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Subject:Looking for HTML Help Wishes From:Tim Altom <taltom -at- IQUEST -dot- NET> Date:Tue, 7 Jan 1997 19:20:00 EST
Hello everyone.
I'm currently pounding my way through a book on HTML-based help that covers
both Netscape and Microsoft. Much of the book is naturally the breakdowns of
components and explanations, but a chunk of it is for examples and off-beat
uses for HTML help systems. These "mini-websites" can do marvelous things.
I'm looking for people's suggestions as to what they'd want an HTML help
file to be able to do, even beyond supporting an application with procedures.
As an example, I might include the layout of a help file that's for doing a
short tutorial. That's easy and straightforward...just give the user a
series of frames or pages with questions to answer, buttons to push, mapped
images for navigation, and so forth.
What I'm looking for is suggestions beyond this foundation, for things that
you've thought over the years "Hey, my users could really use a file that
did..." It can even be somewhat product-specific, if the general reader can
recognize the produce type. If I use it, I'll give full credit for the idea
to the suggester. The whole concept is to give the reader a spread of good
"in-the-trenches" examples. I can do the implementation. What I'm soliciting
is ideas. Please, if possible, make the ideas practical to do entirely on
the HTML page, rather than requiring a script on a server. And if your idea
requires multimedia, I may or may not be able to create the embedded item.
I'd love to try, but I really don't have the time to experiment that much.
You can, if you want, give me a script or storyboard if your idea requires
motion, graphic changes, or other activities.
So what's your dream use? ISO 9000? Tutorial? Directory? Embedded
multimedia? Kiosk? Screen saver? Lemme know. Hey, even if I can only use a
few, the rest could turn up in another book: "Practical HTML Help Examples."
Thanks in advance.
Tim Altom
Vice President, Simply Written, Inc.
317.899.5882 (voice) 317.899.5987 (fax)
FrameMaker support ForeHelp support
FrameMaker-to-HTML Conversions
HTML Help Consulting and Production
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