Using Help

The online Help system provides assistance for using the Campaign Finance application.

• Interface

• Topic Elements

• Content

Interface

The Help system interface consists of three main areas: To adjust the width and height of the Help page and panes within the Help page, click the edge of the page or pane and drag it up or down, left or right.

1. Toolbar (across the top) — When you click an option in the Toolbar, the corresponding information is displayed in the Navigation pane.

2. Navigation pane (below the Toolbar) — When you click an option in the Navigation pane, the corresponding information is displayed in the Content pane. To hide the Navigation pane, click the x at the top of the Navigation pane. To show the Navigation pane, click a button on the Toolbar.

3. Content pane (on the right) — When you access Help using the help link in the application, only the Content pane displays. To view the Toolbar and Navigation pane, click the show help menu link in the Content pane. To navigate recently visited topics, use your browser's Back and Forward buttons. To print a topic, click anywhere in the Content pane and then use your browser's print feature.  

The Toolbar contains buttons that provide access to the Table of Contents (TOC), Index, Search feature, and Glossary; as well as a FirstTuesday logo that links to the About WebHelp window. The Toolbar options and their actions are described below.

• Contents Button — Displays the TOC, which provides access to task (step-by-step) Help topics. To view a topic, click the corresponding page icon in the Navigation pane. The topic is displayed in the Content pane. To navigate recently visited topics, use Internet Explorer's Back and Forward buttons.
   

• Index Button — Displays the Index, which consists of keywords and phrases that provide access to Help topics. To view a topic associated to an index term, click the index term in the Navigation pane. The topic is displayed in the Content pane.

• Search Button — Displays the Search feature, which allows you to search for all occurrences of a specific word or phrase in the Help system. To search for a word or phrase, type a word or phrase in the search field in the Navigation pane and click the go button. All topics that match the specified word or phrase are listed below the search field in the Navigation pane.
  
  To view a topic, click the corresponding topic in the search results list in the Navigation pane. The topic is displayed in the Content pane.
   

• • Wildcard Expressions

     

    Wildcard expressions allow you to search for one or more characters using a question mark or asterisk. A question mark represents a single character, while an asterisk represents one or more characters.

     

    Search for...	Example	Result
    Single word	log	All grammatical variations of log. For example, the search may return topics with log, login, logging, etc.
    Phrase	absentee ballot	All topics containing both absentee and ballot, but not necessarily as a phrase or in the order specified. For example, the search may return topics with "the absentee ballot..." or "Voters with an ongoing absentee status receive ballots..."
    Phrase	"absentee ballot"	All topics containing absentee ballot as a phrase. For example, the search may return topics with "the absentee ballot..." but not "Voters with an ongoing absentee status receive ballots..."
    Question mark	46?52	All occurrences where the character represented by the question mark is any character. For example, the search may return 46052, 46152, 46252, 46K52, 46X52, etc.
    Asterisk	46*	All occurrences where one or more characters are represented by the asterisk. For example, the search may return 46052, 46187899, 46ABCDE, etc.

     

  • Boolean Operators

     

    Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT, NEAR) allow you to create a relationship between terms. The system uses AND by default if you do not specify an operator.

     

    Search for...	Example	Result
    AND	county locality AND election	All topics containing both county locality and election, but not necessarily as a phrase or in the order specified. For example, the search may return topics with "the county locality election board..." or "an election in the county... locality... ".
    OR	county locality OR election	All topics containing either county locality or election or both.
    NOT	latitude NOT longitude	All topics containing latitude but not longitude.
    NEAR	latitude NEAR longitude	All topics containing latitude within eight words of longitude.

     

  • Nested Expressions

     

    Nested expressions allow you to perform complex searches. For example, ballot AND ((absentee OR application) not provisional) finds topics containing ballot and absentee but not provisional, or containing ballot and application but not provisional. As with mathematical expressions, expressions in parentheses are evaluated first. If there is no parenthesis, the expression is evaluated from left to right. For example, ballot NOT (provisional OR paper) finds topics containing ballot and not provisional or paper. Ballot NOT provisional OR paper finds topics containing ballot but not provisional, or topics containing paper.

     

• Glossary Button — Displays in alphabetical order the glossary terms and definitions associated to the application. To display a glossary term and its definition, click the letter in the alphabet list with which the glossary term begins. Glossary terms that begin with the specified letter are displayed below the alphabet list. Scroll to the desired glossary term to view its definition.
   

Topic Elements

The following elements may be available within a Help topic.

• Hyperlink — Blue, underlined text that, when clicked, jumps to another Help topic or displays additional information below the underlined text (drop-down text).

• Expanding text — Italicized, colored text or an icon that, when clicked, displays additional information to the right of the text or icon. A note icon conveys need-to-know information. A tip icon conveys nice-to-know information such as shortcuts or behind-the-scenes processing.

• See Also button — A button within a topic that provides access to topics related to the Help topic you are currently viewing. To view a related topic, click the see also button, click a topic to highlight it, and then click the display button.

Content

• Tasks — Step-by-step instructions are provided for each task you can perform within the application. To access step-by-step instructions for a specific task:

   

  1. Access the page within the application for which to view step-by-step instructions.

   

  2. Within the application, click the help with this page link.

   

  The corresponding Help topic is displayed in the Help System window.

   

  3. Click the link under the Tasks heading for the task you want to view.

   

  The step-by-step instructions are displayed below the task link. To hide the step-by-step instructions, click the task link again.

• Glossary Terms — A list of Campaign Finance terms and their corresponding definitions is provided in the glossary. To access the glossary:

   

  1. Within the application, click the help with this page link.

   

  The corresponding Help topic is displayed in the Help System window.

   

  2. Click the show help menu link in the Content pane.

   

  The Toolbar and Navigation pane are displayed.

   

  3. In the Toolbar, click the glossary button.

   

  The Glossary Help topic is displayed in the Content pane.

   

  4. Click the desired term in the top section.

   

  The definition for the selected term is displayed in the bottom section.