HTML Help "Under the Hood"

The job description says "develop html help", and the requested tool
experience is with one or more of these: RoboHelp, RoboHTML, WebWorks
Publisher, AuthorIt, Doc2Help, or ForeHelp.

Or perhaps you've inherited an online help project at work, and
haven't worked on one before.

So what is it, exactly, that they want? What skills should you learn?
Do you really have to learn all those tools? Where should you start?
You took a class in Dreamweaver. Does that count? Or perhaps you
created WinHelp a few years back. How does that compare to "html
help"?

In this presentation, Linda Urban takes you "under the hood" of "html
help" and shows you what distinguishes it from any other collection of
web pages. She'll point you to some free and low-cost tools you can
use to begin creating html help projects. And she'll talk about some
of the similarities and differences among the major help authoring
tools (HATs) often used in the industry.

You'll learn the differences between:

* Compiled Microsoft HTML Help. (".chm" files)
* Uncompiled HTML Help 
* Cross-browser, cross-platform "html-based help"
* WinHelp (old Windows-based help)
* Single-sourced documentation, output in print and online versions
* Context-sensitive help

You'll also:

* Take a look at the insides of a Microsoft HTML Help project file,
  Contents file, and Index file
* See a demo of a small help system being created and compiled into a
  .CHM
* Understand what the help authoring tools automate, and why people
  use them
* Take away a list of references and resources for learning more

Of course, making the shift from developing information for printed
documentation to developing online help is more complex than just
learning the mechanics. But taking the mystery out of the mechanics is
a start.

Linda Urban is an award-winning technical writer, help author, and
instructor. She won a Distinguished Award from the 1999 Northern
California STC Touchstone Competition for "Scenario Help," an HTML
Help System which she designed and developed.

Linda Urban is a technical communications consultant and independent
contractor. Her clients range from startups to large corporations
throughout the Bay Area, and beyond. She focuses on developing quality
information that is both useful and usable. She teaches in the
Technical Communication programs at UCB Extension and UCSC Extension,
where she has taught courses in developing online help, introduction
to technical communications, usability testing, and information
architecture. She is scheduled to teach "Developing Online Help" in
July and August at UC Berkeley Extension.

You can reach Linda at lurban@earthlink.net. Her Web site is
www.urbancreations.com.