HELP Systems

At the top of the menu bar will be a HELP item - selecting this will enable features on whatever programme you are using which will help you perform a task. The help features maybe different in different programmes but work essentially the same way.
Often it is the case that the function key F1 will bring up a help screen and the Question Mark symbol "?", may indicate a context sensitive help - which means help will be given about the task that you are currently using.
Note that HELP is peculiar to the program it is within and that system HELP is available from the START button which explains about the operating system (Windows) you are using.

	The above menu items are from different programs showing the various help items available from the menu,notice that some contain a "tutorial" and some an "assistant" and "context sensitive" help. All contain and "about "section which gives information about the program you are using.

Assistant
An assistant is an animated character that helps with tasks you maybe carrying out,or is a user friendly way of accessing the help files by allowing you to ask questions of it. In the case of MS Office there is a gallery of characters comprising a dog, cat, robot, Einstein and others with which you can interact - by selecting HELP and choosing "Show office assistant" - the character will be displayed and will usually result in an animated paperclip.Occasionally this character will show a green lightbulb to indicate it has an idea how to help you,otherwise double-clicking the character will allow you to ask it questions.

Wizard
Wizards in computer jargon are not grey haired old men with wands - but step-by-step processes that "magically" help you to produce a result. It maybe that you are trying to connect a computer to the internet - there maybe a "Wizard" for this process that tries to defeat all the technical aspects of the process by taking you through each step one at a time until finally you have achieved your aim. Wizards are operated by merely clicking on NEXT on each page and sometimes choosing a parameter from the screen and then pressing FINISH and hopefully you will have carried out the process that you intended to.

Context Sensitive [What's This?] Sometimes a screen may contain a "?" Question Mark symbol as an icon in the top right corner. Clicking on this will alter your mouse pointer to carry a question mark along with it. Clicking on anything on the page will then deliver an explanation of whatever you have clicked on upon that page.

About
About screens generate information about the particular programme that you are using. There maybe dates and possibly install keys [Long alphanumerical codes that are used when adding a program to a PC],licensing or copyright information and the name of the producer of the software.

Paintshop ABOUT screen showing license and copyright information and the manufacturer name .	MS Word ABOUT screen showing manufacturer, copyright and product ID information.System info and Tech support buttons also exist.

Tutorial
Tutorials exist within a program to aid your own learning of how to use that particular program. If the program supports a tutorial it is pretty much like having your own topic-based lessons on how to do particular tasks that the program is intended to perform. The structure of the tutorial will vary from program to program but often they take the form of a "How to...." approach to explain given tasks and sometimes provide examples.

Help screens and panes
The HELP screen itself maybe divided into two panes - this is the case in MS Office,but is not always the case with a help screen.Usually there will be a list of contents and clicking on an item will provide help about that topic. The MS Office Help has 3 sections.Clicking on each of the 3 tabs allows you to use the type of method to interrogate the help that you may prefer.

Contents
The contents tab seperates the HELP menu by subject and functions rather like the chapters in a book. Clicking on the "+" or "-" symbols will open or close a chapter and clicking on any subject marked with a "?" will enter the details about that subject onto the right hand pane of the window - note that both panes can be adjusted using the resizing methods that apply to any window.

Answer Wizard
Whilst this section is called a Wizard - it does not operate like the step-by-step Wizards above -the answer wizard allows you to ask the help system questions rather as you might have asked the Assistant.The solutions to the questions will appear as topics which you then double-click to display in the right hand pane.

Index
The index uses keywords rather than questions to deliver topics which as before,can be double-clicked to display in the right hand pane.

Note that all the above methods may result in a display which carries Hyperlinks to other associated help topics within the help system - clicking the hyperlink will bring up that topic also.
The icons at the top of the HELP system are used to control the panes and if you find that the contents have gone missing you can bring them back by clicking on the SHOW/HIDE icon which is the second one along the display.

Points to remember about HELP:

• Often pressing the function key F1 will provide HELP.
• HELP is also available as a menu item - usually the last item along the menu bar.
• Sometimes an "assistant" will help you with tasks.
• Help can be accessed in a number of ways - Index,Wizard and Contents.
• Context sensitive help is accessed via the Question Mark "?" Symbol on the dialogue screens.

See Also: Files and Folders