HTML-Based Help: Three Case Studies October, 1999 Meeting

led by Sheila Marshall, Lee Goldschmidt, and Nad Rosenberg written by Al Brown Originally published in News & Views December, 1999 issue. Copyright 1999 STC-Philadelphia Metro Chapter. For permission to reprint this article, contact the Managing Editor.

Finding out what your colleagues are doing is an important part of STC. The three presentations on implementing HTML-based help at the October meeting provided some interesting examples of what members are up to. Transitioning to HTML-based help Sheila Marshall of Analytical Graphics, Inc. (AGI) described the process her company went through to plan and execute the transition from WinHelp and HTML (for UNIX platforms) to a strictly HTML-based format. Her team did extensive research on the relative merits of the various possibilities, ranging from RoboHELP (their current tool) through various types of HTML-based help to the more exotic fringes of JavaHelp and XML. Weighing features and practicality, they chose HTML because it is well known and widely supported, and could handle the required platforms. The next issue was how to effect the transition of twenty help systems from RoboHELP and Word source documents to HTML. The solution was HTML Transit, a tool that produces simple but effective HTML files from Word documents. For new products, the team went directly to HTML, using HomeSite and Dreamweaver, although the tools are a matter of preference. The next step was to develop standards for a more appealing look, using graphics and cascading style sheets, and to add button bars for better navigation. Sheila finished her presentation by quickly revisiting some of the options that didn't meet AGI's needs at the time of their original evaluation, but could be useful for other purposes. For example, JavaHelp was in beta release at the time, but is now available and has a number of attractive navigation features. Using multimedia on the Internet The problem of delivering multimedia over the Internet was the topic of the next presentation, by Lee Goldschmidt of Unisys. For simulations and tutorials with voice-overs, the tool he uses is Flash, a subset of Macromedia Director; this multimedia animation and graphics tool can package both the file and reader in a very compressed form. Flash also functions as a plug-in to WinHelp and HTML-based help. It has very good bandwidth characteristics, although Lee pointed out that it requires some time and effort to get the file size down. A thirty-day download is available for anyone who wants to kick the tires of this popular package. Providing a complete solution Nad Rosenberg, head of TechWRITE, Inc., finished up the program with a new twist on a well-known story. Her client was the developer of call center software and wanted to post a free, scaled-down version of one of its products on the web as a marketing tool. The client's request was "Can you help us with the words on some screens?" Of course, the real issue was that the software had to be extremely easy to learn and easy to use; otherwise, the sales opportunity would be lost. TechWRITE's proposal had three components: self-explanatory prompts, embedded context-sensitive help using frames, and an animated tutorial produced in Macromedia Director. It was clear from Nad's account that persuasion and diplomacy constitute important weapons in the technical communicator's arsenal. In the end, she not only convinced the client, but also actually changed the company's development workflow. Instead of submitting files in Word for approval, then having them implemented by programmers, the technical writer recodes the preliminary prompts and adds the embedded help using ColdFusion. This streamlined the process and made the technical communicator a more important part of the development team. Three different problems, three different solutions Everybody's situation is different, and everybody's approach to a problem is different. This is why we benefit so much from hearing about how other members do things, particularly when the topic is a new method of documentation.

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Last updated: May 10, 2000 (mvh)