time you invest in the first version of your solution to pay off for future releases. http://tc.eserver.org/23739.html http://tc.eserver.org/23739.html With new tools and technologies available, more companies are choosing to move from paper-based documentation to electronic documentation. Being a pioneer is an exciting – and daunting – experience. In moving from paper-based to electronic documentation, you may be treading on a path never before explored for your product or your company. There are many decisions to make and many plans to develop, abandon, and develop again. Special attention is required in the areas of project management, writing and illustration, documentation design, and configuration management. A team that has experienced a paper-to-electronic documentation project can offer valuable advice if you are facing a groundbreaking project. http://tc.eserver.org/23733.html http://tc.eserver.org/23733.html This paper reviews research done in online help information, analyses different views on it from the perspectives of professionals of technical communication and end-users, and suggests ways to solve problems. http://tc.eserver.org/23727.html http://tc.eserver.org/23727.html Resources relating to user guides and online help systems. http://tc.eserver.org/23661.html http://tc.eserver.org/23661.html Online help systems have evolved over the past twenty years to meet the needs of our users. Designers must consider the content, format, presentation, navigation, and access methods of online help systems. A series of design checklists based on the past 20 years of research are presented in this paper, which summarizes a journal article currently being considered for publication. The latest trend in online help system design is embedded user assistance, which includes integrating information into the interface and including an embedded help pane within that interface to display a context-sensitive online help system. http://tc.eserver.org/22918.html http://tc.eserver.org/22918.html The panelists provide examples of standards for visuals that reduce text and increase access in online Help. They briefly cover how these visuals solve problems for both customers and Help designers, and they discuss standards for two of the visuals selected for the session. Audience ranking determines the order of the remaining visuals. In covering the visuals, the panelists use examples from Help for highly sophisticated engineering, applications whose users have varying levels of experience and comfort with computer software. The panelists also provide checklists for developing standards, including standards for how information should look and, more importantly, work. http://tc.eserver.org/22860.html http://tc.eserver.org/22860.html Maximizing Windows Help is more than just converting printed documentation to Help. Help users want easy access to information so that they can complete their tasks expeditiously. A Help topic should contain information that adresses one subject, has one objective, and answers one question. To maximize Windows Help, chunk information and use hyperlinks. The use of macros can enhance how information is accessed. http://tc.eserver.org/22262.html http://tc.eserver.org/22262.html Last month I went through some fairly atrocious documentation. The letters I received from frustrated geeks really drove home the point that bad docs can make what should be a simple, routine, and--dare I say--fun experience, dreadful. http://tc.eserver.org/22119.html http://tc.eserver.org/22119.html This paper describes some common types of help topic and when to use each. Different applications require different mixes of help topics. Choose the topic types that are appropriate for the application you are documenting. http://tc.eserver.org/22118.html http://tc.eserver.org/22118.html This paper outlines some general principles you need to consider when planning an online help project and creating WinHelp files. http://tc.eserver.org/21795.html http://tc.eserver.org/21795.html Why would anybody want to use JavaHelp? The answer is not necessarily obvious, especially to help authors. http://tc.eserver.org/21707.html http://tc.eserver.org/21707.html An overview of documentation development for online help. http://tc.eserver.org/21574.html http://tc.eserver.org/21574.html When assigned to create a context-sensitive hypertext Help system, writers and editors often find themselves asking, 'Where do I start? What is context-sensitivity and how in-depth should it be? How do I organize Help topics for the interface?' We will demonstrate how to structure a Help system based on context-sensitivity, the interface, and useful access tools. We will show how WordPerfect Domestic Documentation Services uses interface information to create a topics database and a corresponding text file. http://tc.eserver.org/21505.html http://tc.eserver.org/21505.html A browse sequence enables users to navigate through a series of help topics in the sequence established by the help author. Although often omitted from help systems, the browse sequence is useful and will become essential