Happy to Help - So you’ve got a help file, now what?

Scenario. You’re working in The Education Edge and you want advice for completing a procedure, you need help with a problem, or you see a field and you’re not sure what you should enter. What do you do?

Well hopefully you're help savvy and hit F1 on your keyboard or selected Help, The Education Edge Help Topics from the menu bar.

And once you find yourself in the help file, I thought I’d share a little bit about what you can find in there.

1. The help file is organized by where you are in the program. For example, Configuration is different for each program so we’ll have a section for it under Admissions Office, Registrar's Office, Student Billing, etc.
2. Because many schools integrate EE with FE, we include the FE help file information.
3. There are a few areas that overlap – Query, Export, Mail, Admin, Dashboard, and Program Basics, to name a few – and you’ll find those in the Common Program Areas.
4. Almost every procedure you complete will have a how and a why. We provide buttons to help you go back and forth depending on which content you need.
5. At the top of every page (except the welcome, glossary, contacting, and copyright), we provide breadcrumbs. These can help you understand where you are in the help file.
6. Breadcrumbs are also great at helping you figure out which User Guide you might want to refer to for more information. The User Guides, besides having more detailed information, have screenshots. Some people may prefer to see a procedure explained in that format. Using the breadcrumbs, you can decide which guide to go to. For example:
    Registrar’s Office,  Registrar’s Office, Attendance,  Attendance Planning = Attendance Guide
    Admissions Office,  Admissions Office Records,  Admissions Office Individuals,  Adding Relationships,  Adding a personal relationship = Records Guide for Admissions Office, Individuals Chapter
   
7. If you prefer the alphabetical method, we provide an index and a glossary for your convenience.
   
8. If you find a topic you reference often, add it to your favorites. How?
• With your favorite page displayed on the right, select the Favorites tab.
  
• At the bottom, in the Current topic field, enter a name for this favorite.
  
• Click Add. Your favorite is now added to the Topics section. You can refer back as often as you need.
  
9. Use the Search tab to scan through the help file for topics you need more information on. I recommend you use only a 1 to 2 word search. The Microsoft .chm file we use for The Education Edge can sometimes be picky about spelling, and long sentences can make finding information difficult. Try one or two words that identify what you are looking for. Also, think of similar words and search for those if your original search doesn’t find what you need.
10. Don't forget the power of F1. Almost every screen in The Education Edge is linked to its help content. For example, if you're on a student record, Bio 1 tab, and you hit F1, you go to the Managing Biographical Information topic to learn more about the numerous bio fields available for students.