Beyond Help: Making Help a Core Component of a Performance Support System

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.
Wexler, Steven S. ComponentOne (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
Creating Dual-Mode Context-Sensitive Help
Want to provide your users with state-of-the art HTML Help but don't want to force them to install Internet Explorer (which is required to run compiled HTML Help files)? In this article we show you how to create context-sensitive Help that displays a topic from a .CHM file if IE is installed on the user's system, and displays the equivalent topic from a .HLP file if IE isn't installed.
ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>HTML
Creating Modular HTML Help Systems 
It is possible to create good, efficient, easy-to-maintain HTML Help systems - and it really isn't that difficult. The bad news is that if you're not sure exactly what settings need to be made, you will find creating modular HTML Help systems very frustrating. Read this article and avoid being frustrated.
ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>HTML
Creating Optimized Cross-Platform, Cross-Browser HTML Help Using Doc-To-Help 
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.
ComponentOne (2002). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
Customizing the Appearance of Your Manual, Help System, and HTML Help System 
Doc-To-Help gives Help authors complete control over the look, feel, and content of a project's printed manual, Windows Help system, HTML files, and HTML Help system. Maintaining different content is controlled using Doc-To-Help's conditional text feature, which allows authors to mark content for print-only, online-only, WinHelp-only, and so on. In this article we discuss how you control the appearance of the printed manuals and Help using Word templates, and HTML output using cascading style.
ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Content Management>Single Sourcing>Documentation
Distributing Cross-Platform, Cross-Browser HTML Help Using the Microsoft Java Applet 
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.
ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
Distributing Web-based HTML Help
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.
ComponentOne (1998). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
Fault Tolerance: A More Forgiving Doc-To-Help and Word for Windows 
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.
Wade, Jenny. ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
Linking Context-Sensitive HTML Help
The mechanism that Doc-To-Help uses for mapping topics in a context-sensitive HTML Help differs from the mechanism it uses for context-sensitive WinHelp. This article tells you what you need to know to properly link context-sensitive HTML Help to an application.
ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>HTML
An Overview of JavaHelp 1.0 and Doc-To-Help 2000 
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.)
Bannister, Bob. ComponentOne (1999). Articles>Documentation>Online>Help
ComponentOne maintains the WexTech-L discussion list as a place for our customers to discuss the Doc-To-Help Legacy products, and provide peer-to-peer support. List subscribers range from certified Doc-To-Help consultants and trainers to users who have just started working with a newly downloaded evaluation copy. Discussions on the WexTech-L list range from quick, simple question-and-answer exchanges to lively threads on Help authoring, printing manuals, and other topics of interest. On an average day, about 20-30 messages are sent to the WexTech-L list.
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