Linking the Answer Wizard to the Web

Article
02/20/2014

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The Help on the Web feature in Microsoft® Project 2002 connects your users to information about Microsoft Project on the Microsoft Office Assistance Center Web site. You can customize Help on the Web to point to a site on your intranet. You can also use Help on the Web to collect user feedback to improve your custom Answer Wizard files and Help topics.

Expanding Help on the Web

You can use the Help on the Web feature to extend the Answer Wizard by providing additional or updated information for users whose queries are not satisfied by the Help topics returned by the Answer Wizard.

Users typically gain access to Help on the Web through a link provided by the Office Assistant. When a user asks the Office Assistant a question, the Answer Wizard returns a list of Help topics, which includes the link None of the above, search for more on the Web as the last entry in the list.

Clicking this link connects users to a feedback form, which they can use to enter comments about the results of their search. Comments are collected and sent to Microsoft, where support staff evaluate the data and use it to improve both Answer Wizard Help topics and the Microsoft Office Web site. When users submit the feedback form by clicking Send and go to the Web, the Microsoft Office Update Web site Search page is displayed in a new browser window. The user can then click on one of the areas on the map (which sets the user's location) to go to the Microsoft Office Search page and see the results of their search. The next time a user submits feedback by clicking Send and go to the Web from the feedback form, the browser will go directly to the Microsoft Office Search page.

If you want users to connect to information on your intranet instead (or if your users don't have access to the World Wide Web), you can customize the None of the above, search for more on the Web link to point to one of the sites on your intranet. For example, users might ask about the server that runs Microsoft Project Web Access and then click None of the above, search for more on the Web. You can redirect their search to your intranet site, where you have a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Microsoft Project 2002, including any current server issues.

To redirect the None of the above, search for more on the Web link, you just change the destination URL. You can also customize the text in the Office Assistant and some of the text in the Help topic pane.

Depending on how creative you want to get and how many development resources are available to you, you can create Active Server Pages (ASP pages) that make the Help on the Web feature even more useful to your organization. The following examples show you a few of the many ways you can customize Help on the Web to suit your needs.

Directing Users to a Static Page on Your Intranet Site

If you don't want to create a custom ASP page, you can instead create a static Web page. For example, create a Web page that has a list of FAQs and a telephone number or e-mail address that users can use to contact your organization's support staff.

To implement this solution, all you have to do is create the Web page, delete the text in the Help pane, and supply the static Web page address as the destination URL.

Using Queries to Create or Expand Your Custom Help Files

If you aren't yet prepared to create a complete custom search system for your users, but you don't want to lose their questions, you can collect their comments without directing them to a Web site. You can keep track of the kinds of questions your users are asking and implement a method for handling them later.

If you've already created custom Help and Answer Wizard files for your organization, tracking users' queries and comments can help you find ways to expand your custom Help. By using their queries, you can research and write more topics and Answer Wizard questions for your custom Help file, as well as supplement the online Help system that comes with Microsoft Project 2002.

To implement this solution

Create an ASP page that logs users' queries and comments.

Change the text in the Office Assistant to "Send us comments about your search."

Change the text in the Help pane to inform them that their comments will be sent to you.

Change the feedback URL to point to your ASP page.

Continuing Users' Searches on Your Intranet Site

You can set up Help on the Web so that it searches your intranet rather than Microsoft.com. You can also collect users' feedback for your own use, rather than sending it to Microsoft.

To send users to your Web site, create an ASP page to capture users' questions and search your organization's Web site. Change the text in the Office Assistant and text in the Help topic pane to tell users where their questions are being sent and where their browsers are being redirected. Update the feedback URL to point to your ASP page.

Users can search your site for the latest information about internal tools. You can also collect comments about Microsoft Project 2002 and send them on to Microsoft if and when you choose.

Sending Questions to Your Support Staff

You can use a custom ASP page and some of your coding experience to set up a complex system for handling user questions. For example, you can have users fill in the feedback form with all of their pertinent questions and comments and route the form to your support staff.

You can then redirect your users to an ASP page with FAQs or provide a link to a Web site that they can use to search for more information. If they still can't find the answer, your support staff has had time to receive the query, research the answer, and supply a solution to the problem.

