Style

Notes

Basic Body Font

Use Arial Font, Size 10 for general Text.  The Paragraph Format includes a 'spacing after' element to add spacing between successive paragraphs.  The use of intermediate blank lines to create line spacing should be avoided.

Key Object Annotation

General reference to Key Objects should be highlighted in Bold Text and with Initial Letter Capitalisation.  The technique should be applied to Field Caption names, Command Buttons etc.  Where possible the text shown should correspond to the actual text shown on the target HighStone Panel.

Heading Style 1

Reserved for Major Headings in the Help Structure.  Typically these will be used in Single Page Documents to provide Section Headings to the complete Help Structure - usually with some introductory text in normal Body Style.

In the Help System, these headings will open as a single page displays, and be shown as the top level Contents Topics.  Heading Style 2 Topic Headings are listed under a More: heading.

Heading Style 2

The Title Topic Heading allocated to the current Topic.  Typically there will be half a dozen within each Major Heading.

This will usually also include some introductory text in normal Body Style.

In the Help System, these headings will open as a single page displays, and be shown as the level two Contents Topics.  Heading Style 3 Topic Headings are listed under a More: heading.

In most cases each source Word Document will start at this Level, and contain all Topic Items (Heading Style 3) relating to this section.

Heading Style 3

This level corresponds to the Detailed Topic Level - where the core descriptive text is entered.  Each Heading at this level is opened as a new Page with the Help System.

On the Contents panel within the Help system, these entries are shown a 'Topic' headings - with a Question Mark icon.

Heading Style 4

This level is applied by Doc-To-Help as a 'pop-up' style page - opening a smaller text panel to display the text.

Generally this style is not used by HighStone.

Heading Style 5

Use this style to create sub-headings within the Heading Style 3 page.  Typically to give break points within the text corresponding to Sections or Areas within the Display Panel being described.

Doc-To-Help does not use this heading style for any automated Topic Control.

Image Insertion

Screen Images should be inserted in to the text are required points:

• Capture the image and save as a 'gif' style.  This style is best suited to the Display Style used on HighStone forms ('jpg' style is suited to photographs, 'bmp' is not compressed and takes up a lot of space).

• Insert the Image within a single 'paragraph' definition.  Do not attempt to wrap text around the image as this will not be supported in all environments.

• Remove all 'margin' or 'horizontal layout' controls on the paragraph, and use the 'Centre Text' layout to place the image in the centre of the page.

• Include a full-sized Panel Image within the text - typically at the start of the topic page.

• Use partial panel images through the text to highlight specific usage and help identify the item being described.

• Multi-Tab panels should be described with a separate 'Page' [Heading Style 3] devoted to each.

Successive Page Navigation

Where a Panel Topic spans more than one 'Page' [Heading Style 3], Next controls are added at the end of each page to allow the user to skip to the next topic Heading.  These controls are added within Doc-To-Help, and can only be done after an initial build of Help Pages for the Topic (as this action identifies the Topic Heading jump points).

Links are added using the Link icon button on the Doc-To-Help ribbon.

Generally this link is shown as a 'Button' control - rather than a standard http: link style.

Sample Images and Text

The HighStone Help System is made available to all Clients of the system - and therefore sample Text and Images (particularly) should be generic in nature.  The HighStone Help carries a general disclaimer that not all facilities described within the Text will be available on all HighStone Installations.

Sample images should not include details that relate to a specific person or member of the public (particularly email, telephone or address details).  Generally 'real names' can be used provided they are not too distinctive - so 'Bob Smith' or 'Paul Jones' are entirely appropriate.

Commercial information (costs and prices) should not be included where such data could be construed as being commercially sensitive.