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Experimenting with Windows Mobile Topic Designs

One of the big nuisances with Windows Mobile / Windows CE documentation is that it can be hard to tell which platform a given API supports. So, I'm trying to find a way to differentiate content that is definitely and without doubt supported on the Windows Mobile 5.0 SDK.

Here are some examples, and I would love your feedback and suggestions. Pay particular attention to the format of the little tables I've added at the top of the page. I've also added a green tint to indicate that a topic is SDK friends. Too much?

Which do you like best? Are you clear that a topic is supported on the SDK or not?

Sample 1

sample1

Sample 2

sample2

Sample 3

sample3
Posted: Friday, January 20, 2006 1:52 PM by johnkenn

Comments

Jim Wilson said:

I really like Sample 1. The tables in the top-right make the supported platforms really stand out.

# January 23, 2006 5:39 PM

Scott Markwell said:

I favor Sample 2, but sample 1 is also nice.
Sample 3 makes it hard to glance at.

I would love you if you could somehow spread this practice to things like win32 api. Similar issues arrise about what is supported on Windows 9x vs Win 2k and up. :)
# January 26, 2006 5:20 PM

johnkenn said:

You never know, it might catch on ;-)

I even suggested we have a particular "sound" that plays when open a topic. You know, a nice soothing jazz track for Windows CE, and a string quartet for Windows Mobile. Wow, that idea went over really badly :-D
# January 26, 2006 7:27 PM

Terran said:

I like sample 1.

But i think is better to put that information at the bottom of the page. Normally, you search and read the API, after that, you think if is supported in the target platform of your code.

;)

Nice design. Please extend this to win32 api, if is possible.
# January 27, 2006 11:25 AM

johnkenn said:

Thanks for your comments. There will be a table at the bottom of the topic with more platform specific information: this table is to indicate at a glace the relevance of a topic to the SDK user.

I wish I had any sway with the WIN32 API documentation. Feel free to ask them to contact me ;-)
# January 27, 2006 11:47 AM

Nino Benvenuti said:

I find Sample 1 the easiest to read and definitely better if one is giving the document a quick glance.
# February 10, 2006 8:49 AM

John s Blog Experimenting with Windows Mobile Topic Designs | Outdoor Decor said:

PingBack from http://outdoordecoration.info/story.php?id=1970

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