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Welcome to ButtonTalk(tm) by Stephen Linhart (c)2000 ButtonTalk is a tool for making interactive stories. The goal is to let writers create interactive text as simply as possible. You bring the idea and the writing skills. My job is to stay out of your way, while giving you the tools you need. With ButtonTalk, you can build high quality finished programs and World Wide Web pages based on interactive text. You don't need programmers, musicians or visual artists. It's all about words. | Getting Started |
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Why Interactive Text? I originally thought of ButtonTalk in terms of interactive fiction. Traditional narrative is very linear, words-in-a-row, plot-line, and so on. But what are the possibilities of interactive fiction? What does plot mean in the presence of reader choice? What possibilities are raised by the first person nature of interactive drama? ButtonTalk is intended as a tool to explore these questions. But I won't mind if you use it for other things. | Interactive Fiction |
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Interactive Fiction The idea of interactive fiction gets tangled in several interesting questions. What happens to drama when it's put into a first person setting? When the reader is the protagonist, do they really want to be on the receiving end of conflict? Is a plot still a plot if the reader controls the outcome? Of course, many works of interactive fiction exist. But they generally avoid these issues by basing their appeal on video, graphics, sound, puzzles... everything but the words themselves. This a tool for people who want to emphasize the words. | Why Interactive Text? |
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Getting Started When you enter ButtonTalk, you're faced with a blank page. Each page has a main body of text and six buttons. The buttons send your reader to new pages. You can select the main text area or any of the buttons and edit that text. You set the page that a button leads to by pressing the mouse on the Link box next to that button. The Control key lets you alternate between editing and using your document the way a reader would. | Installing ButtonTalk |
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Installing ButtonTalk You can put the ButtonTalk(tm) application anywhere on your hard disk. 'ButtonTalk(tm) Companion' has to be in the same folder or you won't be able to build finished programs. That's it. You're ready to go. | Getting Started |
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Using ButtonTalk ButtonTalk lets you write text with buttons... fiction, documentation, poetry, anything you want. I'm making blank pages and blank buttons for you to write on. Whatever you're writing, I want to know about your experience using ButtonTalk. Please contact me at: stephen@stephen.com - tell me what you think. Or visit my web page at: www.stephen.com | Installing ButtonTalk |
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Instructions The three things you'll probably do the most with ButtonTalk are writing, creating links, and testing or reading your creation. Most of the specific commands are explained in the section about the menus. One shortcut deserves an extra mention. While you hold down the Control key you toggle between Editing and Testing. In Test mode you see (and use) your work the way your readers will. | Editing Text & Links |
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Building Programs The Build Program command is what you use to make finished programs with ButtonTalk. Build Program takes your document and turns it into a simple application that you can distribute - so long as you don't charge money for it. To used the Build command, you must have 'ButtonTalk(tm) Companion' in a folder with 'ButtonTalk(tm) 1.4.1'. Building a program may appear suspicious to anti-virus software. If this causes a problem, I suggest you switch to the Disinfectant which is simple, free and effective. | The Splash Screen Trick |
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Text & Links Each page has seven text fields: the main text area and six buttons. You write the text in all seven fields and you set the links between pages. You can type, select text with the mouse, double click to select a word, move with the cursor arrows, and use the commands in the edit menu. Tab moves you from field to field. Each button field has a link menu. Press on the link icon and select a page from the menu to set the link for that button. If you hold down the Option key while setting a link, you'll jump to the linked page. | Instructions |
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Navigating Pages in ButtonTalk are organized in three ways. The most important way is the links between pages. Your readers will use the web of links to move from page to page. The organization of the pages in the Go menu is a separate hierarchical structure. This chapter-and-section type of organization isn't visible to your readers. The Back-Link menu is a third way to navigate, and is also hidden from your readers. | Editing Text & Links |
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Navigation Options Next Page and Previous Page move between pages in the order they appear in the Go menu. Go Back sends you to the page you were most recently on. Find Partial Link finds the next button with text and no link, or with a link and no text. You can use this option repeatedly to find all the partial links in your document. | The Option Menu |
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Page Creation There are four ways to create new pages in ButtonTalk. Creating a page from the Option menu or the Go menu simply makes the new page. Creating a page from a link button also sets a link to that page. Creating a page with the Duplicate command duplicates the page you're on. Page creation and Rename Page use the page creation dialog. This dialog lets you name the page and place it in the hierarchical Go menu. When you select a page in the pop-up in this dialog, your new page is placed in a sub-menu under the page you selected. | Menus & Shortcuts |
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Reading & Writing Text The Write Text command creates a text document with each item of your ButtonTalk document separated by a line with a '###'. ButtonTalk pages are separated by lines with '######'. Use your favorite word processor to edit the text. But don't touch the separator lines with '###'. Then save as a plain text document and use the Read Text command to read it back into your ButtonTalk document. Load your ButtonTalk document BEFORE reading the text that goes with it. The numbers on the '###' lines show which buttons link to which pages. | Menus & Shortcuts |
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Menus & Shortcuts Most of the commands in ButtonTalk are shown in the menus. But there are three other important shortcuts. * Hold down the Control key to toggle test mode. This is a quick way to view and use your document the way your readers will. * Hold down the Option key while setting a link to follow the link you are creating. * Select the divider bar in a link menu to remove the link. Information about ButtonTalk, and a quick reference are available in the Apple menu. | File |
