---
title: "“What’s Next?” – A Nice Way to End Help Topics"
date: 2008-06-28
description: "$( document ).ready(function() { // Handler for .ready() called. $('#toc').toc({ minimumHeaders: 3, listType: 'ul', showSpeed: 0, headers: '#content h2, #content h3, #content h4, #content h5, #content h6' }); /*..."
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---

> For AI agents: a documentation index is available at https://idratherbewriting.com/llms.txt. Markdown versions of all pages are available by appending .md to any page URL.

# “What’s Next?” – A Nice Way to End Help Topics

At the end of many topics in Flare's help, a *What's Next?*section appears. For example, in a topic on *[Creating a Table of Contents](http://madcapsoftware.com/support/webhelp/flare/Content/Steps/S2_Add_Stuff/TOCs/Creating_a_Table_of_Contents.htm)*, the *What's Next?*feature guesses what you'll want to do next -- enable the table of contents in your target. See the following image.

[![](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/whatsnextx2.png)](https://s3.us-west-1.wasabisys.com/idbwmedia.com/images/2008/06/whatsnextx.png)

Having used Flare's help for a while, I really like this *What's Next?* feature. For me, it works better than the *See Also* references, which are more common. (One time I asked a user why he never clicked the *See Also* link as he was looking for information. He said, "I've clicked it before in other help systems and it was never helpful, so I just assumed I'd have the same experience.")

Not every topic in Flare's help has a *What's Next?* section at the bottom, but I wish every topic did. I'm surprised I don't see this feature in more help systems. It seems like such a logical way to end a topic.

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 *What's Next?*section, you can recommend where they should go next.

If you add a *What's Next?*section at the bottom of each topic, it might also provide a better structure for your table of contents layout. In some cases, the *What's Next?* topic may help you see how the table of contents should be arranged.