RE: Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help

Subject: RE: Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help
From: "Boudreaux, Madelyn (GE Healthcare, consultant)" <MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com>
To: <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 18 Jan 2010 13:27:56 -0500

What would the next and previous buttons do?

If they just take you to the next (or previous) entry in the help,
that's kind of pointless. Most people access help when they need help
with a task, as opposed to reading it like a manual, and if the next
topic on the TOC is unrelated to the issue at hand, the next button is
nearly worthless.

If they take you to the next (or previous) related topic -- that is, if
you search for "Barring foo," and 3 topics come up, and the next button
takes you from topic 1 on the matter to topic 2 on the matter, and so
forth, that could be helpful. But that seems like a programmatic thing.

Print isn't a bad button to have, but it's redundant if the help is
deployed in a browser window (unless the browser menu and navigation
items are suppressed).

"Back to menu" is nice to have. "Back to previous topic," can be useful.
But just "back" or "previous" makes me wonder which is intended.

Sincerely,
Madelyn Boudreaux
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Follow-Ups:

References:
Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help: From: Saunders, Ian
Re: Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help: From: Robert Lauriston
RE: Previous, Next and Print buttons in Help: From: Leonard C. Porrello

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