RE: Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help

["Leonard C. Porrello" <Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- SoleraTec -dot- com>]

I agree that the implementation in H&M's help could be improved. In my
own help, they are more discreet and require less real estate. Also, I
do not include the Top button. However, I do keep the buttons to the
right. If you were to put them where you suggest, to the left, the user
who is using the scroll bar would have to drag his mouse across the
entire window to click Next. And if he is dragging his mouse all the way
back to the left side of the window, he may as well use the TOC. As it
is, with the buttons to the right, he merely has to go to the top of the
window.

So are the buttons really worth the trouble? In short, I wouldn't think
less of a help system for not having them.

Leonard

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+leonard -dot- porrello=soleratec -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- c
om] On Behalf Of Robert Lauriston
Sent: Monday, January 18, 2010 10:12 AM
To: TECHWR-L Writing
Subject: Re: Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help

I think topic navigation buttons in Web help content should be labeled
Previous / Next given that browsers use Forward / Back for history
navigation.

I don't find the buttons in helpandmanual.com/help self-explanator
(particularly using an Eject icon for Top), because there are no text
labels or tooltips, though they're simple to figure out. I'd move them
to the left navbar above Contents | Index | Search rather than cutting
yet another half inch off the text-scroll area.

On Mon, Jan 18, 2010 at 9:56 AM, Leonard C. Porrello
<Leonard -dot- Porrello -at- soleratec -dot- com> wrote:
> I don't think the question of navigation and printing buttons is
> either/or. The buttons _could_ be redundant and confusing, but it
really
> depends on what they actually do and how they play with the browser
> window and other graphical elements in the help window.
>
> In the help I create, the embedded Forward and Back buttons walk
through
> the tree. The Back button does not necessarily take me back to the
> previous page I was viewing. The Print button prints just the help
> contents (without browser window flotsam).
>
> Check out the following: helpandmanual.com/help. Although I generally
> don't care for the esthetics of the help, I don't find the forward,
> back, top, and print buttons redundant or confusing in the least. To
the
> contrary, since I often have several tabs open simultaneously, the
> buttons in the help enable me to more easily stay in the help world.
In
> other words, I find the navigation is obvious and intuitive.

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

Are you looking for one documentation tool that does it all? Author, 
build, test, and publish your Help files with just one easy-to-use tool.
Try the latest Doc-To-Help 2009 v3 risk-free for 30-days at:
http://www.doctohelp.com/ 

Explore CAREER options and paths related to Technical Writing,
learn to create SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS documents, and
get tips on FUNCTIONAL SPECIFICATION best practices. Free at:
http://www.ModernAnalyst.com

---
You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -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%40web.techwr-l.com


To subscribe, send a blank email to techwr-l-join -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com

Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-  Visit
http://www.techwr-l.com/ for more resources and info. 

Please move off-topic discussions to the Chat list, at:
http://lists.techwr-l.com/mailman/listinfo/techwr-l-chat