Help Meister - Help Types

for Help Meister

Help Types (ID: 295)

Different users may need different help, for example, English or Spanish. Users may need different amounts of help over time, for example, the comlete explanation when first learning or just an abbreviated reminder after they become experienced. Alternate help is how to produce help tailored to the different needs of different users.

Help Meister allows you to select a "Type" and "Cross-Type" to label any help record. Help Meister arrives with help types:
* Abbreviated
* Standard
* Verbose
* System
and cross-types:
* English
* Spanish
This allows you to provide alternate help in any of those combinations, for example, Abbreviated English or Verbose Spanish.

Note that the "System" type is where you may wish to keep information about your website or online application that is suitable for developers and programmers. It can become your online "System Manual".

With sys admin priviledges, you can change the help types and cross-types to meet the needs of your website and its users. The edit pencil changes the name of a type, for example, "Verbose" to "Comprehensive", while converting "Verbose" to "Comprehensive" on all help records and user preferences who were using "Verbose". This is better than deleting and re-entering since that loses all such connections (unless of course that is your intent). With the Insert icon, you can add additional types or cross-types.

Note that one Type and one Cross-Type value has no trash can. These are the default values for Type and Cross-Type. You can change their names but you may not delete them. All help records must have such default help. If the alternative help (type & cross-type) have not been entered, this default help will be provided.

Most Help Meister accounts are fielded with nothing but this default help (type & cross-type), and then management and the sys admin determine what types and cross-types would be most valuable to add (with the insert icon). And then they start entering alternative help for those records where it is appropriate. Many help records never get alternative versions if the default is applicable to everyone.

The "Update" button at the bottom updates your type and cross-type choices. The "Restore" button restores the settings to what they were before your changes.

Keywords: Cross-Type, Type