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Subject:RE: Help/User assistance for web sites From:Jim Shaeffer <jims -at- spsi -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Thu, 23 May 2002 08:29:43 -0400
Ah, but Google does have Help. They just know better than
to call it that. There are three links: Advanced Search,
Preferences and Language Tools that lead the user to other
things they can do.
The best Help a Web site can have is a clear message about
what the visitor can do there and informative links. No
mystery links, no clever graphic pop ups.
Of course, if it's a game, then mystery links are part of
the game.
Any Web page can have a button or link to More Information,
Tips, Hints or What Can I Do Here.
If a user really needs a separate help, you should stop
thinking of your site as a site and start treating it like
an application. As the Web evolves, distinctions between
sites and applications are mainly a matter of the viewpoint
of the visitor.
Ideas above are scrambled and mis-quoted from all over.
Jim Shaeffer (jims -at- spsi -dot- com)
Chuck Martin [mailto:twriter -at- sonic -dot- net] wrote:
> One interesting thing that I found already is that
> many popular > sites, such as microsoft.com, cnn.com,
> visa.com, cnet.com, goole.com,aol.com, adobe.com, and
> netscape.com, have no visible (or at least easily
> discernable) Help links or buttons on their front pages.
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