Userform help text

I have a textbox on a userform where I would like to have some help available
to the user via F1 or something much like Help on a textfield of a doc or
template.
There is some info on the property of HelpContextID but, I have not used
this before and search does not provide much help either. I could use a label
but, would be rather lengthy.

Any help on doing this appreciated.

Thanks,
Bryan

gordon(dot)bentleymix(at)gmail(dot)com>
Mon Aug 11 14:31:06 PDT 2008

Bryan,

You can do this but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. My understanding of
the process - gleaned from experience with writing help for commercial
software - is as follows:

First, you would need to build a help file of some sort - usually compiled
HTML help - and specify context IDs for each help topic within the help
project. Then you would need to link the help file to your VBA project in the
project properties. Finally, you set the HelpContextID property of the
control to the appropriate context ID in the help project.

Altho there are free tools available to assist you with creating a help
project - MSFT provides a set of HTML tools and you can create the pages in
Word, FrontPage or even NotePad - this seems like a lot of work for just one
TextBox on a single UserForm. I'd go with the Label. Alternatively or
additionally, you can set the ControlTipText property for the TextBox so a
tooltip is displayed when hovering over the control.
--
Cheers!
Gordon

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.


"bryan" wrote:

> I have a textbox on a userform where I would like to have some help available
> to the user via F1 or something much like Help on a textfield of a doc or
> template.
> There is some info on the property of HelpContextID but, I have not used
> this before and search does not provide much help either. I could use a label
> but, would be rather lengthy.
>
> Any help on doing this appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
> Bryan
>

lf
Mon Aug 11 15:04:01 PDT 2008

â?¦and another possibility if you need room for a little more help text: You
could insert a CommandButton in the UserForm with the label â??Helpâ?¦â?? or â??More
Infoâ?¦â?? or whatever you prefer. You can then make the button display a MsgBox
including the needed information (use the Click event of the button). I have
sometimes used this method and I think it works fine. It is easy to make,
easy for the user to find and it is not in the way for users who donâ??t need
the information.

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg - Microsoft MVP (Word)
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word


"Gordon Bentley-Mix" wrote:

> Bryan,
>
> You can do this but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. My understanding of
> the process - gleaned from experience with writing help for commercial
> software - is as follows:
>
> First, you would need to build a help file of some sort - usually compiled
> HTML help - and specify context IDs for each help topic within the help
> project. Then you would need to link the help file to your VBA project in the
> project properties. Finally, you set the HelpContextID property of the
> control to the appropriate context ID in the help project.
>
> Altho there are free tools available to assist you with creating a help
> project - MSFT provides a set of HTML tools and you can create the pages in
> Word, FrontPage or even NotePad - this seems like a lot of work for just one
> TextBox on a single UserForm. I'd go with the Label. Alternatively or
> additionally, you can set the ControlTipText property for the TextBox so a
> tooltip is displayed when hovering over the control.
> --
> Cheers!
> Gordon
>
> Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
> follow-ups to the newsgroup.
>
>
> "bryan" wrote:
>
> > I have a textbox on a userform where I would like to have some help available
> > to the user via F1 or something much like Help on a textfield of a doc or
> > template.
> > There is some info on the property of HelpContextID but, I have not used
> > this before and search does not provide much help either. I could use a label
> > but, would be rather lengthy.
> >
> > Any help on doing this appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Bryan
> >

gordon(dot)bentleymix(at)gmail(dot)com>
Mon Aug 11 16:56:08 PDT 2008

Yup. Another good option - one that I've considered in the past but never
used (and, unfortunately, forgotten about until now).
--
Cheers!
Gordon

Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
follow-ups to the newsgroup.


"Lene Fredborg" wrote:

