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Subject:RE: Are you innovative? From:"Tom Johnson" <tjohnson -at- idratherbewriting -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Wed, 23 Mar 2005 22:09:04 -0500
I don't have any particular innovation to share except an idea towards using
more modern tools, namely the drop-down hotspots in Robohelp. I see these
all the time in Microsoft's online help--you click the linked phrase and
instructions drop down that expound on that phrase.
While it seems like hotspots would be an innovative must, we've been
hesitant to start using them for a couple of reasons: (1) The hotspots
usually refer to instruction located in other topics. If you duplicate that
instruction in hotspots throughout the help file, and you have to later
update the instruction in the hotspots, you will have to update your manual
in multiple places, thus creating more work. (2) Although the text in the
hotspots is indexed in the search engine, if the user does a search for the
text, and then is directed to a page where the searched-for keywords are
hidden in the hotspot, the user may be confused about where the information
is.
I am wondering if other people employ hotspots in their online help
documentation and whether they find the above mentioned obstacles
problematic or not. Are there other problems associated with hotspots that
would be reason not to use them? Do the advantages outweigh the risks?
Thanks.
Tom
Also, "drop down" is a word not used in the Microsoft Manual of Style. We
use "drop box" instead, but this is potentially confusing with traditional
ideas of drop boxes being places where you deposit letters and packages,
etc. What word do you use for "drop-down" box?
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