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The Back-Link Menu When you set a link from one page to another, you are also creating a back-link. If you link a button on Page One to Page Two, Page One appears in Page Two's back-link menu. The back-link menu is useful when you want to know what pages have links to a particular page. It's also a quick way to go to those pages. The back-link menu is useful when you want to delete a page because it let's you move easily to all the pages with links that will need to be reset. | File |
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The Edit Menu The Edit menu let's you Cut, Copy, Paste and Clear text. These functions all work the standard way that you're used to. The Select All command selects all the text in the current text field. The Select Font function creates a Font menu which you can use to set a font for your entire document. This lets you write in languages not supported by the built-in font. If your reader doesn't have the selected font, the System Font will be used instead. | File |
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The File Menu Most of the commands in the File menu work the way they do in almost every Mac application. New, Open, Save and Save As all apply to ButtonTalk documents. Quit is what you expect. Open and Save also work with programs that you build with ButtonTalk. Read Text, Write Text, Build Program, and Write HTML are unique features of ButtonTalk that require some explanation. | Menus & Shortcuts |
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The Go Menu The Go menu is the main list of all your pages. You can use it to go to any page, or just to look at the hierarchical list of your pages. When you create a new page, you can put it directly in the Go menu or you can create a sub-menu under an existing page. Pages in sub-menus can also have sub-menus, and so on. You can have four levels of sub-menus under the Go menu. The page you are on is shown in outline style. All the pages directly above it in the hierarchy are underlined. | File |
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The Option Menu Test Mode can be checked and unchecked. Test Mode lets you use your document the way a reader would. Holding down the Control key reverses this setting. In test mode, the title bar shows the name of your document. In edit mode, it shows page and link names. New Page, Rename Page and Duplicate Page are explained in the section on page creation. Delete Page deletes the page you're on. The other Option menu functions are divided into Tree Options and Navigation Options. | Menus & Shortcuts |
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The Splash Screen Trick At the request of some ResEdit savvy users I've provide a trick for adding splash screens to programs built in ButtonTalk. If you don't use ResEdit, please ignore this page and return to Building Programs. If you create a PICT resource of ID 132 in a program created with ButtonTalk, it will use it's About box as a splash screen. You can edit the About box so long as you don't remove my copyright information. Be sure to increase the Preferred and Minimum memory in the 'size' resource to accommodate the PICT and any other resources you add. | Building Programs |
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Tree Options Tree Copy and Tree Delete work the same as Duplicate Page and Delete Page except that they work on a whole page tree instead of a single page. The trees are based on the hierarchy in the Go menu. This lets you copy, delete or move many pages at once, which can be very convenient if you're working on a large file. To move a tree, copy it and then delete the old one. | The Option Menu |
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Using The Programs You Build The programs you build with ButtonTalk are very easy to use. Almost everything is done by clicking on buttons and a few simple menu options. The Bookmark menu gives your readers a way to save their place. You can also use it to provide a table of contents. When you build a program you can protect it with a password. This stops your readers from opening your program and editing it with ButtonTalk. YOU can't edit your program if you lose the password. | Menus & Shortcuts |
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Writing HTML ButtonTalk can write HTML files for the Web. When you write an HTML file (or several linked files form a single document) you can put your work on the Web to be read by people all over the world. Or you can distribute these files on disk to be read by anyone with a Web browser. If you know HTML yourself, you can customize the files ButtonTalk creates. But you don't need to know HTML to use them. If you do put something created with ButtonTalk on the Web, let me know so I can put a link to your creation from The ButtonTalk Page. | Menus & Shortcuts |
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The Fine Print In exchange for use, I ask that you copy and give away the 'ButtonTalk142.sit' archive. Please give out the complete archive, not just the program file. You may not modify ButtonTalk or any of the files that come with it, and you may not charge money for them, except for shipping, handling and the cost of media. Also, don't remove my credit line from HTML files, or remove the link back to the ButtonTalk web page. ButtonTalk(tm) is protected under international copyright law, and all other rights are reserved. | Online Services, BBSs and CD-ROMS |
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Contacting The Author Please contact me with ideas, feedback and questions. If you create something with ButtonTalk and put it on the Web, please let me know. I'm always looking for new things to link to from the ButtonTalk page. Send email to: stephen@stephen.com Or visit: www.stephen.com |
Online Services, BBSs and CD-ROMS
Distributing Interactive Documents You Make With ButtonTalk |
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Distributing Interactive Documents When you create a document with ButtonTalk, what you write is, of course, your own. When you build a program using the Build command in the File menu, the program that lets readers view your document interactively is mine. When you write an HTML, portions of the file are protected by my copyright. You can use the programs and HTML you make with ButtonTalk for free, as long as you don't modify my program. | Online Services, BBSs and CD-ROMS |
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Online Services, BBSs and CD-ROMs Online services and BBSs can distribute ButtonTalk while charging their normal usage fees if they abide by the other terms for personal use. For profit CD-ROM collections must ask me first, and must send me a copy of any collection that includes ButtonTalk. | Contacting The Author |
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