Re: Designing online help - book suggestions?

Subject: Re: Designing online help - book suggestions?
From: yehoshua paul <yehoshua -dot- p -at- technicalwriting -dot- com>
To: tech2wr-l <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2012 18:17:00 +0300

I would not bother with a book. Not when you have the World Wide Web at
your fingertips.
There is a wide variety of links that can answer most of your questions
that take less time to read than a book, and are easier to find.
Yes, you need to be careful regarding the source, but with a minimum of
effort and considerably less time you can find all the information you need
online.
Anyway, consider these links
http://www.writersua.com/articles/checklist/
http://www.uaeurope.com/downloads/Seven_Golden_Rules_of_Online_Help_Design.pdf

It should answer most of your questions.

Have a great day,
Yehoshua Paul
Community contributor and documentation expert
http://technicalwriting.com/



On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 5:23 PM, Julie Stickler <jstickler -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:

> Two that are within arms reach on my desk are:
>
> Is the Help Helpful? How to create online help that meets your users'
> needs (2004) by Jean Hollis Weber
>
> Developing Quality Technical Information: A Handbook for Writers and
> Editors (2004) by Hargis, Carey, Hernandez, Hughes, Longo, Rouiller,
> and Wilde (IBM Press)
>
> Also, don't assume that just because something is "older" that it is
> somehow less useful. Good design doesn't change all that much over
> the years. Once you find something that works well, you tend to
> stick with it.
>
> On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 6:00 PM, Becca <becca_price -at- yahoo -dot- com> wrote:
>
> > One of the weak points of the program (as far as I'm concerned) is there
> is no design and best practices class.
> >
> > I found a book on Designing and Writing Online Documentation by Bill
> Horton, but it was last updated in 1994. Surely there is something more
> recent, with more modern and current best practices?
>
> --
> Julie Stickler
> http://heratech.wordpress.com/
> Blogging about Agile and technical writing
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with
> Doc-To-Help. Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need.
>
> Try Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.
>
> http://bit.ly/doc-to-help
>
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^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Create and publish documentation through multiple channels with Doc-To-Help. Choose your authoring formats and get any output you may need.

Try Doc-To-Help, now with MS SharePoint integration, free for 30-days.

http://bit.ly/doc-to-help

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

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

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
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Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
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Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


References:
Designing online help - book suggestions?: From: Becca
Re: Designing online help - book suggestions?: From: Julie Stickler

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