RE: Why PDF for online help?

["Bill Swallow" <wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com>]

::: Someone asked:
::: Why PDF for online help?

I did. ;-)

::: Online help is anything that helps the user. It might
::: be text on the home page, directional content in the
::: form of a button or animated gif, or a PDF file.

Right. My question was not what online help *is*, but why use PDF for it
when there are many other formats for online Help. PDF tends to be
slower to respond than HLP, CHM, or HTML, and files can be exponentially
larger in file size than the same content in another format (depending
on how your optimizing your PDF and what bells and whistles you're
including).

::: If you call it ONLINE HELP, they don't click on it
::: (studies show). However, if you don't name it, and
::: simply make it available, like a flash tour, or a pdf
::: file, the automatic conditioned negative response is
::: bypassed and the next neuron plugs in.

Can you cite these studies? I seem to remember this as an urban legend
stemming for the late 1990's, but I could be wrong.

BILL SWALLOW
Information Design & Development Professional
tel/fax: 518.371.1867
wswallow -at- nycap -dot- rr -dot- com



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

Order RoboHelp Office X3 by March 14 and receive a $100 mail-in rebate,
plus FREE WebHelp Merge Module and FREE iMarkup Software, for a
total giveaway value of $439! Order today at http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l

   Help celebrate TECHWR-L's 10th Anniversary starting this month!
Check out the contests at http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/special/contests/
Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday TECHWR-L....

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