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In order. The answer goes before the explanation, always.
| # | Section | Contains | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title | What the reader is trying to do, in their words not yours | Under 60 chars | |
| The answer | The fix, in one or two sentences, before any context | 1–2 sentences | |
| Who this applies to | Plan, role or version, where it matters | One line | |
| Steps | Numbered, one action each, with what the reader should see | 3–8 steps | |
| If that did not work | The two most common reasons it fails | 2–3 bullets | |
| Related | Links to the adjacent article, not to everything | 2–3 links |
Section 2 is the article. Everything after it is for the people section 2 did not satisfy.
What keeps articles usable as the set grows.
| Rule | Statement |
|---|---|
| Title in their words | "Export is failing", not "Troubleshooting the export subsystem". |
| One article, one task | If it needs two answers it is two articles. |
| Screenshots | Only where the interface is genuinely ambiguous. They go stale faster than text. |
| Review | Every article carries an owner and a last-checked date. |
| Deflection | If an article is opened often and tickets on that topic do not fall, the article is wrong. |
The measure of a help centre is tickets that did not happen, not articles published.