Explaining click and drag

["Geoff Hart (by way of \"Eric J. Ray\" <ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com>)" <ght -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Misti Anslin Tucker reported <<I can't assume that they know what I
mean when I say "To select a Blah-Blah list for your Ho-Hum template
click on the Blah-Blah Icon and drag it to the HoHum part of the
information tree... how do I demonstrate click and drag on paper?>>

I really don't understand the problem. Words should more than
suffice if you create a small section of the manual called "how to
work with the software". How about: "OK, gang, here's how we click
and drag. First, move the mouse pointer (we call it the "curser"
because you'll be cursing at it a lot) on top of the pretty picture
(we call it an icon because, like all icons, we give it far more
importance than it deserves). Press down the [left? only?] mouse
button and hold it. Now move the mouse. You'll notice that the icon
follows the cursor. This is called "dragging" for obvious reasons.
Congratulations. Now you know how to click and drag. We'll be doing a
lot of that. Aren't you glad you learned how?"

Needless to say, adjust the facetious tone to suit the audience and
the sloppy terminology to suit the actual application. Since you
mentioned an online tutorial, it should be easy to create a split-
screen animation (mouse on top, screen below) that shows the cursor
moving atop the icon, then the mouse button depresses and the cursor
moves the icon. The mouse button pops up again, the icon stops
moving. Voila!
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca

"Microsoft Word: It grows on you... but with a little fungicide,
you'll be feeling much better real soon now!"--GH


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