Create a User Guide

Instructions can be related, for example several Instructions each containing and focusing on a part of an entire process. By creating a User Guide, related Instructions can be structured and organized and context information can be added. The User Guide empowers users to easily work with related Instructions and see the overall process detailed in the Instructions . For editors, the User Guide gives the option to use a top-down approach in creating Instructions by first creating structure before capturing the actual details. The overall steps to create a User guide are described below.

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Create a new User Guide

To be able to create and editor a User Guide, a user needs to have the Editor role within SelfGuide. To create a new User Guide, navigate to the User Guide library and press New User Guide. In the modal, add a title and optional a description and press Create, the new User Guide will be opened automatically.

Add chapters

The first step in adding content to the User Guide is determining the chapter structure. Example chapter structures are by functionality, by role, by department, by process, etc. Keep in mind the User Guide scope and target audience to create a structure understandable for the user. Also adhere any organizational guide lines to keep User Guide structures uniform, this makes it easier for a user to understand a User Guide.

To create the first chapter, switch to edit mode by pressing the Edit button in the top right corner. Within the edit mode, the chapter can be created using the button New Chapter. The new chapter is opened automatically so it's easy to add a title to the chapter. This process can be repeated as often as needed to create the necessary chapters on the highest level.

To add subchapters, two options are available:

• Create a new subchapter for an existing chapter by opening the chapter context menu and choose Add subchapter
• Drag & drop an existing chapter below another chapter

When the structure seems not to be as it supposed to be, for example the order of chapters or the hierarchy, the drag & drop function can be used also to change the chapter structure and keeping the chapter content.

Add chapter details

New created chapters are empty expect from the default title, start adding content to the chapter like:

• Introduction: a textual introduction to give users context information like an explanation about the chapter content, organizational guidelines and agreements, etc.
• Image: an image about an application, a process, etc.
• Instructions: Instructions containing the details about the steps which do belong to the chapter. The Instructions in a chapter have a fixed order, using drag & drop functionality, the order can be changed after adding the Instructions to the chapter.

Add preface

The last step in creating a new User Guide is adding a preface, a textual introduction for the User Guide. The start of the preface is used on the User Guide tile in the library, the entire preface should make the user aware of the goal and contents of the User Guide before diving in to the details.

To add a preface click on Preface in the chapter navigation pane and start typing in the detail pane.