Summary: Help On Help! (long)

["Jarvis A. Ridges" <Jarvis_A -dot- _Ridges -at- POSTAL -dot- ESSD -dot- NORTHGRUM -dot- COM>]

     This information has been posted to both the Techwr & Winhlp lists.

     I'd like to thank everyone for responding to my questions about online
     help, etc (see recap below).  I have been asked to post a summary of
     the responses:

          Question 1:  When creating a "help" option for each of these
          apps, is this considered online help or does online help become
          online help when it is placed on an inter/intranet? (Please
          forgive the simplicity of this question).

          Responses:
             * Online help is what you see bundled with other Windows apps.
             It doesn't necessarily have anything to do with HTML-based
             help.

             * Online help is any help or HTML file that is accessed
             directly from an application.  Online books are help or HTML
             files that explain the application, but are not necessarily
             accessed from it --- basically an online version of your
             manuals.  None of these need to be accessed from an
             inter/intranet connection to be considered online.

             * Online help is not just on the inter/intranet, but help that
             appears on the screen, rather than in a manual.

             * Online help is considered to be help attached to an
             application - it is electronic rather than paper-based.

          Question 2:  The move seems to be towards HTML-based help.
          Should I begin there or should I start with WinHelp and convert
          in the future?

          Responses:
             * RoboHelp can be used to create WinHelp. It can be converted
             to HTML Help with a click of a button (or two) later.

             * One respondent observed that with the introduction of
             Windows 98, there will be a major migration towards HTML help.
             But, if you're using Blue Sky's RoboHELP and RoboHTML
             products, the conversion from one to the other is VERY easy.
             (S/he also suggested that I talk to the programmer about the
             future of the project, and that I'll likely be OK with regular
             Windows Help.)

             * The move to HTML Help is strong, but has some serious
             restrictions.  The worst (best?) of these is that you must
             have IE 4.0 installed on your users machines to use it.  Also,
             HTML Help is still in it's infancy and is undergoing quite a
             few growing pains.  Plus, there's the HTML learning curve.  If
             you have the time and can guarantee your users will have IE
             4.0 or later, go for it.  Otherwise, stick with WinHelp.  The
             conversion process is fairly smooth.  Extensive discussion on
             the pros/cons of HTML Help can be found in the archives.

             * Another suggestion was to start with WinHelp and convert in
             the future.  RoboHelp 5 and higher versions especially make
             this easy to single-source, because you can compile any of a
             variety of types of help from the same source files.

             * With one tool, Doc-To-Help version 3, all of your help
             options are covered.  Doc-To-Help utilizes a single sourcing
             methodology that allows the author to prepare output for:
             Windows Help 3.0/3.1; Windows NT 3.51/4.0; Generic HTML; HTML
             Help; Java-enabled HTML Help; Active X-enabled HTML Help;
             Compiled HTML Help.  In a recent review of the four major Help
             Authoring Tools, the Philadelphia-Metro chapter of the STC
             ranked Doc-To-Help the best overall Help Authoring tool,
             including converting help files into HTML; see
             http://stc.org/region2/phi/n&v/index.html.

          Question 3:  Someone indicated on the list that the training
          documentation should be different from the manual, and they both
          should be different from the online documentation.  Should I
          continue to use MS Word to create my printed documentation?
          (Eventually, we'd like to place the manuals on our company's
          intranet.  However, I'd like to have hypertext links within the
          manuals that would jump from document to document, and our System
          Admininstrator said that this isn't possible with .pdf files.)

          Responses:
             * One suggestion was to write the manual first, and then pull
             whatever was needed from it to develop help and training.

             * One organization uses Word to produce both online and
             hardcopy documents.  If your users are all on Windows NT/95,
             posting .hlp files on the intranet shouldn't be a problem;
             .pdf files are mainly used because they print nicely and are
             platform independent.  If those things are not a concern, the
             .hlp files can be linked as well as HTML files - which are
             also platform independent.

             * In a nutshell, training teaches the user how the software
             works and how to take advantage of that functionality;
             hardcopy docs provide high-level overview and task-level "how
             to"; online help provides only "how-to" on demand. (It was
             also suggested that I continue to use MS Word for hardcopy
             docs since I'm already doing so, and I'll have several easy
             option for converting the Word docs for inter/intranet use.)
             Word has it's own HTML export process, that "should" preserve
             internal links like the cross-reference and TOC features.

             * The recommendation between the different mediums refers to
             the structure of the document and not the content.  With
             Doc-To-Help's margin note, pop-up and hidden text
             capabilities, all three outputs can be created from a single
             source doeument. There is no need to keep multiple files for
             each type of output.  And, because Doc-To-Help is a tool that
             is layered onto MS Word, there is no need to learn an
             additional package; a free evaluation copy of Doc-To-Help is
             available at http://www.wextech.com. (I'm not a Doc-to-Help
             spokesperson, just reporting the responses.) =^)

             * Manual vs. online documentation should be closer in
             presentation than the training documentation.  Neater things
             can be accomplished online.

             * Links between .pdf documents can be created using Acrobat
             Exchange.

     Whew!!! Thanks again for everyone who responded.  You've all given me
     some very useful information.  Now, off I go...

     -Jarvis