Can I expand/compress subjects like Help?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ian Elliott
  • Start date Start date
I

Ian Elliott

Thanks in advance.
In MS help, sometimes subjects have a blue triangle facing
right, and if you click on the triangle, the subject
expands. Is it possible to make something like this in MS
Word or some other common MS Office product?
I have a help file I am writing that explains how to do a
project, and I would like to have the bare bones of how to
do it, then if the user wants to get into the details,
he/she can click on the blue triangle to the left of the
subject (like MS help), and below that, the subject
expands.
Thanks again.
 
No...you really can't do that in Word (expandable text). Yes...it is nice to do that in a package, like Robohelp or something. The best you can probably do in a Word document is set up the information hierarchally (if that's a word!) Meaning, set up your "bare-bones" procedure, and at whatever point you would like to expand, say, refer to...(whatever), making the text a link to an Appendix section that gives the information in more detail. This way, your not cluttering up your basic procedure, but allowing the user to link to more information if they would like. You could also set up a link in the appendix page that returns the user to the section they came from, if you'd like, so your users can pick up where they left off

Sharon
 
Hi Ian,

Sharon's idea of using Hyperlinks is a good one, even though the overall
design is different from what you had envisioned.

You can do "expandable" text, but it has to be done with VBA, and one or
more of the following: bookmarks, hidden text, macro buttons, etc.

Another option is to use the built in Heading styles and use the Outline
view... you could customize the Outlining tool bar (or create you own) to
contain only the necessary tools regarding displaying levels (Remove the
promoting and demoting tools...)

HTH
--
Cheers!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
(e-mail address removed)
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org
 
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