TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Thanks for your summary. It was very helpful to find out what others are doing
in this situation.
> Most responses said to separate the end user and database developer
> information. The database developers should be able to access both sorts of
> help, but the end users should only be able to access theirs.
This is what we decided to do with ours yesterday. There are essentially two
versions of our product: the regular user version and an administrator's
version, which gives full functionality of the product PLUS database
administration features. Since we are generally able to divide the doc into
these two separate categories, we will create one Help file for user procedures
and another for admin procedures. Those using the regular product will see only
the first Help file on the Help menu; those using the admin version will see
both Help files on the Help menu. There will be links from the Admin Help file
back to the User Help file, and there will be references (but not links) from
the User Help to the Admin Help.
We are also writing a Getting Started guide for the admin that includes all of
the implementation information (client and server), and a Getting Started quick
reference card for the non-admin user that explains how to start the app and get
going.