What sorts of on-line help exist?
What sorts of on-line help exist?
What are pro's and cons of on-line help?
Tools for on-line help authoring
One type of help relates directly
to screen objects, describing what they do and how to use them. Apple's
Bubble Help is an example of this type of help:
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As you can see, the text in the bubble identifies the
interface element (Close box) and explains how to use it.
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You might argue that these great white blobs are distracting overkill. Only complete beginners and newcomers to the Mac interface would need to have a close box or scroll bar explained, and once you get past this stage Bubble Help can be annoying. However, in other circumstances it's more useful. Here, for example, the Date Modified entry is explained. Appendix C of the Apple Publications Style Guide gives a useful guide to authoring Bubble Help.
A more minimalist approach to object-related help is the
Tooltips facility standard on Microsoft products an many others. For instance,
here are some tooltips that illuminate otherwise baffling icons in Netscape
Composer and Powerpoint:
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OK if you're a 19th century sea captain but those of us
not in that situation are grateful for the easy-to-use, lightweight reminder/confirmation
supplied by the Tooltip. Unlike Apple Bubbles, tooltips only appear if
the cursor pauses over them, so they are much less visually disruptive.
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Similarly in this example: the globe and arrows design
is meaningful and memorable once it has been learned, but obscure at first
viewing. The whizzy star icon is another similar example.
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2. Task oriented help
The other main type of online help is task oriented, i.e. it is specifically designed to support users carrying out successions of steps to achieve a goal.
Here is the Mac Help tool used for Mac applications on
Mac OS 7. The application here happens to be SimpleText, but the tool is
used across the board except in special cases such as Microsoft products,
where the brand has its own standard which it prefers to Apple's.
This consistency means that the user doesn't have to learn a new tool for
each application. Note the three ways of retrieving information: a topic
list (like a Table of COntents), an alphabetical index and a search facility.
Here you see the Index pane:
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Here's the Microsoft Help Tool interface, in this case
for Microsoft Word. This is the Contents page (despite the fact that Contents
button isn't greyed out, which might make you think it's something else).
A user is presented with this page when s/he selects Contents and Index
from the Help menu. This by-passes Mr PaperClip or Mac-on-bendy-legs (see
below):
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Here's what is displayed when you click on Index:
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Here's an agent based interface to the Microsoft Help
system, which can take on various guides, the default on PC's being a PaperClip
figure. Using Artificial Intelligence techniques, the agent tries to provide
context relevant help, by following your commands and inferring from them
what tasks you are in the middle of.
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3. Wizards and coaches
A specialised kind of task-based help is the Wizard or coach. This is generally a sequence of screens guiding to user through a one-off or infrequent task (e.g. installation, virus checking) or through a potentially complex task (e.g. setting up a Web page or presentation).
Here's an example of the first kind of task:
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Users of PowerPoint can choose to use a Wizard to set
up the parameters of a new presentation in preference to working from scratch
or with a template:
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Here the Wizard introduces itself:
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Here the user chooses a presentation type:
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4. Tutorials
A third major type of online help is the tutorial, which takes a user through a succession of tasks, generally using a realistic case and data.
Here is a screen from a Director tutorial, which combines
a rich mix of media - text, graphics, animation, voice and user interaction.
Director itself is often used as the vehicle for such tutorials.
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5. Other/different platforms and formats
Some applications deliver their user help via pdf versions
of paper-based help. This is convenient for delivery but less helpful for
the reader, as they obscure the context in which they need help:
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Using an HTML browser is another option for delivery:
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There are other types of support you could offer your
users. Here are the options offered by PageSpinner, an HTML editor:
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And here's Director's rich menu of Help offerings:
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Windows Help Links
The package we are using in the module is DotHLP,
which enables the author to create HTML Help and WinHelp files for distribution
with application software.
Another good option might be Microsoft HTML Help Workshop, which can be downloaded free. HTML Help is the standard help system for the Windows platform. Authors can use HTML Help to create online help for a software application or to create content for a multimedia title or Web site.
HTML Help offers the ability to implement a combined table
of contents and index and the use of keywords for advanced hyperlinking
capability. The HTML Help compiler (part of the HTML Help Workshop) makes
it possible to compress HTML, graphic, and other files into a relatively
small compiled help (.chm) file, which can then be distributed with a software
application, or downloaded from the Web.
Apple on-line help links
The Apple Developer Connection gives a large amount
of useful help to developers of on-line help, including links to their
specialised toolkits. In particular, the Apple
Publications Style Guide (pdf file to download) is full of good advice
applicable both to Apple and to other products. Two formats and authoring
systems are in use:
Apple Help
Apple Help is Apple's new help technology for use in
Mac OS 8.6 and later. It provides a lightweight HTML rendering engine capable
of displaying HTML 3.2 content together with facilities allowing developers
to integrate other instructional media with information displayed by the
Apple Help Viewer.
Apple Guide
Apple Guide is Apple's online help technology for use
with System 7.0 and later. It provides context sensitive help along with
facilities for coaching users through sequences of commands required to
perform different tasks.
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Last edited 29 Sept. 2000