Writing an Application Manual

Notes

Manuals will be included as sub-pages of the main application page. For brevity, I will refer to that main page as Appname. The structure, therefore would be something like:

• Appname
  • Appname/Hints and Tips
• Appname/Manual # Your Contents page
  • Appname/Manual/An Introduction to Appname
  • Appname/Manual/Configuration Choices
  • Appname/Manual/The First Time you use Appname
  • Appname/Manual/section 1
  • Appname/Manual/section xxx
  • Appname/Manual/Hints and Tips
  • Appname/Manual/Troubleshooting
  • Appname/Manual/Found a bug?
  • Appname/Manual/Get involved #link to techbase etc

You will need a scratchpad to experiment with section headings/pages. You can use either your UserTalk page, or the discussion pages attached to the area where you are working. It's helpful if you remove anything no longer required, once the job is completed.

Contents

• Once you have made the decisions (that can be a lengthy procedure), create appropriate links on the Contents page. It is, of course, possible to insert a section later if you find you've missed something.

Building your Manual

• Use the red links to create the page, and write up a section at a time.
• Note on the Discussion page anything you will need to refer to later, such as links that can't yet be created.

Preparing the Manual for Translation

• The steps for markup editing can be found on Preparing a Page for Translation. Please adhere to that guide, since old markup styles may not still be relevant.