RE: Writing good help files

["Dan Goldstein" <DGoldstein -at- riverainmedical -dot- com>]

Hi Rob,

Various TECHWR-Lers have recommended the following books:

* How to Create Online Help That Meets Your Users' Needs (Jean Hollis
Weber)
* Designing and Writing Online Documentation (William K. Horton)
* Standards for Online Communication (JoAnn Hackos and Dawn Stevens)

You can also use TECHWR-L and HATT (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HATT/)
for specific questions. For example:

* How many hyperlinks to include in an online Help topic
<http://web.techwr-l.com/pipermail/techwr-l/2006-September/009170.html>
* Font types and sizes for online Help
<http://www.techwr-l.com/archives/0603/techwhirl-0603-00131.html>

These are only two examples -- you know best what your own questions
are.

By the way, I would approach with caution anyone's claims to "best
practices" in online Help (or any other form of tech writing). For a
discussion of this term, see
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Best_practices>.

HTH,

Dan

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rob Hudson
> Sent: Thursday, September 04, 2008 1:13 PM
> To: 'techwr-l List'
> Subject: Writing good help files
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> I had to dive in and edit a help file recently and found 
> myself struggling to determine the "best practices" for 
> task-based, reference-based, and path-based help...
> 

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