Re: doc'ing the docs

[Gordon Meyer <gordonmeyer -at- mac -dot- com>]

I find these rationales for including "help on help" to be revealing:

  - It's a CYA
  - Reviewers/QA won't bother me if I include it
  - Tech Support won't complain if I include it
  - It's only 4 (!) pages

In my opinion, the negative impact of including it outweighs these 
benefits. It complicates the help system, it makes using the help seem 
harder, and most of the time it ignores the fact that in order for a 
user to find and read the content, they've already mastered the very 
steps being described. That's insulting at worst, silly at best. I 
think the impression it gives is that the author didn't even consider 
how the information would be used or accessed -- it was just thrown 
into the pile for self-serving reasons (see above).

But I'd love to be convinced otherwise. If you have a really good "help 
on help" section that you've written, would you be willing to share a 
copy with me? It will become part of an article I'm writing and will be 
used with full attribution, if you desire.

Best Regards,

    --Gordon


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