Customizing Help

[Beth Agnew]

I have accommodated customers who wanted to integrate some best practice
procedures into web-based help. As long as they have someone who knows
proper HTML procedures (and remembers to back up originals) it's not a
problem.

The issues come up when you start thinking about potential customer support
liability. This is more of a concern for user-guide type documentation
rather than Help. Help is supposed to assist and clarify, not deliver new
information. On the documentation side, I don't want customers changing or
adding to what has been approved and what we've tested to work with our
software. If they want to add their info, they can write their own guide and
have their users read it along with ours. The liability potential occurs if
they add wrong information that causes user problems and generates support
calls. It then becomes a cost issue.

I would try to get them to send you a copy of whatever changes they make,
and perhaps cover the company in the end user licence agreement somehow
regarding customer-made changes to documentation. If they know it could void
their support agreement, they will be more careful. At least, they should
commit in writing that they know they are assuming full responsibility when
they make such changes.
--Beth

-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+beth.agnew=senecac.on.ca at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+beth.agnew=senecac.on.ca at lists.techwr-l.com]On
Behalf Of Suzette Leeming
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 7:41 AM

We deliver our help in a web-based format, with the help files
residing locally on the customers' server.

Using this type of help, how realistic is it to allow our customers to
go into the html files and customize the help and add their own
information to it? Has anyone ever done this?