Help Center Article

Help Center Article

When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:

• Write a customer-facing help center or knowledge base article
• Create step-by-step instructions with screenshot placeholders
• Build troubleshooting guides for common customer issues
• Reduce support ticket volume by enabling self-service

DO NOT use this skill for internal SOPs (use knowledge-base-builder), blog posts, or support response templates. This is for customer-facing self-service documentation.

Core Principle

A HELP CENTER ARTICLE SHOULD ANSWER THE CUSTOMER'S QUESTION WITHOUT THEM NEEDING TO CONTACT SUPPORT — IF THEY STILL NEED TO EMAIL YOU AFTER READING IT, THE ARTICLE FAILED.

Phase 1: Article Brief

Define what the article will cover and for whom.

Required Inputs

GATE: Confirm the article brief before writing.

Phase 2: Write Article

Create the article following help center best practices.

How-To Article Template

# How to [Task Name]

**Last updated:** [Date]
**Applies to:** [Plan level / product version / user role]
**Time required:** [X minutes]

## Overview

[1-2 sentences: what this article covers and the end result]

## Before You Start

- [Prerequisite 1 — what the customer needs before beginning]
- [Prerequisite 2]

## Steps

### Step 1: [Action]

[1-2 sentences of instruction]

[Screenshot: Description of what the customer should see]

### Step 2: [Action]

[1-2 sentences of instruction]

[Screenshot: Description of what the customer should see]

### Step 3: [Action]

[1-2 sentences of instruction]

**Result:** [What the customer should see when they complete this step]

## Troubleshooting

### [Common problem 1]

**Symptom:** [What the customer sees]
**Cause:** [Why it happens]
**Fix:** [Step-by-step solution]

### [Common problem 2]

**Symptom:** [What the customer sees]
**Fix:** [Solution]

## Related Articles

- [Article title and link]
- [Article title and link]

## Still Need Help?

If these steps did not resolve your issue, [contact support link] and include:
- [Info to include: screenshots, error messages, account details]

Troubleshooting Guide Template

# Troubleshooting: [Issue Name]

## Quick Fixes

Try these first (most issues resolve here):

1. [Quick fix 1 — e.g., "Clear your browser cache and refresh"]
2. [Quick fix 2 — e.g., "Log out and log back in"]
3. [Quick fix 3]

## Detailed Solutions

### If you see [Error/Symptom A]

**Cause:** [Explanation]
**Fix:**
1. [Step]
2. [Step]

### If you see [Error/Symptom B]

**Cause:** [Explanation]
**Fix:**
1. [Step]
2. [Step]

## Still Not Working?

Contact support at [link] with:
- What you were trying to do
- The exact error message (screenshot preferred)
- Your browser and device type

GATE: Present the article draft for review.

Phase 3: Optimize

Improve the article for findability and usability.

SEO and Search Optimization

• Title: Use the exact words customers would search for
• Meta description: Summarize the answer in 1 sentence
• Tags/categories: Add relevant tags for internal search

Readability Checklist

- [ ] Title matches what a customer would type into a search bar
- [ ] Steps are numbered and each step has ONE action
- [ ] Screenshots (or placeholders) show what the customer should see
- [ ] No jargon — if a technical term is necessary, define it
- [ ] Article is under 500 words (longer articles should be split)
- [ ] Troubleshooting section covers the top 2-3 issues
- [ ] "Still need help?" section includes clear contact path
- [ ] Related articles are linked for deeper exploration

Writing Rules

• Use "you" language: "Click the Settings button" not "The user should click Settings"
• One action per step — never combine two actions in one step
• Bold the clickable element: "Click Save Changes"
• Use present tense: "The page displays..." not "The page will display..."
• Include what success looks like: "You should see a green confirmation message"

Phase 4: Maintain

Keep articles accurate and relevant.

Maintenance Triggers

Update the article when:

• The product UI changes
• A new feature affects the workflow
• Support tickets reference this article with confusion
• Screenshots become outdated

Performance Metrics

| Metric | Target | Current |
|--------|--------|---------|
| Article views per month | Trending up | — |
| Support tickets on this topic | Trending down | — |
| Article helpfulness rating | 80%+ positive | — |
| Average time on article | 1-3 minutes | — |

Anti-Patterns

• Wall of text without steps — customers scan, they do not read paragraphs. Use numbered steps and headers.
• Assuming knowledge — "Navigate to the API settings" assumes the customer knows what an API is and where to find it.
• Outdated screenshots — nothing erodes trust faster than instructions that do not match what the customer sees.
• Burying the answer — put the most common solution first. Do not make customers read 500 words to find a 1-sentence fix.
• No escape hatch — every article needs a "Still need help? Contact us" at the bottom.

Recovery

• Customers still contact support about a documented topic: The article is hard to find, hard to understand, or missing a common scenario. Review and revise.
• User has no screenshots yet: Use description placeholders: [Screenshot: The Settings page with the "Billing" tab highlighted]. Add actual screenshots later.
• Article is too long: Split into multiple articles. A how-to and a troubleshooting guide are better as two articles than one mega-article.
• User does not know what to document first: Start with the top 5 support ticket topics. Each one becomes an article.
• Help center gets no traffic: Link to relevant articles in onboarding emails, support responses, and product UI.