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Home > Training: HTML-based help: Developing economical online help
Developing Economical Online Help: Strategies for Developing Modular, Reusable Information
Availability: Public or onsite
Course duration: 2 or 3 days
Prerequisites: Experience with creating at least one robust HTML-based help system; an understanding of basic online help design and the construction of a context-sensitive online help system (Microsoft HTML Help or web-based help)
Hands-on: No, but plenty of activities and discussion
Authoring-tool specific? Not intentionally. ;-) The tools used by the group are likely to affect the nature of our discussions, however.
Companion Course: Writing Strategies for Online Help
Pricing: Contact us for group pricing
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A senior documentation developer once commented to me, "We don't have time for elegance. Sometimes we don't have time for real usability. We have to get things out the door."
"Elegance and usability," I responded, "Are only a matter of planning."
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The need to efficiently create modular, reusable information (hopefully, information that is also elegant and usable) for online help/documentation has become somewhat of a mantra in the last couple of years. In large part, this change in focus has been the result of two factors:
- The web has made access to information more feasible. Our users (and managers) believe that you "just have to put it on the intranet" to make it accessible. The result has been a need to develop content efficiently and in a more uniform way so that it's easier to move information online.
- The downsizing of companies - and their particularly hard-hit documentation departments - has made it critical for us to adopt efficient documentation practices. In other words, we need to find ways not only of getting our information products out the door, but also of managing content - still producing usable and perhaps even elegant information - with the resources at hand.
The answer to this problem is content management. At the core of content management is the need to develop structured information:
- Information that follows understood, reproducible, and efficient patterns
- Information that is developed in modules that can be accessed or assembled to produce topics/pages and documents
- Information that reduces redundancy in content and in development effort
Most training on modular development comes out of single-sourcing tools - in particular, database-driven tools based on XML. Moving to these tools (at least at the high-end), however, is not in the budgets of many documentation departments. This fact points us to an important question: To what extent can you develop modular, reusable information when you're using a traditional help authoring tool or HTML editor? This question is at the core of this course. This course takes a very practical, example-rich look at the writing, design, and implementation issues involved in efficient content development using the help authoring tools and HTML editors that are typically used by online help/documentation authors.
Optional third day: Advanced help design issues
A third day of this workshop also addresses advanced help topic design, with an eye toward developing elegant, usable information in a maintainable manner. During the third day of the course, we'll apply the development of feasible, economic information to advanced issues in online help design. During this course, we'll address design problems that are particularly troublesome to help authors, such as:
- Advanced writing strategies
- Developing "expandomatic" content
- Developing tabular information
- Working with graphics
- Developing demos
- Evoking help from software/context-sensitive help
Our goals will be not only to understand these design problems, but to determine how best to implement them in a modular, efficient design.
Notes:
- Although this isn't a hands-on workshop, it is highly interactive. We will do a number of small-group and large-group exercises in which we discuss and practice the key concepts of the course.
- Examples for this course will be drawn from Microsoft HTML Help and web-based help systems. WinHelp designs and implementations will not be discussed.
- For certain types of designs, the use of Internet Explorer is assumed. However, whenever possible, cross-browser solutions are offered.
- Onsite customers may substitute advanced help design issues for those listed in the outline (to be covered on the third day of the course). Contact the instructor to discuss this possibility.
Course outline - Days 1 and 2
Part 1. Introduction to this course
- Preparing for future user assistance development strategies in help design
- Rethinking the hypertext design model
- Understanding the "doctrine of consistent repeatability"
- Single sourcing, resourcing, and reusability
- Focusing on content rather than formatting
- The implications of using traditional tools on content-based writing
- A look at our case study
Part 2. Developing a modular content architecture
- Understanding content architectures for user assistance
- The benefits of a modular architecture
- The components of a modular architecture
- Separating content into modules
- Identifying dynamic components
- Eliminating redundancy
- Understanding the concept of granularity
Part 3. Replacing presentation with structure
- What's the problem with presentation?
- A model for thinking structurally
- Is XML inevitable?
- Understanding the need for "well-formed" content
- Moving from HTML to XHTML
- Developing structural information
- Developing structural style sheets
- Making use of meta-data
Part 4. Developing a design document/specification
- Understanding the purposes of the specification
- Determining how the specification will be used
- Making use of authoring tool specification tools
- When is a specification more work than it's worth?
