Re: Help tool and training

[Nancy Hickman <nhickman -at- GVI -dot- NET>]

Paul,

I've seen this sort of thread on the list frequently lately.

I'm also going to suggest that if someone needs to learn Help
development, that they do not need to invest in a tool upfront.
You can create Help with Word and a Help compiler. This approach
has the advantage of cheapness, plus you can learn things that
make it easier for you debug files and do inventive techniques
that are "off-road" for a tool. My book "Building Windows '95 Help"
shows you how to create Help with Word and a compiler. People
have also been known to learn by playing.

Tools help you do some things faster and manage projects, so
when you begin on a commercial project, there are great advantages.
There is also a big advantage to taking a class after know
about the basics of Help development, and you've kind of played
around with things and tools.

I bet that you'll get a lot of responses, but if you are looking
for training on a particular tool, interview people who have taken
the classes, because every instructor has a particular focus. The
key is to get a class on the particular level where you're at. The
class for someone who has never created Help should be different
from another class aimed at experienced "cross-over" tool users.

-- Nancy Hickman


Branchaud, Paul wrote:
>
> I have been asked to turn, yet again, to the most knowledgeable pool of
> professional counterparts in order to solve our latest documentation
> problem...
>
> A co-worker will shortly be inheriting an online help project that was
> created by someone in a different company. The goal is to update and
> recompile the entire project. The fly in this particular ointment is
> twofold:
>
> 1) The original help file was created with Doc2Help, but we do not have
> any Help Authoring Tool currently onsite, which leads to...
>
> 2) The "newbie" factor. My co-worker has never created online help, and
> she is unsure of which HAT to use, or what the learning curve is.
>
> I have searched the archives and was unable to find any thread that deal
> directly with these problems. I subsequently contacted Geoff Hart who
> was kind enough to provide the name of a RoboHelp trainer in Brampton,
> Ontario. What I would like to know is A) what tool is best suited to
> take over a help project started in Doc2Help, and B) is there a training
> resource located in the Montreal area to help smooth out the learning
> curve of said tool?
>
> As always, I thank you all in advance for your shared wisdom,
>
> Paul
> ---------------------
> Paul Branchaud          Technical Writer
> pbranchaud -at- utsoft -dot- com   UtiliSoft Inc.
> (514) 747-1400 Ext. 211 555, Dr. Frederik-Philips, Suite 210
> ICQ: 4161320            Saint-Laurent, QC Canada H4M 2X4
>
> Calvin: "Why do tigers need tails?"
> Hobbes: "Gee, I'm not really sure. I guess just because they look good."
> Calvin: "So it's sort of a necktie for your butt?"
>