RE: Question about "sidebars"

Subject: RE: Question about "sidebars"
From: "McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>
To: yehoshua paul <ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com>, "Cardimon, Craig" <ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com>
Date: Wed, 9 Oct 2013 14:28:34 -0400

I had been using the Flare Dropdown and Expanding text for years, for hundreds of instances of that type of info - good to know, but not essential to the immediate task. But now we've decided that the WebHelp will also be a bunch of PDFs, and I've had to get rid of all those instances of Dropdown and Expanding text, resulting in discussions and procedures sometimes being too text-heavy, especially for people who might have read before, and are now coming back for a quick refresh before starting an infrequent task.

We already use Note for other things. We don't want to dilute the impact.

The template we use now is not able to convert Dropdown/Expanding into footnotes or chapter end-notes (for PDF publishing), which would have been an approach to retain the value of the Dropdown/Expanding feature. Drat.

Anybody got other suggestions?

Also, given that our template sets off Notes, Cautions, and Warnings with a rule (line) above and another below, a different color than main text, an indent from main text, and a left-located notepad-with-pencil icon, do you think it objectionable for the occasional document page to have Note after Note after Note, with little or no intervening text?


-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+kevin -dot- mclauchlan=safenet-inc -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of yehoshua paul
Sent: October-09-13 12:00 PM
To: Cardimon, Craig
Cc: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Re: Question about "sidebars"

One of two:
1. Use a note icon, which would either be a bullet or the first column in a table where the borders are invisible. And then enter the relevant information.
2. In online help use DHTML to create drop-down text. Users click on a word, and a box appears below the line with the relevant information. When moving the mouse over the word, the word changes to indicate that it should be clicked.

Yehoshua Paul


On Wed, Oct 9, 2013 at 6:53 PM, Cardimon, Craig <ccardimon -at- m-s-g -dot- com> wrote:

> Morning, Whirlers,
>
> How do you folks handle sidebar notes and info?
>
> Let's say I'm working on Topic A in a user guide. I have information
> related to Topic A, but not directly.
>
> This information doesn't really fit elsewhere, so it needs to be in
> Topic A, but stand out just a bit. I put this "sidebar" information in
> a table in Topic A.
>
> Users should be aware of this information but not get hung up on it. I
> labeled the table as a "Note." Not sure what else to do here. Suggestions?
>
>
>
> Cordially,
> Craig Cardimon
>
> Information contained in this e-mail transmission is privileged and
> confidential. If you are not the intended recipient of this email, do
> not read, distribute or reproduce this transmission (including any
> attachments). If you have received this e-mail in error, please
> immediately notify the sender by telephone or email reply.
>
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for
> authoring.
>
> Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as ysp10182 -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
> http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources
> and info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
> online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our
> public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as kevin -dot- mclauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
The information contained in this electronic mail transmission
may be privileged and confidential, and therefore, protected
from disclosure. If you have received this communication in
error, please notify us immediately by replying to this
message and deleting it from your computer without copying
or disclosing it.




^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
New! Doc-to-Help 2013 features the industry's first HTML5 editor for authoring.

Learn more: http://bit.ly/ZeOZeQ

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as archive -at- web -dot- techwr-l -dot- com -dot-

To unsubscribe send a blank email to
techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com


Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources and info.

Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com

Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives


Follow-Ups:

References:
Question about "sidebars": From: Cardimon, Craig
Re: Question about "sidebars": From: yehoshua paul

Previous by Author: RE: Adobe was hacked
Next by Author: RE: RoboHelp: Applying a template
Previous by Thread: Re: Question about "sidebars"
Next by Thread: Re: Question about "sidebars"


What this post helpful? Share it with friends and colleagues:


Sponsored Ads