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<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1"><title>Assistants</title><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.65.1"><link rel="home" href="index.html" title="GNOME Human Interface Guidelines 2.0"><link rel="up" href="windows.html" title="Chapter3.Windows"><link rel="previous" href="windows-dialog.html" title="Dialogs"><link rel="next" href="menus.html" title="Chapter4.Menus"></head><body bgcolor="white" text="black" link="#0000FF" vlink="#840084" alink="#0000FF"><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">Assistants</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="windows-dialog.html">Prev</a></td><th width="60%" align="center">Chapter3.Windows</th><td width="20%" align="right"><a accesskey="n" href="menus.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr></div><div class="sect1" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h2 class="title" style="clear: both"><a name="windows-assistant"></a>Assistants</h2></div></div><div></div></div><p>An assistant is a secondary window that guides the user through an
    operation by breaking it into sequential steps. Assistants are useful for
    making complex operations less intimidating, as they restrict the
    information visible to the user at any given moment.</p><p>Because assistants provide a relatively small number of controls on
    the screen at any given time, they have sufficient space for inline
    documentation. Therefore, do not include a <span class="guibutton">Help</span>
    button in an assistant window. If you cannot make an operation
    sufficiently clear in an assistant without resorting to a
    <span class="guibutton">Help</span> button, you need to simplify it further.</p><p>Assistants do have major downsides. After using an assistant
    it is often hard to figure out where the individual settings aggregated
    into the assistant are stored. Often people will resort to re-running
    the assistant, re-entering many settings that they don't want to change.
    
    </p><div class="warning" style="margin-left: 0.5in; margin-right: 0.5in;"><table border="0" summary="Warning"><tr><td rowspan="2" align="center" valign="top" width="25"><img alt="[Warning]" src="images/warning.png"></td><th align="left">Warning</th></tr><tr><td colspan="2" align="left" valign="top"><p>Assistants are often used in situations where a better
    solution would be to simplify, or even better automate, the process.
    Before using an assistant to step people through a complex operation,
    consider if the operation can be fundamentally simplified so an
    assistant is unnecessary.</p></td></tr></table></div><p><b>Window Commands:</b>Close, Minimize/Unminimize, Roll-up/Unroll</p><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="assistant-first-page"></a>Introductory Page</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>The first page provides the user with the "big picture".
      Place the title of the assistant in the window's title bar and the
      assistant's title area, along with an optional picture. Beneath
      this, state the goal of the assistant, and, if it is not obvious, where
      the user can find the information the assistant will be asking for.</p><p><b>Title Format:</b><i class="replaceable"><tt>Assistant Title</tt></i></p><p><b>Buttons:</b><span class="guibutton">Cancel</span>, <span class="guibutton">Forward</span></p><div class="figure"><a name="id2531571"></a><p class="title"><b>Figure3.25.Example of the first page of an assistant</b></p><div class="mediaobject"><table border="0" summary="manufactured viewport for HTML img" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="452"><tr style="height: 341px"><td><img src="images/assistant-first-page.png" width="452" alt="Screenshot showing the first page of an assistant for
            creating a new email account"></td></tr></table></div></div></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="assistant-middle-page"></a>Content Pages</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>Content pages contain the actual settings of the assistant.
      Summarize the type of setting present on each content page in its title
      area. For example, <span class="guilabel">Mail Server</span>.</p><p><b>Title Format:</b><i class="replaceable"><tt>Assistant Title</tt></i> - (<i class="replaceable"><tt>Current
        Page </tt></i> of <i class="replaceable"><tt>Total Pages</tt></i>)</p><p><b>Buttons:</b><span class="guibutton">Cancel</span>, <span class="guibutton">Back</span>,
        <span class="guibutton">Forward</span></p></div><div class="sect2" lang="en"><div class="titlepage"><div><div><h3 class="title"><a name="assistant-last-page"></a>Last Page</h3></div></div><div></div></div><p>The last page should summarize the settings that will be changed
      by the assistant, and how the user can modify them later.</p><p><b>Title Format:</b>Finish <i class="replaceable"><tt>Assistant Title</tt></i></p><p><b>Buttons:</b><span class="guibutton">Cancel</span>, <span class="guibutton">Back</span>,
        <span class="guibutton">Finish</span></p></div></div><div class="navfooter"><hr><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="windows-dialog.html">Prev</a></td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="windows.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"><a accesskey="n" href="menus.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">Dialogs</td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top">Chapter4.Menus</td></tr></table></div></body></html>