In the tutorials and readings, you learn a series of essential help-authoring `tasks. A good way to practice those tasks and get them into your memory banks is to create a quick-reference document that summarizing the specifics briefly. And, these quick-refs will come in handy in the future!

See general requirements for these quick-refs at the bottom of this page.

Explain how to do the following:

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

Explain how to do the following:

1. Create two topics in the same project, and enter enough text in each so that you must scroll down to see all of it.
2. Link the first topic to the second topic.
3. Use the eye-glasses icon to quick-test your work.
4. Link the second topic back to the first topic.
5. Create a bookmark there. Create a link that goes directly to the bookmarked spot.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Create a simple text popup.
2. Find out how much text a simple text popup can handle, whether you can do anything with fonts or color, whether you can include an image.
3. Create an expanding hotspot with text (one that expands within the existing text).
4. Create an dropdown hotspot with text (one that expands below the existing text).
5. Create an expanding hotspot with a graphic.
6. Create an dropdown hotspot with a graphic.
7. Create a related-information button that provides links to two other topics.

Explain how to do the following:

1. In exactly this order, create the following topics named as follows:
   • Deleting files
   • Creating files
   • Directories
   • Deleting directories
   • Changing directory permissions
   • Renaming directories
   • Moving files
   • Changing file permissions
   • Files
   • Copying files
   • Changing directories
   • Creating directories
   • Using wildcards for multiple files or directories
   • Changing permissions
2. In the TOC pane, create two books: Working with files and directories; Understanding files and directories.
3. In the Working with files and directories book, create a subbook: Changing permissions.
4. Add, subordinate (move right), and sequence the topics under these books accordingly.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Create a help project that includes these topics (currently unordered):
• Creating layers
• Adding layers
• Switching layers
• Flattening layers
• Layers: introduction
• Cropping images
• Sizing images
• Erasing image areas
• Selecting image areas
• Rectangular Marque tool
• Move tool
• Crop tool
• Size tool
• Channels: an introduction
• Curves: an introduction
• Filters: an introduction
2. Group and sequence these topics into books based on information type (reference, guide, or concept).
3. Create the following: browse sequence, using the following topics in this project:
   • Using layers: Layers: an introduction > Creating layers > Switching layers > Flattening layers
   • Cropping images: Rectangular Marque tool > Crop tool > Selecting image areas > Cropping images

Explain how to do the following:

1. Create index "keywords" in the Index Designer.
2. Create simple index entries that link to the top of topics.
3. Alphabetize index entries.
4. Create index subentries (subkeywords) and link them to topics.
5. Create bookmarks within longer topics and link index enttries to them.
6. Create an index entry that cross-references another index entry (a "See" entry, one that points to a preferred term in the index).
7. Create an index entry that cross-references another index entry (a "See also" entry, one that points to additional informaton).

Explain how to do the following:

1. Specify the default startup topic, meaning the topic that displays when you run the compiled help file.
2. Specify the another topic as the default startup.
3. Specify a different size and position for the Help window
4. Specify a different title for the blue bar at the top edge of the Help window.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Make selected text bold.
2. Make selected text italics.
3. Center selected text.
4. Make selected text a different color.
5. Increase or decrease font size of selected text.
6. Change font on selected text.
7. Use supplied styles on text (for example, Heading 3).
8. Create a bulleted list.
9. Create a numbered list.
10. Force a numbered list to restart at 1.
11. Indent selected text.
12. Create a three-column, three-row table.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Insert a graphic from the gallery in the middle of a topic.
2. Insert another graphic, this time from the RoboHELP La Jolla tutorial: C:\Program Files\RoboHELP Office 9\RoboHTML\Tutorial\LaJolla\cliffs.gif.
3. Select the graphic and center it.
4. Add a screen tip to a graphic.
5. Resize a graphic.
6. Cause text to wrap around a graphic that is positioned on the right margin.
7. Research and explain what "triggers" and "targets" are all about and how to use them.
8. Position a graphic an exact distance from the left margin.
9. Place a border around a selected graphic.
10. Capture something from the display, crop it, copy and paste it in a a help topic.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Apply the existing paragraph styles to text within a Help topic.
2. Apply the existing character styles to text within a Help topic.
3. Create and name your own style sheet, using the default style sheet.
4. Confirm that this style sheet has been created by checking in the project folder.
5. Create several customized styles: two for headings, an indented paragraph, some character styles.
6. Apply these new styles to text in a help topic.
7. Associate your customized style sheet with each new topic.
8. Start a new project and import the style sheet you created previously. (There may not be a formal way to do this.)

Explain how to do the following:

1. Import a map file into help project project.
2. Assign a map ID to a help topic.
3. Test this context-sensitive help.
4. Create a what's-this help for a button or field in a help topic.
5. Test a what's-this help.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Copy an entire project folder to some other location on your computer.
2. Explain any differences in editing, saving, and compiling the project.
3. Change the file name and title of an existing topic.
4. Rename an entire project.
5. Import HTML files from some other project.
6. Add a newly imported file to the TOC.
7. Import a Word file into a help project.

Explain how to do the following:

1. Create a website from a help project (in RoboHELP, it's called WebHelp).
2. Find this help-generated website and view through a web browser
3. Use WebWorks ePublisher Pro to convert a Help project to PDF, CHM, or HTML.

Explain how to do the following for each help-authoring tool we look at:

1. Start the application.
2. Create several topics.
3. Create links between topics.
4. Create a TOC.
5. Create an index.
6. Save and compile.
7. Import other files (Word, HTML, other help projects) into a project.
8. Generate XML output (when available).

Explain how to do the following in a help-authoring tool that has XML capability:

1. Import an XML file.
2. Modify the impported file as necessary.
3. Generate a CHM.

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

• Write these quick-ref notes as briefly as you can but without sacrificing good writing or clarity. Provide enough detail that you could use these notes effectively a year later.
• Write these quick-reference notes "for real": include warnings about potential problems that can trip you 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.

Provided by hcexres@io.com.