> â?¦and another possibility if you need room for a little more help text: You
> could insert a CommandButton in the UserForm with the label â??Helpâ?¦â?? or â??More
> Infoâ?¦â?? or whatever you prefer. You can then make the button display a MsgBox
> including the needed information (use the Click event of the button). I have
> sometimes used this method and I think it works fine. It is easy to make,
> easy for the user to find and it is not in the way for users who donâ??t need
> the information.
>
> --
> Regards
> Lene Fredborg - Microsoft MVP (Word)
> DocTools - Denmark
> www.thedoctools.com
> Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word
>
>
> "Gordon Bentley-Mix" wrote:
>
> > Bryan,
> >
> > You can do this but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. My understanding of
> > the process - gleaned from experience with writing help for commercial
> > software - is as follows:
> >
> > First, you would need to build a help file of some sort - usually compiled
> > HTML help - and specify context IDs for each help topic within the help
> > project. Then you would need to link the help file to your VBA project in the
> > project properties. Finally, you set the HelpContextID property of the
> > control to the appropriate context ID in the help project.
> >
> > Altho there are free tools available to assist you with creating a help
> > project - MSFT provides a set of HTML tools and you can create the pages in
> > Word, FrontPage or even NotePad - this seems like a lot of work for just one
> > TextBox on a single UserForm. I'd go with the Label. Alternatively or
> > additionally, you can set the ControlTipText property for the TextBox so a
> > tooltip is displayed when hovering over the control.
> > --
> > Cheers!
> > Gordon
> >
> > Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post all
> > follow-ups to the newsgroup.
> >
> >
> > "bryan" wrote:
> >
> > > I have a textbox on a userform where I would like to have some help available
> > > to the user via F1 or something much like Help on a textfield of a doc or
> > > template.
> > > There is some info on the property of HelpContextID but, I have not used
> > > this before and search does not provide much help either. I could use a label
> > > but, would be rather lengthy.
> > >
> > > Any help on doing this appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > Bryan
> > >

Doug
Mon Aug 11 21:52:55 PDT 2008

If you want context sensitive help, the double click event of a textbox
control can be used without really getting in the way of the user who does
not need it. Just have it display a message box with the required help.

--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP

"Gordon Bentley-Mix" <gordon(dot)bentleymix(at)gmail(dot)com> wrote in
message news:0C24F45C-618C-487E-BE97-CCE499BCF16E@microsoft.com...
> Yup. Another good option - one that I've considered in the past but never
> used (and, unfortunately, forgotten about until now).
> --
> Cheers!
> Gordon
>
> Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post
> all
> follow-ups to the newsgroup.
>
>
> "Lene Fredborg" wrote:
>
>> .and another possibility if you need room for a little more help text:
>> You
>> could insert a CommandButton in the UserForm with the label "Help." or
>> "More
>> Info." or whatever you prefer. You can then make the button display a
>> MsgBox
>> including the needed information (use the Click event of the button). I
>> have
>> sometimes used this method and I think it works fine. It is easy to make,
>> easy for the user to find and it is not in the way for users who don't
>> need
>> the information.
>>
>> --
>> Regards
>> Lene Fredborg - Microsoft MVP (Word)
>> DocTools - Denmark
>> www.thedoctools.com
>> Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word
>>
>>
>> "Gordon Bentley-Mix" wrote:
>>
>> > Bryan,
>> >
>> > You can do this but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. My
>> > understanding of
>> > the process - gleaned from experience with writing help for commercial
>> > software - is as follows:
>> >
>> > First, you would need to build a help file of some sort - usually
>> > compiled
>> > HTML help - and specify context IDs for each help topic within the help
>> > project. Then you would need to link the help file to your VBA project
>> > in the
>> > project properties. Finally, you set the HelpContextID property of the
>> > control to the appropriate context ID in the help project.
>> >
>> > Altho there are free tools available to assist you with creating a help
>> > project - MSFT provides a set of HTML tools and you can create the
>> > pages in
>> > Word, FrontPage or even NotePad - this seems like a lot of work for
>> > just one
>> > TextBox on a single UserForm. I'd go with the Label. Alternatively or
>> > additionally, you can set the ControlTipText property for the TextBox
>> > so a
>> > tooltip is displayed when hovering over the control.
>> > --
>> > Cheers!
>> > Gordon
>> >
>> > Uninvited email contact will be marked as SPAM and ignored. Please post
>> > all
>> > follow-ups to the newsgroup.
>> >
>> >
>> > "bryan" wrote:
>> >
>> > > I have a textbox on a userform where I would like to have some help
>> > > available
>> > > to the user via F1 or something much like Help on a textfield of a
>> > > doc or
>> > > template.
>> > > There is some info on the property of HelpContextID but, I have not
>> > > used
>> > > this before and search does not provide much help either. I could use
>> > > a label
>> > > but, would be rather lengthy.
>> > >
>> > > Any help on doing this appreciated.
>> > >
>> > > Thanks,
>> > > Bryan
>> > >