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Customizing txp help OR editing admin template
Hi all,
For a long time I have wanted to provide some comprehensive yet concise help documentation for my clients on how to use textpattern and perform key functions (fairly unique to each site).
Has anyone else worked out a good way to do this in the admin section?
I would like to either edit the existing TXP help files to suit my client.
OR
Add a clear global link at the top of every admin page linking to some help documentation.
What do other people provide for their clients? Am I able to do either of the above?
Thanks, Ben.
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#2 2006-09-07 15:57:35
- lee
- Member
- From: Normandy, France
- Registered: 2004-06-17
- Posts: 831
Re: Customizing txp help OR editing admin template
I provide online task related videos with voice over.
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#3 2006-09-07 17:45:51
- els
- Moderator
- From: The Netherlands
- Registered: 2004-06-06
- Posts: 7,458
Re: Customizing txp help OR editing admin template
For one site I created a password protected page (site.com/help/) with client specific help topics. It was a lot of work, but so far this is the only client maintaining the content himself.
Simon Wakeman has created an end user manual, you might be able to use it.
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Re: Customizing txp help OR editing admin template
Getting “comprehensive”, “concise”, and “fairly unique” to marry in one document is a tall order that requires lots of work and will inherently have large parts that are redundant.
I found it quicker and easier to turn things around and think of what tasks the client will want to do (the “how do I…?“questions) and then to make a simple step by step guide for those tasks. It took a long time the first time around but even though sites are different it’s easier to rework once you’ve got a framework you can work from.
I made a PDF and similar to Els uploaded it in a /help subfolder, so that the client can always get at it wherever they are (PDF only because I work more quickly with a layout program and because you can print it out). I suppose you could do it equally well as a help section in txp with its own page template and articles and then copy and adapt this for each new site.
If you can make pages generic enough to work for all clients, I suppose you could host the help pages on your own site, then use something like the admin dashboard plug-in on your client’s site to make a linklist (a sort of table of contents) that links to those parts of the help that are relevant to that client.
TXP Builders – finely-crafted code, design and txp
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Re: Customizing txp help OR editing admin template
What will probably save you time in the end is to create a few flash tutorials using Macromedia Captivate (or the like), and using them in user documentation. For the site I just finished, I created a single page (using JS for toggling content) with written instructions, supported by a screenshot (a few animated gifs) where appropriate, then about 7 flash videos (newspapers are a bit complex). Then keep a copy online, but send them one for offline use, as it’s faster.
That’s what worked well for my client and I. Nothing can really go wrong with a video :).
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