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Actually, I've received complaints from some technical customers (for SDKs)
about being forced to click with the mouse too often in Help files.
One such techie suggested we use a continuous scrolling approach. I'm not sure
if everyone would like it this solution for reference Help, but it fulfills his request:
Put all APIs in a single topic and link from the contents to a subheading for each API.
The customer can then click OR scroll to select a particular API.
Or some HATs might have features to arrange the APIs that way even after you put
each in its own topic. Ideally, the option should be available.
Do you think such a result could be achieved using RoboHelp, AuthorIT, or another
HAT you have experience with?
________________________________
From: Ed Marsh <lists -at- edmarsh -dot- com>
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Sent: Wednesday, August 3, 2011 9:20 AM
Subject: Re: Hiding things (was RE: Optimizing OnlineHelp for Mobile Viewing)
Are you talking about a drop-down *menu*, or a drop-down *list*?
-=Ed.
On Tue, 2 Aug 2011 08:16:17 -0700, Robert Lauriston wrote:
>
Drop-downs make sense in a dialog box or data entry where if you
>
exposed all the enums for all the fields they wouldn't fit it in the
>
form.
>
> They make no sense to me for related topics or "see also" in
online
> help. Why make me click on something instead of just letting me
skim?
> As a user, when I come across that sort of thing, I'm annoyed.
>
Flare's help is full of that stuff, providing a useful negative
>
example of their pointless features.
>
> If I didn't read fast and
navigate mostly from the keyboard I might
> not be so annoyed by a help
system constantly making me reach for the
> mouse.
Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. http://www.doctohelp.com
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Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help.
Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need. Try
Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days. http://www.doctohelp.com
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