- Developing a design document
- Developing a topic specification
Part 5. Developing a structured topic model
- What are structured topics?
- Understanding topic models
- Minimalism as a starting point for model development
- Understanding chunking and modularity
- Developing flexible content
- Making use of topic clusters
- Reviewing the components of a topic
- Developing structural topic elements
- Developing content topic elements
- Ordering/assembling topic elements
- Writing/design focus: introductions
- Writing/design focus: procedures and workflows
- Writing/design focus: in-depth reference
- Other examples: glossaries, examples, and specialized designs
- Adding topic design to the specification
Part 6. Organizing content with information types
- What are information types?
- The goals of information types
- The pros and cons of information types
- Understanding content information types
- Developing topic type information types
- Developing user profile information types
- Developing subject matter information types
- Controlling information types through navigation
- Using information types to control content development
- Adding information types to the topic specification
Part 7. Developing a navigational model
- What is navigation?
- The role of navigation and document complexity
- Understanding navigational models
- Determining how to create modular navigational elements
- Ordering navigational elements
- Writing/design focus: topic cluster navigation
- Writing/design focus: hierarchical navigation
- Writing/design focus: choice-making navigation
- Writing/design focus: review navigation
- Other examples: navigation in graphics, navigation between topics, and so forth
- Adding navigation to the topic specification
Part 8. Employing conditional content
- What is conditional content?
- Understanding the purposes of conditional content
- Planning conditional content
- Determining the criteria for conditions
- Planning conditions around information types
- Developing conditional information
- Editing and testing conditional information
Part 9. Developing dynamic templates
- What is a template?
- Understanding the purposes of templates
- Understanding the components of a good template
- Understanding the template creation and maintenance process
- Building templates to support user performance
- Developing templates for procedural information
- Developing templates for reference information
- Developing templates for other types of content
- Building technical complexity into templates (to reduce "code picking")
- Using templates to gather information from subject-matter experts
Part 10. Managing multiple sources
- What is multiple source management/single sourcing?
- Understanding when to manage multiple sources
- Understanding the differences between print and online sources
- Implications of separating presentation and content for multi-source projects
- Development focus: developing multiple-source text
- Development focus: developing multiple-source graphics
- Optimizing online output
- Optimizing print output
Course outline - Day 3
Part 1. Beyond the basics" writing strategies
- Balancing feasibility and usability
- Writing for scannability
- Assuming the user is working with the product
- Writing for linking
- Minimizing hierarchies
- Developing "escape routes"
- Advanced writing strategies: procedural topics
- Advanced writing strategies: reference/conceptual information
- Advanced writing strategies: error recovery/troubleshooting
- Designing complementary topic and navigational designs
Part 2. Developing "expandomatic" content
- What is "expandomatic" content?
- Understanding the purposes of hiding and showing content
- Understanding the types of expandomatic content
- Developing expandomatic content (each type treated separately)
- Developing a user interface for expandomatic content
- Understanding topic and navigational design recommendations
Part 3. Developing tabular information
- Understanding the best uses of tabular information
- Designing flexible tables
- Models for tabular design
- Integrating tables into help content
- Styling tabular elements
- Developing tabular structures with style sheets
Part 4. Developing graphical information
- "Must have" tools for graphics development
- Understanding graphics problems
- Selecting a graphics format
- Design/development focus: screen shots
- Design/development focus: conceptual art
- Design/development focus: image maps
Part 5. Developing demos
- What is a demo?
- Understanding when to use demos
- Understanding types of demos
- Understanding the components of a demo
- Learning how to implement demos
- Pulling together demo components
Part 6. Evoking help from software
- What is context-sensitive help?
- Design models for context-sensitive help
- Improving user-guided context-sensitivity
- Developing "dynamic" context-sensitivity
- Writing and design strategies for context-sensitive help
- Developing training cards
- Using shortcuts
- Other methods of evoking help from software
Part 7. Special topics: redesign workshop (optional)
- This section is time-dependent. If we get through the content/examples for the previous sections, we'll work on this section.
- The content of this section varies. The instructor will select a variety of help systems and talk about design issues (good and bad) and show possible redesigns. Students may submit ideas, including examples of work from their own companies. (Important: Do not submit confidential work, unless you are holding this class onsite.)
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