Review, Measure, and Maintain

Publishing is the start, not the end. Documentation is a product: it needs reviews, feedback, and regular maintenance to stay correct.

The documentation cycle

Click each stage for details.

1. ✍️ Draft

Write for one reader and one goal. Use templates for each topic type.

2. 🔍 Review

Technical review by an expert for accuracy; editorial review for clarity and style.

3. 🚀 Publish

Release together with the product change, not weeks later.

4. 📈 Measure

Views, searches with no results, ratings, and support tickets per topic.

5. 🔁 Improve

Fix the biggest problem first, then go back to Draft.

Run effective reviews

Ask specific questions: "Are steps 3–5 correct for version 2.4?" gets better answers than "Please review."
Separate technical and editorial review so experts focus on accuracy.
Use a workflow with statuses (Draft → In review → Ready) and an owner for each topic.
Comment in the content, not in email threads, so feedback stays with the topic.

Signals worth tracking

Signal	What it tells you
Searches with no results	Missing topics or wrong terminology
Low "Was this helpful?" ratings	Topics that need rewriting
Most viewed topics	Where accuracy matters most — review them first
Support tickets on a feature	Documentation that isn't answering the question

Maintenance checklist

Every topic has an owner. Docs are updated as part of every release. I review no-result searches every month. Outdated topics are updated or archived, not left to rot.

🎉 You've reached the end. Test yourself in the best practices quiz or go back to the start page.