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.
Subject:Help systems for Web applications/ASPs? From:Rebecca Stevenson <rstevens -at- HUBDATA -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 9 Mar 1999 09:05:30 -0500
> Hello everyone! My company is working on a Web application based on
> Active Server Pages, and I'm not sure about the best way to integrate
> help information into such a setting.
>
> The program is fairly simple and will probably involve a couple dozen
> screens or so; clients may end up only using it once, to configure
> their account, and never need to see it again, so we need to keep
> things simple. On the other hand, we've got a lot of terms that will
> need definition for the casual or infrequent user. We're trying to
> avoid client-side scripting, so Java tooltips etc. are not acceptable.
>
>
> I'm a bit at sea as to how to integrate this for the user. A lot of
> instructional information can go right on the HTML page, but for that
> which can't or shouldn't, how do I make it available? Clients have to
> use version 4 browsers, so those are the limitations I'm working in.
> (We're a small company, I'm the only writer).
>
> I am very grateful for any advice.
>
> Rebecca Stevenson
> Technical Writer
> Hub Data, Inc.
> 617-864-3700 x41
>
