It's Not Just Help
It's HTML Help

HTML Help exists at the intersection of the Web explosion and an unprecedented growth spurt for online user assistance in general. With online help being added to everything from stock portfolios to virtual museums, HTML Help combines the best of HTML with the best of online Help—and the very best approach is, quite possibly, a new format from Microsoft® that is called compiled HTML Help. This Web site, and the book it draws from, explore this new format in detail.

The “HTML” components of HTML Help can be dynamic and interactive, presenting a style as strong as the content. Web technologies enhance the system with cascading style sheets (CSS) for control over layout and style, and with dynamic HTML (DHTML) that allows the author to customize content and design presentations that literally move the information to meet the user’s needs. These enhancements are not mere aesthetic tricks, but legitimate tools allowing writers to support all types of learners and all sorts of situations.

Learners' needs are also addressed by the strong architectural and navigational components from the “Help” part of the equation. Drawing on the Windows help tradition, HTML Help supplies built-in tools for creating indexes, full-text search (FTS), and tables of contents synchronized to the user’s current page.

And the best part of the HTML Help revolution is that it’s not difficult to join in. While the full world of HTML, Help, CSS, and DHTML is stunningly wide, you need not master it all to create rich, useful, and attractive HTML Help systems. In this book, you can learn everything you need to get started and successfully produce your own HTML Help system enhanced with Web technologies. After that, the only limit is your own imagination.

For more information, check out the overview of what this book covers and the description of who should read this book. In addition, this Web site presents an overview of each chapter. Use the table of contents on the left to access the desired topic and chapter.