Add 'Button bar configuration' entry with special parameter descriptions to Help Contents

[beb]

Please, include an entry with the special parameter description (%N, %P, %S, %P%N, %P%S, %WL, etc.) in the Contents (under the "Configuration and switches" section) of the help.
Such an important topic deserves to be more visible to and accessible by a user than it is now.
There are two corresponding topic files: dlg_configbuttonbar.htm and dlg_usermenu.htm.
It could be dlg_configbuttonbar.htm, for instance, and just a single entry in the hsc6C4.hhc, like this:

Code: Select all

		<LI><OBJECT TYPE="text/sitemap">
			<PARAM NAME="Name" VALUE="Button bar configuration">
			<PARAM NAME="Local" VALUE="dlg_configbuttonbar.htm">
		</OBJECT>

I believe the help and its users will greatly benefit from such a simple move.
I compiled a version of TOTALCMD.CHM for myself as an example:
Image: https://i.imgur.com/b58hJGc.png
Thank you.

[white]

Moderator message from: white » 2026-05-10, 08:17 UTC

Please, include an entry with the special parameter description (%N, %P, %S, %P%N, %P%S, %WL, etc.) in the Contents (under the "Configuration and switches" section) of the help.

Split to a new topic from topic totalcmd.hlp file, a topic about providing the help in .HLP format in addition to the .CHM help file.

[petermad]

Support+
I also think dlg_choosecommand.htm should be added to the "Configuration and Switches" section in the Help Contents
Maybe also add env_vars.htm

[AntonyD]

Support both cases from above - button bar + env.vars.

[petermad]

2AntonyD
How about dlg_choosecommand

[AntonyD]

No problem))))
Iam in;)

[ghisler(Author)]

I agree with dlg_configbuttonbar, it can be easily reached via the "Configuration" menu, so it fits in that section.
dlg_choosecommand can't be reached from that menu, only via a magnifying glass button in the button bar configuration, or in Configuration - Options - Misc. Therefore I don't think that it belongs in the top menu of the help.

[petermad]

only via a magnifying glass button in the button bar configuration, or in Configuration - Options - Misc. Therefore I don't think that it belongs in the top menu of the help.

It is exactly why it should also be in the top menu - because it is such an important documentation that is so hidden for the common user otherwise. Nobody that hasn't, by trial, pressed F1 in the Choose Command dialog (there isn't even a Help button) would know that many command takes parameters

[petermad]

only via a magnifying glass button in the button bar configuration, or in Configuration - Options - Misc. Therefore I don't think that it belongs in the top menu of the help.

It is exactly why it should also be in the top menu - because it is such an important documentation that is so hidden for the common user otherwise. Nobody that hasn't, by trial, pressed F1 in the Choose Command dialog (there isn't even a Help button*) would know that many command takes parameters

* - reminds me of this suggestion: viewtopic.php?p=432490#p432490

[ghisler(Author)]

It is exactly why it should also be in the top menu

But then it needs to be modified so the user knows how to get there!

[AntonyD]

And what prevents us from doing so?

[ghisler(Author)]

The problem is that the user isn't meant to go to this dialog directly from the main program. The dialog has a very specific purpose (inserting a command in the button bar or for a keyboard shortcut), and when the user gets there, they can just press F1 in the dialog box directly to get help. Therefore the information is useless in the help tree.

[AntonyD]

This may sound somewhat strange, but you did not answer the question and simply, in an affirmative form,

the user isn't meant to go to this dialog directly

essentially forbade us even to think about the possibility that this object could be included in the help.
Above, you were already shown a link to a topic in which one of the main problems of the program is discussed.
The ALMOST complete absence of a Help button on those dialogs for which there is actually some information in the help.
Because of this, your statement:

when the user gets there, they can just press F1

is meaningless and practically never carried out - in the overwhelming majority of cases, the user is simply not ready to go to the help section - because they do not see the fact that help exists for this section! And when they JUST open the help itself, they WILL BE CONVINCED that there is
no such section in the help)))! Because in the tree of choices for navigating to the help chapters, there is nothing like that!

P.S.
Essentially, you are violating one of the main rules of creating a user-friendly interface for beginner users. Many people fall into this category – even those who have been using your program for a long time. Every dialog should definitely have a marker indicating that there is a section in the help related to this element. And it is better to have two-level help: a tooltip when hovering over the element and a button to call the global help and open the section dedicated to this element.

[petermad]

Therefore the information is useless in the help tree.

Not if you edit usercmd.ini manually

For me personally it is not a big problem, I have it as an item in the Help in my Extended Menu - but I can say that I use that entry frequently.

[beb]

Although it's not in the history, I can confirm that with Total Commander 11.57a RC1, the "Button bar configuration" (dlg_configbuttonbar.htm) entry has appeared in the "Configuration and switches" section of the Contents of the help (TOTALCMD.CHM), as was requested.
Thank you!