7.1 Weighing Help-system alternatives
Most users expect three navigation elements in a Help system:
• Table of Contents (TOC), preferably in an expanding and collapsing tree form, that tracks your position in the Help system
• Index (IX), with multiple levels and See/See Also capabilities
• Full-Text Search (FTS) that gets you directly to each occurrence of a word or phrase.
You could use generic HTML for a Help system as is, especially with framesets (see §13.14 Using framesets). JavaScript-based TOC templates are available on the Web, and an index is not hard to create. But the search engine is harder. So it is a good idea to consider the existing alternatives for Help systems. Keep in mind that users might run into security issues with any browser-based help system; all such systems use JavaScript.
§7.1.1 Considering Help-system features
§7.1.2 Understanding the effects of mid-topic links
§7.1.3 Evaluating Microsoft Windows Help (WinHelp)
§7.1.4 Evaluating Microsoft HTML Help
§7.1.7 Evaluating JavaHelp and Oracle Help for Java
§7.1.8 Evaluating Eclipse Help
> 7 Producing on-line Help > 7.1 Weighing Help-system alternatives