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Subject:RE: Embedded Help for a Web-based application From:Tara Charter <chartertmc -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 20 Mar 2003 07:39:51 -0800 (PST)
Pooja,
Make no mistake, this is a HUGE maintenance project. I
have a similar experience with creating Help for a
multiple-user-level application, using RoboHELP. I,
too, needed customer clarification (requirements
clarification).
Requirements are, and should be, biological. That is,
they are living and are always changing.
Your Operator and Supervisor users can access separate
Help files. Or you can use RoboHELP's features to flag
certain topics for specific sets of users.
Your programmers most certainly require a User ID to
access the ap, don't they? So, the code they write
that finds your Help file, can also find "If User ID
level = 3, then Help file = operator.htm, Else
generic.htm."
In any case, you start out with ONE Help file. This is
your main or Generic file. This contains all topics,
any topic that any user might need to access.
Once this larger set of topics is tested and approved
(yes, you'll have to do this for every release), then
you create subsets or smaller sets. This is only one
method.
The latest RoboHELP and others on the List have
improved upon this method. I.e., you can link the
topics in the baby sets so that they are automatically
updated when the parent set changes.
You get the point, anyway.
I think giving users access to topics according to
their security level is the way to go. But the main
set of topics must be written first.
Do you have a Usability Lab? Is your audience greater
than 50?
Tara M Charter
Subj: Embedded help for a web based application
Date: 3/20/2003 3:23:34 AM Pacific Standard Time
From: pooja -dot- malhotra -at- induslogic -dot- com
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Sent from the Internet (Details)
Should I consider
restricting the Operators from accessing help pages
provided only for
the Supervisor (and also other roles)? And if yes, how
do I do that? I
am using RoboHelp for producing this Help.
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