Re: Help topics / task help

[David Cary <d.cary@ieee.org>]

Writing some documentation on how to do simple tasks sounds like a good
idea for SEUL. Although I don't see what the difference is between a "TASK
file" and a "HOWTO" and a "miniHOWTO".

When you say "'help' could invoke tools", are do you literally mean that
while the user is using the help browser to find out how to do something,
the help browser itself would start other applications (rather than telling
the user what to type/click to start this other application) ? That could
be cool. Maybe even intelligent enough to look at your system and say
things like "I see you already have the mouse set up, so let's skip to step
7".

Keeping a list of "Tasks People Want to Do with a Computer" sounds cool.
I'll cut 'n paste the list onto my web page if no one else volunteers.

Many of these tasks are interrelated / interdependent; "Checking email"
assumes that you already have the email program set up, so it should
probably have a link to "setting up pine" which in turn depends on / has a
link to "Connecting with the Internet".

more tasks:
  Checking email
  Simple text file editing
  Writing your first "Hello, World" comsci assignment (is gcc installed ?)
  Printing out a text file
  Printing a picture / web page
  Editing a web page
  Balancing my checkbook
  Downloading, installing, and playing Doom
  inserting a formula with a fraction into my TeX document
  Send a graph via email
  Print a document
  Print a document on someone else's fax machine

>To: seul-dev-help@seul.org
>From: Two Ducks <twoducks@globalserve.net>
...
>Instead a separate set of documents, TASK files, could
>be written to embody some of the SEUL ideas. Task help
>files would be short, step by step procedures for
>simple (and semi-complex) processes. As much as possible
>the help could invoke tools (used in SEUL) which the
>user could then use to perform these tasks. Some of these
>tasks could be:
>
>  Opening an xterm.
>  Executing a program.
>  Running the file manager.
>  Copying a file (and other file operations).
>  USING THE HELP BROWSER!!
>  Connecting with the internet.
>  Setting up the mouse (or other hardware. Tools needed to make this
>easy.)
>  Logging out.
>  Shutting down.
>  Rebooting.
>
>And on and on.
>
>Some of these tasks can be recorded now.
>
>What is though of making a list of possible tasks (keeping it online
>somewhere) and tagging the ones that are being written and have
>been complete.
>
>Any takers?

--
+ David Cary "mailto:d.cary@ieee.org" "http://www.rdrop.com/~cary/"
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