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Subject:Re: A "Thread" in RoboHelp Online Help From:MAGGIE SECARA <SECARAM -at- MAINSAVER -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 17 Aug 1999 13:40:00 -0700
What do the users need? Or what do we want to shoehorn them into using?
I used to use the Microsoft Word manual to fill idle time by opening it up
at random and finding a new thing. You can't do that any more. The manual
tells you about a few rather mundane tasks and that's it. The rest is in the
help. Ah yes, but is it?
What if I just want to poke around and see what this puppy does? I don't
have any "problem" to solve. I'm not trying to do anything at all. I'm just
curious. A browse sequence just might let me follow a thread I didn't know
I wanted.
For example, maybe browse sequences in MSWord would help more of us figure
out how to multi-doc tables of contents/indexes before going postal.
Just a thought (which I really should be having in spanish! eek!)
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Chuck [mailto:writer -at- BEST -dot- COM]
> Sent: Tuesday, August 17, 1999 12:42 PM
> To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
> Subject: Re: A "Thread" in RoboHelp Online Help
>
>
> As was mentioned, browse sequences are what the marketing folks wants.
>
> But what do the users need?
>
> In most cases, online Help is accessed when users get stuck and need
> assistance at a specific spot in the program, as you noted.
> So why would
> browse sequences be necessary, at least in most of the Help system?
>
> If users need to be led from topic to topic to find the
> information they
> need when they access the system, one question I'd have is why can't
> that information all be presented in the first Help screen? And if it
> can't (too much information, for example), you're probably far better
> off using the link navigation available that browse sequences.
>
> If browse sequences are wanted simply so marketing can have an
> additional bullet point for their sales pitches, then you can go into
> your role as a user advocate and explain how they are generally not
> used, and educate them on how user assistance is generally accessed.
>
> barry -dot- kieffer -at- EXGATE -dot- TEK -dot- COM wrote:
> >
> > Greetings, I have been asked to find out if there is a way
> to add a "Thread"
> > to a RoboHelp help system.
> >
