Re: SUMMARY: Spelling out acronyms at first mention

[Jo Francis Byrd <jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com>]

Gilda,

You can have a popup in HTML; I don't know what tool you use, so I can't tell
you the method. RoboHTML allows for both conventional popups (you click on the
link and a window opens. It disappears when you click elsewhere in the screen),
and what is called a "Ctrl+P" popup. It is even closer to what you're used to in
WinHelp. I don't know how the other tools handle this, but I'm sure they do.

Using the conventional popup, you have the popup text in a separate, linked
topic. The "Ctrl+P" popup embeds the definition in the topic where it appears.
If it's an acronym that appears again and again, having the text in a separate
topic would probably work best for you.

Jo Byrd

Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca wrote:

> Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. The consensus seems to be to
> define the acronym in a glossary, and provide numerous cross references to the
> glossary item.   I didn't mention it in my original post, but yes, we already
> do this.

>
> The cross-reference solution is ideal in WinHelp, because the definition
> appears in a pop-up or "mouse-over", as several people suggested.
>
> It's less effective in HTML format because HTML doesn't support pop-ups (as
> far as I know - am I wrong?). So in HTML, when you click on the acronym, you
> jump to the item on the glossary page. Then you have to jump back to the
> previous page to continue reading.
>
> So, I guess we'll just continue with the status quo. A couple of good rules of
> thumb from Sandy Harris and Katie Kearns:
>
> "Have a glossary with an explanation of all such terms. Link to it often. Max
> of one link to same term per paragraph."
>
> "We make it the first mention of any page. Sure, it's repetitive, but it's
> better than them being lost!"
>
> Thanks, everyone.