Topics

The most basic unit of a Help system is its topics. When users view a Help system, their destination is a Help topic. Topics communicate the information or provide the assistance users are looking for. As a Help author, your job is to decide which topics meet your users needs and then organize them by "chunking" together like groups (or related sets) of topics. The chunking relationship can be based on many types of organization - frequency of tasks, related subject matter, job functions, and so on. However, the way you chunk topics affects not only topic organization, but it often affects the way topics are linked.

Topic types

You can design the styles for your topics based on the purpose of the topic. Here are some common types of topics:

Context-sensitive. These topics allow you to provide additional assistance to users inside a software application. Users can click a Help button or select a menu command, and the application brings up a topic specific to where the user is and what the user is trying to do. There's even a special kind of context-sensitive Help called What's This? Help. It provides information about a specific item at a dialog or window such as a button option or check box setting.

Procedures. Sometimes known as task topics, these provide step-by-step instructions for performing tasks.

Overviews. Overview topics provide explanations to Help users understand new ideas and concepts. They usually begin with the familiar, then lead the user into information they don't know, explaining terms and providing examples.

Definitions. These topics usually define unfamiliar terms, but they can also define industry terms or jargon used throughout the Help system. They are often called Popup topics, because they usually appear in a small window that "pops up" when accessed.

Reference. Reference topics provide non-procedural information or explanations. They often include lists of commands, shortcuts, values, parameters, or other information the user needs.

Your Help system can contain as many topics and as many topic types as you want.

Connecting topics

Help topics are connected by hypertext links - commonly referred to simply as links. Links organize topics into groups and allow users to move around the Help system and display topics. You can use many different linking strategies to creatively organize and connect your topics. One of the benefits of a Help topic is that you can "reuse" the topic over and over again without copying it - simply create a link wherever you want the topic to be accessible.

Displaying topics

Whenever a user selects a topic, from a link or from the table of contents or index, the topic displays in a window. You can add and customize the Help windows in your Help system to best suit your topic design needs.