1. HTML Help is a logo requirement for Windows 2000 and future versions of Windows.
No. HTML Help is not a logo requirement for any versions of Windows (at least not yet). Microsoft does recommend HTML Help along with other interface changes as part of enhancing your software's feature set. (See the August, 1999 issue of Microsoft Systems Journal.) Also, while Microsoft will continue to ship WinHelp with current and future versions of Windows, it has stopped development of WinHelp, including bug fixes.
2. You want to expand the functionality of your online help systems.
Yes. If you plan to add automation, forms, expanding and contracting text, and other enhanced features, you would be better off going to HTML Help. With HTML Help, you can use ActiveX controls, JavaScript, DHTML, and many other HTML-supported features. If you continue with WinHelp, the macros and custom DLLs that you develop to perform these features will not be supported when you go to HTML Help.
3. You want to make the help more consistent with the help of other programs.
Increasingly, yes, although this wasn't true until recently. A growing number of software developers are changing their help systems to HTML Help, especially as HTML Help becomes more stable and mature. If you are developing help for a program that integrates closely with another product that uses HTML Help (such as an Office 2000-compatible program), you certainly will want to use HTML Help to maintain consistency with the other product.
4. You are moving to a Web-oriented version of the software.
Yes, but only if you require users to use Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0. There are features of HTML Help that are not fully supported on other browsers. If you want a truly cross-platform HTML-based help system, you might consider Blue Sky's WebHelp, ForeFront's InterHelp, or JavaHelp, but these help systems do not offer all the capabilities (mainly compression) as HTML Help.
5. You are doing a major rewrite of the online help, so you might as well go to HTML Help at the same time.
Not a good idea, unless you have a very generous schedule. The switch to HTML Help is a major undertaking by itself. If you plan to do both the conversion and the rewrite at the same time, do the conversion first and then do the rewrite. You need to make sure that the help files work and to develop any templates and style sheets before moving ahead with the content changes.
6. It's a slam-dunk no-brainer.
No! (Have you been hanging around those marketing people again?) Although there are products that can simplify some aspects of the move to HTML Help, it is not a simple change. It requires coordination with the software developers to make sure that links from the application to the help work; decisions on formatting, design, and implementation; and planning in terms of when to make the change, how to make changes to the help, and how to phase it into the product. This document will guide you through the decisions and issues you need to face in the move to HTML Help.