as print documentation diminishes. Effective design options for a browse sequence include multiple segments, rings, branching, and the use of a browse button to take the user to the first topic in the current segment of the browse sequence. http://tc.eserver.org/21506.html http://tc.eserver.org/21506.html We are currently in the second phase of development of a large Windows online help system. This paper reviews the major decisions we had to make during the first phase of the project, and lists some project evaluation results that have helped us plan for subsequent phases. http://tc.eserver.org/21479.html http://tc.eserver.org/21479.html With the advent of HTML Help and the ability to embed Help directly inside an application, there's been an increased interest in creating Help systems that are seamlessly integrated with their host applications. By blurring the line between the application and the Help that supports it, and by developing Help that automatically responds to user actions, application developers and Help authors now have the ability to develop true electronic performance support systems. http://tc.eserver.org/21471.html http://tc.eserver.org/21471.html Microsoft’s HTML Help presents a dilemma to Help authors who wish to deploy it on web sites: Should they use the ActiveX control to provide faster, more robust functionality, or should they use the Java applet to provide wider compatibility? This article shows how you can have the best of both worlds and create one HTML Help system that will be optimized for viewers regardless of whether their browser supports ActiveX or Java. http://tc.eserver.org/21475.html http://tc.eserver.org/21475.html In a previous article we discussed what browser-based HTML Help is, and how you can use the HTML Help ActiveX control to create and distribute web-based HTML Help to Microsoft Internet Explorer Users. In this article we'll explain how to use the Microsoft Java Applet to create and distribute Help systems that can be viewed by an Java-enabled browser. http://tc.eserver.org/21480.html http://tc.eserver.org/21480.html In this article we discuss what browser-based HTML Help is, the sitemap file that's behind the HTML Help table of contents, how the HTML Help ActiveX control HHCTRL.OCX interprets and displays this sitemap file, and how you can automatically distribute HHCTRL.OCX. http://tc.eserver.org/21473.html http://tc.eserver.org/21473.html Doc-To-Help 2000 has a new 'fault tolerance' feature that forgives novice authors their Microsoft Word mistakes, including direct formatting and stretched bookmarks. These problems often cause corrupted cross-references as well as document-to-Help-system conversion problems. Doc-To-Help's automatic diagnostic and repair utilities now find these common errors and correct them automatically. http://tc.eserver.org/21472.html http://tc.eserver.org/21472.html JavaHelp is a new online Help platform created by Sun. Sun released JavaHelp 1.0 in April, but it's been publicly available through several beta releases for a while. (The just-released Doc-To-Help 2000 supports this new version of JavaHelp.) http://tc.eserver.org/21457.html http://tc.eserver.org/21457.html Below you can find a compilation of the most frequently asked questions about electronic catalogs. You will find answers to general as well as to technical questions. http://tc.eserver.org/21194.html http://tc.eserver.org/21194.html Here you will find a collection of WinHelp development aids and tutorials. http://tc.eserver.org/21196.html http://tc.eserver.org/21196.html Miscellaneous software for converting WinHelp files into other formats. http://tc.eserver.org/21195.html http://tc.eserver.org/21195.html Here you will find a selection of tools that enhance WinHelp, collected since 1995 and made publicly available on this pages. http://tc.eserver.org/20781.html http://tc.eserver.org/20781.html I'll pay $20 for a manual. I'd even pay $30-40 for a manual (grudgingly...). But $65 for a manual that should be in the damn box to begin with? Sorry... NO. http://tc.eserver.org/20748.html http://tc.eserver.org/20748.html As help systems become more complex, integrating text with multimedia, scripting languages, search engines, etc., the line between documentation development and software development blurs. Some companies, especially those that have to adhere to federal or ISO-regulated procedures, are starting to look at online help as a product with its own development needs. This shift is changing the online help from documentation into software, subjecting it to the same controls and processes. This paper looks at how one company is handling this transition. http://tc.eserver.org/20729.html http://tc.eserver.org/20729.