Re: Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help? (take II)

Subject: Re: Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help? (take II)
From: "Gene Kim-Eng" <techwr -at- genek -dot- com>
To: "Geoff Hart" <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>, "TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>, "Char James-Tanny" <charjtf -at- gmail -dot- com>
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 09:32:26 -0700

In the last online help project I was involved with we did a focus survey
of our company's users, and discovered that the majority of them did
not think that TOCs or indexes "worked well." What they wanted was
context-sensitive help that provided task-based assistance from the
current UI window or dialog. Essentially, "Clippy" but without the cute cartoon image. When asked how they searched for information when it was not presented by the UI in this manner, the most common reply was "we call tech support."

Gene Kim-Eng


----- Original Message ----- From: "Geoff Hart" <ghart -at- videotron -dot- ca>

Really. Dumb. Decision. Indexes work well because they organize information conceptually and by context. A good index provides entries such as "Print: troubleshooting font problems" beside "Print: configuring a printer" so you can compare the two entries and guess which one is most likely to answer questions. The keywords themselves are merely the superficial evidence of the thought process that went into defining and presenting these alternatives.

Search engines cannot provide that context unless it's designed into the text being searched; the keywords must not only be present, but there must be meta-information that accompanies them to provide the context for the keyword. Currently, that is the single biggest flaw in all the search engines I've used. Defining better keywords won't by itself help improve searches: the same time required to choose and test keywords would be better spent creating an index.

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

WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word features support for every major Help
format plus PDF, HTML and more. Flexible, precise, and efficient content delivery. Try it today!. http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
Doc-To-Help includes a one-click RoboHelp project converter. It's that easy. Watch the demo at http://www.DocToHelp.com/TechwrlList

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- infoinfocus -dot- com -dot-
To unsubscribe send a blank email to techwr-l-unsubscribe -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
or visit http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/options/techwr-l/archive%40infoinfocus.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -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:
Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help?: From: Barbara Vega
Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help?: From: Geoff Hart
Re: Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help?: From: Char James-Tanny
Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help? (take II): From: Geoff Hart

Previous by Author: Re: Placement of index and TOC
Next by Author: Re: Tech writing saves journalism
Previous by Thread: Re: Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help? (take II)
Next by Thread: Re: Index/TOC Needed in HTML &/or Browser-Based Help?


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


Sponsored Ads