Re: SUMMARY: Spelling out acronyms at first mention

[Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca]

Hmmmm. I could have sworn I read somewhere that you can't have popups in
HTML.

We use Quadralay WebWorks Publisher to convert our Frame files to HTML.
Maybe it's a WWP limitation? Is there some way around it?

Gilda Spitz
Manager, Documentation
Longview Solutions Inc.




Jo Francis Byrd <jbyrd -at- byrdwrites -dot- com> on 10/13/2000 10:51:23 AM
                                                              
                                                              
                                                              
 To:      Gilda Spitz/Admin/Longview Solutions Inc.           
                                                              
 cc:      TECHWR-L <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com>               
                                                              
                                                              
                                                              
 Subject: Re: SUMMARY: Spelling out acronyms at first mention 
                                                              








Gilda,

You can have a popup in HTML; I don't know what tool you use, so I can't
tell
you the method. RoboHTML allows for both conventional popups (you click on
the
link and a window opens. It disappears when you click elsewhere in the
screen),
and what is called a "Ctrl+P" popup. It is even closer to what you're used
to in
WinHelp. I don't know how the other tools handle this, but I'm sure they
do.

Using the conventional popup, you have the popup text in a separate, linked
topic. The "Ctrl+P" popup embeds the definition in the topic where it
appears.
If it's an acronym that appears again and again, having the text in a
separate
topic would probably work best for you.

Jo Byrd

Gilda_Spitz -at- markham -dot- longview -dot- ca wrote:

> Thanks to everyone who responded to my question. The consensus seems to
be to
> define the acronym in a glossary, and provide numerous cross references
to the
> glossary item.   I didn't mention it in my original post, but yes, we
already
> do this.
>
> The cross-reference solution is ideal in WinHelp, because the definition
> appears in a pop-up or "mouse-over", as several people suggested.
>
> It's less effective in HTML format because HTML doesn't support pop-ups
(as
> far as I know - am I wrong?). So in HTML, when you click on the acronym,
you
> jump to the item on the glossary page. Then you have to jump back to the
> previous page to continue reading.
>
> So, I guess we'll just continue with the status quo. A couple of good
rules of
> thumb from Sandy Harris and Katie Kearns:
>
> "Have a glossary with an explanation of all such terms. Link to it often.
Max
> of one link to same term per paragraph."
>
> "We make it the first mention of any page. Sure, it's repetitive, but
it's
> better than them being lost!"
>
> Thanks, everyone.