Draft a help center from your code
Docmunk reads your app’s code, proposes a list of articles, and drafts each one. You check its work at three points: what it read, how the articles read, and which ones to write. You can turn off Open to readers while you publish; readers see “Not open yet”.
Before you start
- You’re an owner or admin.
- Your code is linked. See Link your code.
- If your team already writes in a set voice, agree on it first. The approach you pick here shapes every article after this one.
1. Check what Docmunk read
On Setup, under “Where are your articles now?”, choose Nowhere yet, then select Read the code (or Continue, if Docmunk read it before). Docmunk reads the screens, words, and rules in your code, then shows what it found on Product:
- Apps: the apps it found in your repository, such as a web app.
- What it is: a paragraph about your product. Every draft starts from it.
- Who reads it: the kinds of people who use your app, such as admins and members.
- Areas: the parts of your app and their screens. Articles are planned area by area.
- Left out: code to skip, such as a test app or a screen customers never see.
- Note for the read: what the read got wrong, in your words.
- Limits the code enforces: who can do what, and plan limits. A draft says one where it applies.
Correct anything wrong, then select Next.
2. Choose how the articles read
The approach is how every article is written, now and later. Docmunk suggests one from your app’s size and how often its words change, and marks it “Suggested”.
Shape is how the help center is organized:
- Walk the loop: your app’s main loop in order, then settings, team, and billing.
- Start + task library: a short get-started article, then a how-to for each task.
Voice is how the sentences sound. A sample shows each one.
- Plain and friendly: short sentences, “you”, no jargon.
- Short and exact: Simplified Technical English, with short sentences and one meaning for each word.
- Like your app: your app’s own words and tone.
- Your own: enter a site’s address under Match a site to copy its voice, or describe the voice under How it sounds.
Pictures is how many screenshots the drafts ask for:
- Words first: a picture only where it saves words.
- One per article: the main screen of each task.
- Most steps: a picture beside most steps.
Detail is how much context the drafts include:
- Steps and guidance: what happens, what to have, and each choice explained.
- Steps only: the steps and the facts to follow them.
Select Make the outline. You can change the approach later in Product › Writing › Approach.
3. Choose which articles to write
Outline lists the articles Docmunk proposes: Now for what most people need first, Later for the rest. Clear the box beside an article to leave it out. Answer any questions Docmunk has about your app; the answers go into the drafts. To change the list, say how under What should change? and select Make it again.
Select the Draft button for the articles under Now, or Draft all for every article.
4. Review the drafts
Each draft waits in Changes, under To review. Open it, answer or skip any question the Writer left in the note at its top, then choose Publish now or Publish later. For release-group articles, select Commit changes instead. Answers are added to the article, and review fixes appear directly in its text.
Choosing an approach
Start with the suggested approach. Change it when:
- Your app has many areas and people use it for many jobs: choose Start + task library. Docmunk suggests it past about 40 screens or 12 areas.
- Your app’s words change often: choose Words first, so fewer pictures go stale.
- Your readers translate articles or read English as a second language: choose Short and exact.
- You already have a help site with a voice people know: choose Your own and enter that site under Match a site.
Next: Review proposed edits