Planning a Help Project

[LaVonna Funkhouser <lffunkhouser -at- HALNET -dot- COM>]

A week or two ago, I asked the list membership to
post what processes or tools you use when planning a
help project.  The only reply I received was from
Bonni Graham, who uses an interesting method of
screen shots, string, and index cards.  (I plan to
use a version of her method.)

Do the others of you not write, map, or draw your help
project before you begin to use your help authoring
tool?  Perhaps a simple project does not need an extensive
plan, but my team leader (who is showing me the ropes of
online help) tells stories of the horrors of misnamed topics
and difficult changes that were necessary after the beta tests.
I felt that having some planning system would prevent
disasters.  (He does not have a system.)

I encourage others who write help docs to share your methods.
(BTW, Bonni says that she will probably publish her system
in _Tech Comm_ or STC Proceedings someday.)

I will be using RoboHelp, which is quite "user-friendly,"
then transferring the rtf file into HyperHelp to use
with a Unix program.

LaVonna
lffunkhouser -at- halnet -dot- com