Indexing HTML?

[Geoff Hart <Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Jessica Lange has <<... been busy putting a just-released Users
Guide into html, for eventual access from our corporate intranet...
has anyone... developed an efficient workflow for indexing?>>

At the risk of blowing my reputation for humility <g>, I'll refer you to
my article on indexing HTML which has apparently just appeared in
the June issue of STC's _Intercom_. (Unfortunately, the issues
always arrive a few weeks later in Canada, so I can't provide a full
citation yet. Sigh.)

I'd also like to take the opportunity to update and correct a
statement that appears in the article. Because of the publishing
timelag, and my own failure to leave myself a note, I'd mentioned a
new product called HTML Indexer, which I'd described as "in beta
testing and thus not yet ready for prime time". In fact, the product
(http://www.html-indexer.com/) is currently available in a shipping
version (2.x), with version 3.x due out this June. Worth a look,
particularly since the new version will work better with HTML Help
and its various evil siblings.

<<Also: I've looked at HTML Indexer, but (a) I won't get approval for
the cost until after year-end, if then; and (b) this indexing task will
happen too seldom to justify getting it.>>

Guess I should've read a bit further down the message, huh? Were
I you, I'd make a sales pitch for the software based purely on
usability improvements: cite my article <g>, then put up a "before
and after" example on your intranet, and ask the users to vote on
which version they prefer. The resulting data should prove fairly
persuasive, and hopefully you'll be able to make indexing a regular
part of your future online designs.

--Geoff Hart @8^{)}     Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"If pro is opposite of con, then what is the opposite of progress?"--Anon. (possibly Richard Lederer
)

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=