In these "lessons," you'll either teach yourself or follow along in class how to do specific tasks in an online-help authoring tool, such as RoboHelp, HTML Help, AuthorIT, or Doc-To-Help.

However we go about it, your task will be to learn the help-authoring procedures well enough not to need notes to perform them again. To help in that process, you'll write quick-reference-style notes — at first, in any software application you wish, but then in a help-authoring tool, once you've learned one well enough.

Writing these quick-reference "cheat" notes should help you learn the procedures better, help if you forget a procedure in the future, and give us a chance to practice writing in this medium.

Learning the Procedures

In this first lesson, learn how to do the following:

1. Start the help-authoring tool—both from an icon, the Start list, and from a folder.
2. Choose HTML help.
3. Start a project, giving it a formal display name, and a file and folder name.
4. Make certain where the project files are stored.
5. Enter some text, and save it.
6. Compile the simple project as a .chm file, and view it (through the help-authoring tool).
7. Make some changes, get a quick look at the changes without recompiling, and then recompile.
8. Find the .chm file on the computer, and double-click it to ensure that it runs.

Writing about the Procedures

Here are the guidelines for writing about the procedures for this lesson:

• If you aren't ready to write the quick-reference notes for this lesson in the help-authoring tool you are using, write them in some other application you're comfortable with, for example, Microsoft Word. (Using MS Word will give you practice importing Word documents into your help projects.)
• If you boldly attempt to write these notes in the help-authoring tool you are using, you can put them all in one topic for the time being.
• Write these quick-reference notes "for real": include warnings about potential problems that can you trip up.
• Otherwise, you are not obliged to add a lot of explanatory detail. In "guide" information, you see lots of explanation, definitions, screen shots, and alternative methods. That's not needed or expected here.
• Just use simple lead-ins, numbered and bulleted lists. For notes, use paragraphs introduced by a bolded label such as "Caution:."
• Practice good clear economical writing style. Use imperatives (commands) and second-person ("you"); avoid passive-voice and telegraphic writing styles.
• Use subheadings for the subsections of these quick-reference notes.

Revising

Your instructor will review these quick-reference notes rapidly, requesting revisions if necessary and recording an "ok" in the gradebook when no revisions are needed.