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Customized and customizable help for web-based application
Subject:Customized and customizable help for web-based application From:Janice Manwiller <jmanwiller05 -at- yahoo -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 5 May 2004 08:54:46 -0700 (PDT)
I've found some information in the archives on
customizing help, but not exactly what I need.
My company develops a web-based
(JSP/Struts)application. Customers initially purchase
a specific set of modules, and can then customize the
application to suit their needs.
The most common customization is to change the text on
each of the pages. We have files called resource
bundles that contain all of the page titles, browser
titles, field labels, etc. Users make the changes
there, and the pages display using those labels.
Customers also receive constant updates to the
application.
What I need is a way to develop a help system that can
be customized before the application is shipped, so
the customer gets help only for the functionality they
have purchased, and customized by the customer to
reflect their preferences for terminology and changes
to page text.
I'm currently using RoboHelp to generate WebHelp. I
use conditional build tags to generate specific
configurations. Unfortunately this solution does not
address customization by the customer.
I found one solution that allowed Javascript tags in
the WebHelp topics to refer to a terminology list
users could maintain, but that didn't address the TOC,
index, or glossary, and prevented the terms from being
searched.
Does anyone have any ideas for creating a web-based
help system that allows users to quickly and easily
customize specific text within the system? Ideally the
help system could refer to the resource bundles the
user already has customized, as well as to a
terminology list.
I'm not wedded to a specific tool, and am comfortable
hand-coding HTML and XML.
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