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/20341.html http://tc.eserver.org/20341.html Our plight as users of process information is much like that of the users of the information for our software products. Like them, we want to do useful work and get appropriate assistance when we need it. Instead of just reading about a task such as writing an information plan, we want the templates and samples to use when writing the plan. Just-in-time assistance, experience captured in a useful form, would suit us just fine. This paper, by the designers and developers of a system that supports the work and processes of a user technology organization, presents the information design issues that we encountered and the design of the system that we created. http://tc.eserver.org/20346.html http://tc.eserver.org/20346.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/20304.html http://tc.eserver.org/20304.html This document explains necessary tips for providing product information in digital form, giving specific examples of choosing the suitable media, classifying information, appropriate linking, file organization, etc. through our experience (in Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.) during the development of the software product called Web PrintVision. http://tc.eserver.org/20305.html http://tc.eserver.org/20305.html Development of the Intranet application STAR.IDN for requesting and receiving medically related supplies illustrates a broad spectrum of technological and user issues. As such it serves as a case study of design and user-related decisions between an application designer and a Help author. Central to the study is the argument that design must be based on an empirically 'informed' rather than 'assumed' user model. The project also challenges Web literature that does not address user considerations in its promotion of design methods. http://tc.eserver.org/20161.html http://tc.eserver.org/20161.html Tight deadlines and limited resources often force wiiters to cut corners and release less than optimal help system designs. After considerable trial and error, I te come up with a checklist that can help you evaluate and improve your help system for the next release. Each question represents an important usability issue. http://tc.eserver.org/20122.html http://tc.eserver.org/20122.html The first time you create a Windows Help file can be very confusing. This paper should help reduce confusion by explaining the basic WinHelp concepts and components, and then walking you through the procedure. http://tc.eserver.org/20118.html http://tc.eserver.org/20118.html WinHelp 4 is the help environment for Microsoft’s Windows 95 and Windows NT operating systems. Among the important new features of WinHelp 4 are more capable secondary windows, shortcut buttons, the ability to integrate multiple help files, What’s This? help, and better support for online coaches. Help authors must understand both the construction and the design aspects of these new features. They must also deal with the complexities of the transition from Windows 3.1 help to WinHelp 4. http://tc.eserver.org/20007.html http://tc.eserver.org/20007.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19978.html http://tc.eserver.org/19978.html 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. http://tc.eserver.org/19950.html http://tc.eserver.org/19950.html As Help Authors, we often treat online help as a 'thing,' not an activity. We’ve favored the noun over the verb! This preference is natural for writers, who enjoy producing books. If we hope to survive on a dynamic development team, we must train ourselves away from writing books, toward helping people. This shift means examining the bigger picture and adopting different ways of working. http://tc.eserver.org/19830.html http://tc.eserver.org/19830.html The Windows Help utility is familiar as a tool to provide context-sensitive and procedural help for people using a software application, but it also a highly effective tool for providing many kinds of desktop-based training and support within an organization. During this session, we look at a variety of systems built using Windows Help and explore why this was a good choice for the particular project. http://tc.eserver.org/19059.html http://tc.eserver.org/19059.html During March and April 2003, Cherryleaf carried out an online survey into the current trends in technical communication. One of the questions we asked was: Do the online user assistance documents produced by your organization contain the following advanced capabilities? http://tc.eserver.org/18794.html http://tc.eserver.org/18794.html Recently, there was a lively discussion on the Help Authoring Tools and Techniques (HATT) mailing list about the relative compactness and efficiency of the HTML code produced by various Help authoring tools. As a result of these discussions, several industry consultants decided to collaborate on a project to compare the HTML, CSS, and CHM files produced by a variety of Help authoring tools. http://tc.eserver.org/15065.html http://tc.eserver.org/15065.html Originally submitted to Builder.com, this article is an overview of how to add effective help to Web-based applications. It was written for developers and others who are not technical communication professionals. Builder.com changed direction and decided not to publish the piece. http://tc.eserver.org/12969.html http://tc.eserver.org/12969.html 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