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	<title>I&#039;d Rather Be Writing &#187; what&#8217;s next</title>
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		<title>&#8220;What&#8217;s Next?&#8221; &#8212; A Nice Way to End Help Topics</title>
		<link>http://idratherbewriting.com/2008/06/28/whats-next-a-nice-way-to-end-help-topics/</link>
		<comments>http://idratherbewriting.com/2008/06/28/whats-next-a-nice-way-to-end-help-topics/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 29 Jun 2008 05:42:10 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Tom Johnson</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[blog]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[crafting helip]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flare]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Technical Writing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[what's next]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://www.idratherbewriting.com/?p=1640</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At the end of many topics in Flare&#8217;s help, a What&#8217;s Next? section appears. For example, in a topic on Creating a Table of Contents, the What&#8217;s Next? feature guesses what you&#8217;ll want to do next &#8212; enable the table of contents in your target. See the following image. Having used Flare&#8217;s help for a while, I really like this What&#8217;s Next? feature. For me, ... <a href="http://idratherbewriting.com/2008/06/28/whats-next-a-nice-way-to-end-help-topics/">more &#187;</a>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At the end of many topics in Flare&#8217;s help, a <em>What&#8217;s Next? </em>section appears. For example, in a topic on <em><a href="http://madcapsoftware.com/support/webhelp/flare/Content/Steps/S2_Add_Stuff/TOCs/Creating_a_Table_of_Contents.htm">Creating a Table of Contents</a></em>, the <em>What&#8217;s Next? </em>feature guesses what you&#8217;ll want to do next &#8212; enable the table of contents in your target. See the following image.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.idratherbewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/whatsnextx.png"><img class="alignnone size-full wp-image-1642" title="What\'s Next?" src="http://www.idratherbewriting.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/whatsnextx.png" alt="" width="499" height="232" /></a></p>
<p><span id="more-1640"></span>Having used Flare&#8217;s help for a while, I really like this <em>What&#8217;s Next?</em> feature. For me, it works better than the <em>See Also</em> references, which are more common. (One time I asked a user why he never clicked the <em>See Also</em> link as he was looking for information. He said, &#8220;I&#8217;ve clicked it before in other help systems and it was never helpful, so I just assumed I&#8217;d have the same experience.&#8221;)</p>
<p>Not every topic in Flare&#8217;s help has a <em>What&#8217;s Next?</em> section at the bottom, but I wish every topic did. I&#8217;m surprised I don&#8217;t see this feature in more help systems. It seems like such a logical way to end a topic.</p>
<p>In some ways, it helps provide transitional glue from one topic to the next. People can land anywhere in your help system, but through the <em>What&#8217;s Next? </em>section, you can recommend where they should go next.</p>
<p>If you add a <em>What&#8217;s Next? </em>section at the bottom of each topic, it might also provide a better structure for your table of contents layout. In some cases, the <em>What&#8217;s Next?</em> topic may help you see how the table of contents should be arranged.</p>
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