Web help

Web help is a type of online help delivered through the internet. A well-known example of such a system is WebHelp.Com[1]. This approach, mixing internet and local resources, is also used in Windows XP's Help and Support feature.

The original URL was WebHelp.Com (ca. 1994, also known as webhlp.Com or webhelp.us.com). It provided information and examples for novices as well as researchers into the use of the web (Internet) as a knowledge tool. From the original site this quote remains more relevant today then ever.

"A century or so from now, observers looking back on the 1990s will consider the advent of the Internet and the World-Wide Web one of the great watersheds of history--- comparable technologically to the invention of movable type, artistically to the Renaissance, and socially to the Declaration of Independence. (note 1.)"

note 1. Power Programming by Ray Duncan from PC Magazine

Full Text COPYRIGHT Ziff-Davis Publishing Company 1995

[edit] File format

Simple web help may consist of a series of web pages, while more sophisticated web help solutions feature a frameset sidebar that provides a table of contents and occasionally search capability, emulating local help resources such as HTML Help.

There are a number of tools that are used to make web help, like MadCap Software, RoboHelp, Macrobject Word-2-Web, Help & Manual, chm2web, or Help Explorer Server.

[edit] Advantages

The advantages of web help solutions are that they permit content to be continually updated and that they sometimes give prospective buyers a deeper preview of products. Web help can be considered as a cross-platform solution since it can be viewed using a regular internet browser, while local online help runs only on a help viewer, and often only on a specific platform.

[edit] Disadvantages

The main disadvantage of web help is that it is more cumbersome for the user than purpose-designed help applications, as it may become difficult or impossible to access depending on the user's internet connection. Also, it is difficult to effectively implement context-sensitive help with web help.

[edit] See also

• Online help

[edit] External links

• WebHelp overview and examples
• Example with full-text-search like CHM
• Why Online Help?

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