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Re: Guidelines on number of "things" per Help topic?
Subject:Re: Guidelines on number of "things" per Help topic? From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <susan-gallagher -at- vertel -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 09 Feb 2000 11:22:09 -0800
>Tara Bucheger wonders: <<Are there any guidelines/rules of thumb as to how
>many "things" per Help topic are good practices to follow? By "things" I
>mean: links, buttons, related topics/alinks, keywords/index markers... How
>about the number of topics in a Browse sequence?>>
The all-time magic number for online help is *one*. What I mean is that
one help topic should answer one question. If you find yourself answering
another question, then you need another help topic.
That said, the number of "things" you need to use to answer that question
will vary depending on the question. The phrase "just as many as you need
and no more" comes to mind.
