TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Andrew Brooke wondered: <<in a online Help project, what do you find is the
best approach to document very complex tasks, tasks in which one or more
previous tasks must be completed before the final task can be done?>>
My preference is to start the overall process with a topic that provides a
high-level overview (e.g., this task requires you to complete the following
5 steps), with each step in the overview hyperlinked to the help topic that
describes that step. It might be nice if each step could open in its own
window (so the steps in the overall process remain visible) in a background
window, but that can get too cluttered and awkward to use. For that reason,
I usually open them in the same window as the overview, but provide a clear
note at the end: "Click the Back button to return to the process overview".
(Depending on how the topic is accessed, a hardwired link to the overview
might be more effective.)
If the steps are strongly interdependent and sequential, the help topic for
each new step should clearly indicate this. One useful way is to repeat the
steps from the overview, with the current step highlighted to show where you
are in the overall process. Introduce this with some kind of "you are here,
but must have completed the following steps before reaching this screen; if
not, click the link to the previous step or steps and complete them first".
If the process really is strongly linear, leading someone through it with a
wizard or other form of embedded help is effective. If you can't create such
aids or persuade the developers to do it for you, you can achieve a similar
effect by creating a browse sequence so each step in the overall sequence
starts with a link to the previous step and ends with a link to the next
step. Much the same results, albeit less elegantly. However, rather than
relying on users to pick up the fact that there's a browse sequence, it's
better to make this explicit with "previous step" and "next step" links at
the top and bottom (respectively) of the current topic.
--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada
"User's advocate" online monthly at
www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/usersadvocate.html
Hofstadter's Law--"The time and effort required to complete a project are
always more than you expect, even when you take into account Hofstadter's
Law."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Absolutely FREE! FrameMaker/Win 6 & 7 Express Customization (v3):
Quick-access buttons & keys to common functions, char tag/font drop-down
lists, charset browser, QRef guides & much more: http://www.microtype.com/2
Check out the new release of RoboDemo, our easy-to-use tutorial software.
Plus, buy RoboHelp Office in August and save $100 with our mail-in rebate.
Get details and download free trial versions at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
