Difference between revisions of "Embedded Help"

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(Re-arrange a bit.)
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== See also ==
== See also ==
* [http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/handbook/gdp-handbook/ar01s08.html "Writing Context Sensitive Help (coming in GNOME-3.0)"]
* [http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/handbook/gdp-handbook/ The GNOME Handbook of Writing Software Documentation] - [http://developer.gnome.org/projects/gdp/handbook/gdp-handbook/ar01s08.html "Writing Context Sensitive Help (coming in GNOME-3.0)"]
* [http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/items.html Usable Help] A list of just under 250 links to articles on documentation and help systems for software and consumer products.
* [http://www.g2meyer.com/usablehelp/items.html Usable Help], a list of just under 250 links to articles on documentation and help systems for software and consumer products.
* [http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Report_on_c%27t_article_12/2006 Review from German c't magazine] pointing out the need of some embedded documentation/help
* [http://wiki.inkscape.org/wiki/index.php/Report_on_c%27t_article_12/2006 Review from German c't magazine] pointing out the need of some embedded documentation/help
* ScislaC has a plan to re-arrange and extend our existing tutorial system (FIXME: is there anything written down yet?)


== Open Questions ==
== Open Questions ==

Revision as of 09:52, 21 June 2006

Ideas

  • Cedric and Kevin's manual would be a nice base
  • kind of 3 levels of needs: instant help (already existing, but not for effects/extensions :( ); then a kind of embedded glossary, and finally a big user manual
    • short explanation text should be integrated in the inx file or the extension code and then displayed (in a tab for a dialog ?) with the effect... I don't know what would be the best display place for it (status bar at least)
  • The glossary could be section and subsections of the big manual, with its own menu item.
  • Context-sensitive help is one thing where I think they are spot-on. How hard would it be for us to provide "F1 Help"? If only to pop up a browser on a given html page and #anchor. (Bob Jamison in http://permalink.gmane.org/gmane.comp.graphics.inkscape.devel/16826)

MacOS X

The "User Assistance" technology or environment has evolved through several major stages, but has always been based upon a restricted HTML 3.2 markup and a lightweight "Help Viewer". See Help on Apple Help for a near illegible page that describes the making of the excellent help system for the pixel editor Pixen (not that many Inkscapers use pixel editors). Apple provides a comprehensive account of the Human Interface factors relating to its technology, but this may be just outside what we need to be thinking about for Inkscape right now,

See also

Open Questions

  • Do we want to use something like Yelp in *nix?
  • Can we produce CHM files for Windows?