Customizing Help on the Web

You can customize Help on the Web by changing any of the following items: the default URL, the text in the Office Assistant, and some of the text in the Help pane. Since the Help on the Web feature is shared with Microsoft Office, to customize this feature you need to set Office system policies. The customizations will apply to Microsoft Project, as well as to Office.

Office system policies are set and modified with the System Policy Editor; this application can be downloaded from the Office XP Resource Kit Toolbox.

Change the Default URL

By default, the None of the above, search for more on the Web link in the Office Assistant points to the Office Update site on the Microsoft Web site (after the user has submitted a search by clicking Send and go to the Web from the feedback form, the link will thereafter point to the Microsoft Office Search page). However, you can change the default URL to point to another Web site, such as your organization's home page or support Web site. To change the default URL, you set the Feedback URL policy.

To change the default URL

In the System Policy Editor, on the File menu, click New Policy and then double-click the Default User icon.

In the Default User Properties dialog box, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Office XP.

Click the plus sign next to Assistant.

Click the plus sign next to Help on the Web.

Select the Feedback URL check box.

Under Settings for Feedback URL, type the URL you want to use and then click OK.

Customize the Text in the Office Assistant

You can customize the text of the final Answer Wizard link, "None of the above, search for more on the Web." For example, you can include the name of your organization by changing the text to "None of the above, look for more help on the Organization Web site." To change this text in the Office Assistant, you set the Feedback button label policy.

To change the text in the Office Assistant

In the System Policy Editor, on the File menu, click New Policy and then double-click the Default User icon.

In the Default User Properties dialog box, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Office XP.

Click the plus sign next to Assistant.

Click the plus sign next to Help on the Web.

Select the Feedback button label check box.

Under Settings for Feedback button label, type the text you want to use, and then click OK.

Customize the Text in the Help Window

You can customize some of the text in the Help window. By default, the following text appears just below the user question, in the middle of the Help window: "Click the Send and go to the Web button below to start your Web browser and send your question to a site that provides further assistance." You can add the name of your Web site or organization to this text. To change the text in the Help window, you set the Feedback dialog text policy.

To change the text in the Help window

In the System Policy Editor, on the File menu, click New Policy and then double-click the Default User icon.

In the Default User Properties dialog box, click the plus sign (+) next to Microsoft Office XP.

Click the plus sign next to Assistant.

Click the plus sign next to Help on the Web.

Select the Feedback dialog text check box.

Under Settings for Feedback dialog text, type the text you want to use, and then click OK.

Notes

The maximum length of the text string for the feedback dialog text is 255 characters.

The Help on the Web feature is automatically disabled if there is no default Web browser on the user's computer or if there is no feedback URL defined in the Windows registry.

Customizing the Answer Wizard Feedback Form

When your users click None of the above, search for more on the Web link in the Answer Wizard, they are directed to a feedback form in Help. They use this form to enter comments about the problem that they are trying to solve and the kind of information they expected to find. When users submit their comments, they are directed to the Office Update Web site, where they can click on the map to search for any updated information. The next time a user submits comments from the feedback form, the browser will go directly to the Microsoft Office Search page.

Meanwhile, the data from the feedback form is submitted to the support staff at Microsoft, where the information is used to improve the next version of Answer Wizard topics, as well as the information available on the Office Assistance Center Web site.

The Answer Wizard feedback form is dynamic. It collects users' comments, and also forwards pertinent information about the failed query. By default, the form sends the information to the Microsoft support staff for analysis. If you want to redirect information to your own organization's support staff, you can customize the form itself, and create a custom ASP file to handle the information from the form.

The Office XP Resource Kit includes information on how to customize the feedback form, and provides a sample ASP file (answiz.asp) that illustrates how to do this. You need to change the following three options in the sample Answiz.asp file.

Option	Description
f_log=1	Set to 0 to disable logging of users' questions. Default is 1.
f_redirect_to_MS=1	Set to 0 to disable sending of information to the Office Assistance Center Web site. Default is 1.
where_if_not_MS="alert.htm"	Set to the URL of the page you want users to see after they submit the feedback form. This option is valid only if you have set the redirect option to 0.