Greasemonkey Form Help

Two relatively common usability problems with web forms are textareas that are too small, and dropdown lists being clumsy to use for some people. This Greasemonkey user script automatically assigns links above each textarea so that it can be resized, and automatically expands dropdown lists. The script is easily configurable, so you can choose not to expand dropdown lists, or determine the maximum number of items you want displayed in a dropdown list, or have graphic or text links for resizing textarea form controls.

Lemon, Gez. Juicy Studio (2006). Design>Web Design>Forms>Help

HAT-Matrix

HAT-Matrix.com is a new representation of an old standard--the Help Authoring Tool (HAT) Comparison Matrix that was available from helpstuff.com for five years (2001-2006). But instead of a static list, this site uses a searchable database. And instead of someone choosing the tools that are included, vendors choose whether to include their tools.

HAT-Matrix (2006). Resources>Documentation>Software>Help

Help Authoring Tool Survey

Market overview of recommendable tools for creating software documentation, especially for the creation of user manuals and online help files. Many of these help authoring tools can generate printable user manuals (PDF) and onlne help files from the same text base (single source publishing principle).

Achtelig, Marc. indoition engineering. Resources>Software>Tools>Help

Help Is Dead. Long Live Help!  

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.

Sisler, Paul and Catherine M. Titta. STC Proceedings (2001). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online

The Help Landscape: A Mile Wide and 30 Seconds Deep

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.

Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Articles>Documentation>Help>Online

Help Strategies and Their Effect on Graphical Icon Usage

An increasingly popular component of modern graphical human-computer interfaces are graphical command buttons. Studies have shown that graphical command buttons can enhance user productivity. However, two factors, the time required to acquire a working knowledge of the graphical command set and the need for frequent use to maintain the knowledge limit the effectiveness of graphical command buttons as a user interface strategy. This study attempts to quantify the effects of four types of help (balloon style, a mouse documentation line at the bottom of the screen, a help browser, and hardcopy documentation) on the ability of novice users to acquire a working knowledge of a graphical command set. The study did not find any significant difference (based on the anova and manova tests) between the four treatments.

McAlister, Britt and Chavi Greengart. SHORE (1997). Design>Documentation>Human Computer Interaction>Help

Help Technologies

A page about each of the major online Help technologies: HTML Help, JavaHelp, WebHelp, WebWorks Help, WinHelp, and WinHelp 2000.

Knopf, David A. Knopf Online. Resources>Documentation>Help

Help! It's Not Just a Beatles Movie

Windows Help has steadily improved to the point where the Windows XP Help and Support Center provides nearly exhaustive answers to your queries. Here’s how the Help and Support Center works.

Crawford, Sharon. Microsoft (2001). Articles>Documentation>Help

Help! Six Fixes to Improve the Usability of Your Online Help  

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.

Timpone, Donna. STC Proceedings (1997). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Help.Longhorn - What is it?

The Help platform for Microsoft Windows is changing once again. Since 1995, Microsoft HTML Help has been the standard for Help systems for Windows applications, but the release of the next generation Windows operating system in 2005 will see a brand new XML-based Help platform. It is currently known as Help.Longhorn, or "Longhorn" Help, or sometimes as Help3 or TrésHelp.

Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2004). Articles>Documentation>Help>Microsoft Windows

HelpHook

This is a very simple example of integrating a J2SE application with the Apple Help Viewer application. This sample code has been updated to include a project that produces a universal binary. No code changes were required for it to run correctly on Intel-based Macintosh computers.

Apple Inc. (2007). Articles>Documentation>Help>Macintosh

Helpstuff Blog

A weblog for writers of documentation and users of Help Authoring Systems.

James-Tanny, Char. Helpstuff. Resources>Documentation>Help

The Helpware Group

Welcome to the home of The Helpware Group. Here you will find support for MS HTML Help 1.x and MS Help 2.0, FrontPage and Delphi. We are based in Melbourne Australia. Enjoy the site.

helpware.net. Resources>Software>Help>Microsoft Windows

Hero Stuff: Saving 50% on Support Costs with Fax and Modem Support Documents  

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.

Brown, Constance C. STC Proceedings (1993). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

HTML Help 1.x FAQ

This is a list of Frequently Asked Questions for the FAR HTML program and HTML Help users in general.

Helpware.net (2001). Reference>Writing>Help

HTML-Based Help: A Convergence of Two Solutions  

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.

Johnson, Wayne and Fritz Garrison. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Implementing Help Systems for Java Applications  

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.

Colvin, Richard D. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Indexing Online Help  

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.

Hamilton, Beth. STC Indexing SIG (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Indicating Changed Text in Help Files

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.

Self, Tony. HyperWrite (2004). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help

Inside Indexing with RoboHelp HTML  

RoboHelp HTML, from eHelp Corporation, is a powerful software tool for creating online Help systems. Included within RoboHelp HTML is the ability to develop indexes for online Help projects.

Smith, Suzanne. STC Indexing SIG. Resources>Indexing>Software>Adobe RoboHelp

Instructional Text in the User Interface: Some Counterintuitive Implications of User Behaviors

User assistance occurs within an action context--the user doing something with an application--and should appear in close proximity to the focus of that action--that is, the application it supports. The optimal placement of user assistance, space permitting, is in the user interface itself. We typically call that kind of user assistance instructional text. But when placing user assistance within an application as instructional text, we must modify conventional principles of good information design to accommodate certain forces within an interactive user interface. This column, User Assistance, talks about how the rules for effective instruction change when creating instructional text for display within the context of a user interface.

Hughes, Michael A. UXmatters (2007). Articles>User Interface>Help>Online

Interactive Help: Adapting Content for Multiple Users  

Most online help systems present a 'one-size-fits-all' solution—fixed content for each topic—but users’ experience levels and backgrounds are complex and diverse. Users lose time and patience sifting through topics that either do not match the problem a user is trying to solve, or that present information that does not match a user's knowledge level. A group of Masters students at Carnegie Mellon University tackled this problem. As a course project, the team created an online help prototype that contains different levels of help, a prototype that gives users a choice about how much information they want to see.

Downs, Christina M. and Anne F. Jackson. STC Proceedings (2001). Design>Documentation>Online>Help

An Introduction to Embedded Assistance  

Everyone hates help, right? Why? Help is inherently reactive, anticipating users' failure rather than providing information when users need it--before they fail. Print documentation, further from the user’s task at hand, is even more guilty of these sins. This paper presents an overview of embedded assistance, describing the current help paradigm and why it's failing and the basics of embedded assistance, as well as the technologies and infrastructure and the skills and knowledge you need to develop effective embedded assistance.

Ames, Andrea L. STC Proceedings (2002). Design>Documentation>Help>Embedded

Introduction to JavaHelp  

An introduction to using Sun's JavaHelp system for creating online Help.

Nesbitt, Scott. ScottNesbitt.net (2004). Articles>Documentation>Help