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Subject:Re: numbering online help From:"Bergen, Jane" <janeb -at- ANSWERSOFT -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 20 Aug 1998 08:58:35 -0500
I'd imagine you'll get lots of advice on this one, but numbering the
help topics flows against everything I've ever seen, learned, or been
taught about how users use online help. This "everything" includes:
* users use online help to complete ONE task. They usually don't care
what went ahead of it or what comes next.
* users do not expect to find a linear approach on online (for example,
start with an introduction, then installation, then build skills to the
end of the subject matter).
* users want this kind of functionality, generally in this order:
context-sensitive (at least to the window level), full text search,
index, hierarchical list of topics.
Just the logistics of maintaining the numbering scheme would be enough
for me to throw out this idea, but with cost/effort weighed against the
general knowledge about usability/usefulness to the user would bury it
six feet deep. Maybe your management could rethink this project, Debi.
If they really insist on doing an online file but retaining the linear
aspect, how about a pdf doc (all nicely hyperlinked, of course) in
addition to a more traditional online help system? That way the users
could have their cake and eat it too!
Jane
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Debi [mailto:debi -at- LAHIT -dot- CO -dot- IL]
> Sent: Thursday, August 20, 1998 2:38 AM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: numbering online help
>
>
> We use heading numbering for orientation in a very large
> Robohelp project
> (over 500 topics in two separate projects which are
> interconnected). This
> allows the user to print chapters with sequentially numbered topics.
>
> 1. What value do you feel this may add (or detract)?
>
> 2. What other orientation devices for large, complex helps can you
> recommend?
>
> 3. When we upgrade and create multiple version help systems
> from our source
> help document, we need to manually renumber. Any suggestions on how to
> automate this using Robohelp?
