How much to tell users about our wonderful software?

[Carrie Baker <carriebak -at- gmail -dot- com>]

We want to rewrite/upgrade/redo a messy user user guide.
It is an Installation and Configuration guide for a system.
There is currently a chapter there called "The Desktop" which
describes........the desktop.
The main screen is divided into a number of panes later referred to in
the documentation.
It has a section with a list of all the menus available  (and what you
do with them in short)

There is also a specific icon which changes color, when each color
means something else and it is important for the user to know.

My questions are as follows:
1. Should you have a marked up picture of "this is what you can see
and what you do with it?"  (there is some quite useful info here)
2. Do you need to tell people, these are the menus we have here and
what you do with them.  (and also these are all the icons and what
they do)
3. Should there be a section explaining the colors of this special 
icon (this is the only one of the above that does not already exist.

-- 
Carrie Baker
carriebak -at- gmail -dot- com

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