Re: Content of Help Systems

Subject: Re: Content of Help Systems
From: Peter Neilson <neilson -at- alltel -dot- net>
To: "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 18:22:50 -0400


M Parcell wrote:

... Should
help system content duplicate documentation content?
Or, do these items serve distinctly different purposes
that merit different content?

Help screens should not overwhelm the reader. In the
best circumstance they should deliver exactly the needed
info and no more. They should never be the sole
repository for the information needed to repair a
non-working system, or for the steps for getting the
system started up.

Be that as it may, my own experience with the sole help
system that I created was that a "decision was made" to
make the content identical to the printed manuals because
it would be too difficult to maintain two sets of
information. The result was overwhelming verbiage in
which the user could not possibly find the required info.

All the effort that I had put into tailoring terse
persentation was flushed. Be prepare to sell the powers
that be on doing things right instead of appearing to
"save" money.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l

Doc-To-Help 2005 converts RoboHelp files with one click. Author with Word or any HTML editor. Visit our site to see a conversion demo movie and learn more. http://www.componentone.com/TECHWRL/DocToHelp2005

---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.



References:
Content of Help Systems: From: M Parcell

Previous by Author: Re: to The or not to The.....
Next by Author: Re: Reversal of the outsourcing trend?
Previous by Thread: Re: Content of Help Systems
Next by Thread: Re: Content of Help Systems


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads