Resources

Tips Showdown

The tips that were presented in the final session were as follows.

Tom James	Print-specific style sheets Tidying up HTML produced by Word using TidyHTML or TidyGUI 'Bookmarklets'
Stewart Walker	Word tips and shortcuts Named windows
Tony Self	Thwart auto-correct by using Undo immediately after the auto-correction Getting HDK to create a CSS file for you to use in later projects Forcing a Web printout to page break at a specific point HTA (HyperText Application) Using HH as a browser

From Tom James

Print-specific style sheets can be created by using media = "print" at the top of the style instruction. The media = "projection" (not screen, as earlier and incorrectly reported on this page - sorry about that!) command is the other feature that Tom demonstrated. This allows an HTML page to be presented as a 'slide show' (on the Opera browser, at least). The way to specify an external CSS file to use for print only is:

<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" media="print" href="foo.css">

Media types include aural, braille, handheld, screen and TV, but not all are supported by all browsers. More information can be found at http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/media.html and http://www.w3schools.com/css/css_mediatypes.asp.

TidyHTML is at http://tidy.sourceforge.net/. This is a command line tool, and is (as far as I can guess) the tool Dave Gash referred to as indenting your code nicely. TidyGUI is a GUI version of the same tool. It can be found at http://perso.wanadoo.fr/ablavier/TidyGUI/. Incidentally, it allows you to load a a standard configuration file so you can store your usual settings. You can download a sample now, which sets all the options for turning Word source into nicely indented XHTML. To use it, save the file (word-doc.config) somewhere convenient, and before running, click "Configuration", then "Load", and then browse for the file you want to process.

The installation file for Microsoft Office 2000 HTML Filter 2.0 is on your Conference CD, in the /microsoft folder, as msohtmf2.exe. This program performs similar functions to TidyHTML and TidyGUI. It has two modes: cutting and pasting as HTML from within Word (not very effective), and processing a 'Word HTML' file from the Start button (which works quite well).

General information on bookmarklets can be found at www.bookmarklets.com. Some of the accessibility ones I showed (for example, greyscale the page, remove style sheets, show images without alts etc.) can be found at http://www.accessify.com/tools-and-wizards/accessibility-checking-favelets.asp. There are some nice tables-based ones which give you a quick view of the tables structure of a page with nested tables.

Dr Tom has also provided a set of useful XML links, if you want to continue learning about these important technologies.

From Stewart Walker

Word Shortcuts

Holding down the [Alt] key while dragging ruler markers allows you to move the markers in finer increments and see dimensions as you drag.

Use [Shift]+[F5] to go back to the place you last edited a document.

On the Conference CD, you will find an Excel file called "A List of Useful Office 2000 Shortcut Keys.xls" (in the /microsoft folder). As the name implies, this file contains a list of the more useful shortcuts for all Office applications. For a comprehensive list of Word shortcuts, go to http://www.lboro.ac.uk/computing/access/word2000-shortcuts.html.

Super Veteran Mick McMahon has also kindly sent in his own document containing a selection of ways in which Word's initial 'vanilla' setup can be customised to provide a more practical interface. You can view Mick's document now!

Named Windows

Rather than use the reserved word "_blank" (as in target="_blank") to specify that an HTML link should open in a new window, try specifying a window name that you can make up yourself. For example, all links using target="fred" will open the target URL in the same window, rather than a fresh window each time as is the case when using _blank.

From Tony Self

Getting HDK to output in a specific font

Create a test project with one document in it that has a sample of every style you use.
Compile with the "Create a global style sheet" (CSS tab under Compile options) and "Keep temporary files" options. HDK creates a .css that you use for any project that uses those styles.
Modify the CSS file in a CSS editor.

How do I force a Web printout to break to a new page at a certain point?

Use a pagebreak style in CSS2. See www.javascriptkit.com/dhtmltutors/pagebreak.shtml for details.

HTA File Format

Have a read of http://www.hyperwrite.com.au/features/html_applications.htm.

Using the HTML Help viewer (HH.EXE) as a Browser

From the Start button, choose Run, then type hh.exe http://www.aodc.com.au/ and click OK. Similarly, you can view a local page using the format hh.exe c://webstuff/abc.htm. You can also set up shortcuts rather than use the Start|Run function.

More Tips

Windows Shortcut Keys

<Windows>+D = display desktop (minimises all windows)
<Windows>+E = open Windows Explorer
<Windows>+F = open Explorer's Search window
<Windows>+L = ogoff the current user
<Windows>+R = open the Run command box
<Windows>+Pause = open System Properties

Internet Explorer Shortcut Keys

Shift-click to open a link in a new browser window (same result as right-clicking and selecting "Open in New Window")
If you have a wheel in your mouse, hold CTRL and scroll up or down to increase the browser text size
You can hold shift while using the wheel on your mouse to go Back and Forward through the browser History.

Sponsors and Vendors

Want to contact one of the vendors or sponsors from AODC 2003? Here are some useful contacts for you.

Panviva - John Watson
Systemik Solutions - Ian McCrabb
Aeronaut (eHelp distributor) - John Hill
Allette Systems (Quadralay and Adobe distributor) - Grant Nobes
AuthorIT - Ray Duncan (NZ) or Shannon Trueman (Aus)
Virtual Media - Calvin Rowley

Help from Hell

If you've finally got "This Help is Made for Browsing" out of your head, and want a reminder of what it sounds like, we've added a 1.0 MB Flash version here. Give it a bit of time to download. If it doesn't run straight away after loading, click the small HyperWrite logo (at the bottom of the page) and then press the spacebar. Enjoy!

Further information, downloads and resources to those provided on the AODC 2003 Conference CD will be made available on this page as soon as they become available.

AODC - the Australasian Online Documentation and Content Conference
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