At the core of the GNOME help system is the GNOME Help Browser. The Help Browser provides a unified interface to several distinct documentation systems on Linux/Unix systems: man pages, texinfo pages, Linux Documentation Project(LDP) documents, GNOME application documentation, and other GNOME documents.
The GNOME Help Browser works by searching standard directories for documents which are to be presented. Thus, the documentation that appears in the GHB is specific to each computer and will typically only represent software that is installed on the computer.
In GNOME 2.0, the GNOME Help Browser will be replaced by Nautilus. Nautilus will be the file manager/graphical shell for GNOME 2.0 and will also implement a more sophisticated help system than that used by the GNOME Help Browser used in GNOME 1.0. It will read and display DocBook files directly, avoiding the need for duplicating documents in both DocBook and HTML formats. Its display engine for DocBook will be much faster than running jade to convert to HTML for rendering. Because it uses the original DocBook source for documentation, it will be possible to do more sophisticated searching using the meta information included in the documents. And since Nautilus is a virtual file system layer which is Internet-capable, it will be able to find and display documents which are on the web as well as those on the local file system. For more information on Nautilus, visit the #nautilus IRC channel on irc.gnome.org.
GNOME uses the documentation presented by all the various GNOME components and applications installed on the system to present a complete and customized documentation environment describing only components which are currently installed on a users system. Some of this documentation, such as the manuals for applets, will be combined in such a way that it appears to be a single document.
By using such a system, you can be sure that any GNOME app you install that has documentation will show up in the index, table of contents, any search you do in the help browser.
Every GNOME application should have an application manual. An application manual is a document specific to the particular application which explains the various windows and features of the application. Application Manuals typically use screenshots (PNG format) for clarity. Writing application manuals is discussed in more detail in the section called “Writing Application and Applet Manuals” below.
Applications should have a Help button on screens on which users may need help. These Help buttons should pull up the default help browser, determined by the ghelp URL Handler (configured using the Control Center), typically the GNOME Help Browser. The help browser should show either the first page of the application manual, or else the relevant page thereof. Application help is described in more detail in the section called “Application Help Buttons” below.
Context sensitive help is a system which will allow the user to query any part (button, widget, etc.) of an application window. This is done by either entering a CS Help mode by clicking on an icon or by right clicking on the application part and selecting "What's This" or whatever is decided on at the time. Context sensitive help is described in more detail in the section called “Writing Context Sensitive Help (coming in GNOME-2.0)” below.
The GNOME User Guide describes the GNOME desktop environment and core components of GNOME such as the panel and control center. In GNOME 1.x this was the main and only source of documentation. In GNOME 2.0 this will become a document for the web and for printing that is derived from various parts chosen in the system that are necessary for the new user to understand.
Aside from the GNOME User Guide, there are several other documents to help GNOME users learn GNOME, including the GNOME FAQ, GNOME Installation and Configuration Guide, and the GNOME Administrators Guide.
There are many White Papers, Tutorials, HOWTO's and FAQ's to make programming GNOME and GNOME applications as easy as possible.
API documentation is also available for the GNOME libraries. This is detailed documentation of the code that is used to build GNOME apps. You can keep up with the GNOME API docs on the GNOME API Reference page.