The ? on interface

[Emery0]

I just downloaded the home edition of avast.

I needed XP64 antivirus and this is only one out there and I'm glad I found 1 that works with XP64. 

I do have a question about the ? on the interface when I left mouse click it does not bring up the help menu.

When I right click ? or any area that is silvery (not grey areas) it does bring up a directory with help listed. Can also access help from the start directory files.

Left clciking the - minimizes the interface, left clciking the X closes interface but left clicking the ? does nothing.

[DavidR]

If you hover over the ? it/the tooltip states 'Show help for selected item,' if you left click on the ? your mouse pointer changes to one with a ? next to it, click on a control part of the interface and you get a description of the control. I have to admit that I though that it should bring up the help file and according to the tooltip/s that is what it should do.

Left click on the ? and once the pointer changes, left click the ? again and the tooltip states, 'Displays avast! Program Help.' So I would say there is something wrong with the interface because that doesn't make sense as it is impossible to get what the tooltip states clicking on the ?.

However once the Simple User Interface is open the F1 key (default help key for many programs) brings up the help file.

[igor]

Well, the "help" means the tooltip related to the clicked control. So I'd say everything is as it's meant to be - (left)click the question mark, then (left)click a control and you'll get a tip for this control.
I'm not saying all the controls in the program have an associated help (tip), but at least the basic ones do.

[DavidR]

It may well be doing as planned, however, if as I said having left clicked on the ? when you subsequently question what is the purpose of the ? icon you are presented with 'Displays avast! Program Help,' which is clearly wrong as it doesn't do that.

[igor]

Just a different point of view I think. I would call displaying the tip for the clicked item "help". OK, maybe it would be better if the text were "Displayes avast! Program help for selected item", but I don't think it's such a big difference.

[DavidR]

No big difference but it could avoid possibly confusion, certainly that felt by Emery0 the originator of the thread and even though I've been using avast for 2 years almost, I thought it would bring up the avast help file.

I think that at some time it used to display the help file. I can remember a Skin Thread where I suggested making the ? bigger to make it more obvious/prominent and this was so users would find the avast 'help' file ?