Re: Getting On-line Help Systems Reviewed.

["Richard Pineger." <Richard_Pineger -at- PAC -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

Thank you Martha, your methodology will help. I also posted the query on
the HDK-L list. Below is a quick summary of the tips I was given. It helps
if you know HDK when you read this.

Thank you for all the help.

In summary, although it will be a few weeks before I can get results, here
are some of the options:

1.) Ask the reviewers to use the annotate feature in WinHelp to make
comments. Then get them to send me the .ANN file (from the same directory
as the help topic). Be careful to keep .ann files separate because they all
have the same name.

2.) Use Adobe Acrobat. Print to PDF and take screenshots of the TOC and
Program (for context to indicate locations). Send these to the reviewers

3.) Use 'Help to Doc' (which converts help systems to word documents) and
then you have page numbers. Use a macro to get all the Heading 1s as Index
entries then they are sorted alphabetically. Also print TOC screen shots
for location and perhaps include program screenshots to indicate context.


4.) Print the project using Hypershelf.  You can number the pages, and
because these are help files, there is probably a lot of white space on
each printed page, so people could print comments right on the page.



5.) Provide an electronic copy and a paper-based copy, and let them do the
markups on the paper version, whilst looking at both. That way they can
check links and so on electronically, but read text on paper. The
paper-based version may even be a straight print out from Word.


6.) Get feedback from the real users instead when something is wrong. Put a
section in help file asking them to return .ann files with comments (Lotus
Notes seem to use this approach).


Richard Pineger.


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