How do I create training documentation for software?
Good training documentation is a set of short guides, one for each task a new user must learn. The method below works for any web software.
- Pick the task. One task, one outcome, for example "Submit an expense claim".
- Record it once. Do the task on a test account while the recorder captures every click.
- Clean the steps. Rewrite vague steps, delete accidental clicks, merge tiny ones.
- Add tips and warnings. Mark what cannot be undone and what people usually get wrong.
- Cover private data. Remove names, e-mails, amounts and IDs from the images.
- Publish. Send a link, a PDF or a Word file.
- Keep it current. Give the guide an owner and a review date.
Which tasks should I document first?
Start with the tasks that cost the most questions. Ask the last three people who joined what they had to ask about in their first month. Access setup, the first monthly report and the form everyone fills in on day two are usually on the list.
Leave out tasks that happen once a year and tasks that change every week. A short list of ten guides that people use beats a hundred that nobody opens. For a larger plan, read the process documentation guide.
What does one finished guide look like?
Example: "Submit an expense claim" in a finance web app, recorded on a test account with a made-up receipt.
| Recorded | After cleaning |
|---|---|
| Click New | Click New claim in the top right |
| Click Amount, type 48.50 | Type the amount from the receipt in Amount |
| Click Upload | Click Upload and choose the photo of the receipt |
| Click Send | Click Send. Warning: a sent claim cannot be edited |
The last step shows why warnings matter. The warning block sits right at the step it belongs to, so nobody scrolls to the end of the page to find it.
How do I keep private data out of the screenshots?
First, use a test account and made-up records. Second, cover what remains. A shape drawn over a name does not remove it from the image file, so use a method that changes the pixels. In Izly the covered pixels are removed on the server. Passwords are never recorded.
Read more in redacting sensitive data in screenshots and on the security page.
Which format should I publish in?
| Format | Use it when | Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Share link | People should always see the current version. You can turn the link off at any time | All plans |
| Embed | The guide belongs inside a help page or an intranet page | All plans |
| You need a hand-out, an audit folder or offline reading | All plans, small footer on Free | |
| Word | Someone will edit the guide or place it inside a larger document | Pro and Studio |
| HTML | You want to publish the guide on your own site | Pro and Studio |
| Markdown | The guide goes into a wiki or a documentation folder | Pro and Studio |
| Narrated video | Learners who prefer to listen, or a first-day introduction | Free trial of 3 guides, 15 a month on Pro, unlimited on Studio |
A link is the best default because an update reaches everyone at once. A PDF or a Word file is a copy from the moment it was exported. Details for each format are in turn a guide into a narrated video and a guide with screenshots, ready for Word.
How do I keep training documentation current?
- Name an owner for every guide. A guide without an owner is the first to go stale.
- Write a review date on it, and look at it when the software releases a change.
- Edit the one step that changed. Re-recording a whole guide for one moved button is not necessary.
- Ask readers. One line, "Was this guide correct?", finds mistakes faster than a yearly review.
The long version is in how to keep training docs up to date.
What can this method not cover?
Izly records tasks in desktop Chrome. A program installed on the computer, or a task on a phone, cannot be recorded. A guide shows how to do a task; it does not teach why a process exists, so pair it with an SOP when the reason matters.
How do I record training documentation with Izly?
Izly (izly.io) is a Chrome extension that turns a task you do once in your browser into a step-by-step guide, a narrated video and a no-code automation that repeats the task. For training documentation the first two matter: the guide and the video come from the same recording.
Every click and typed text becomes a step with a screenshot, and you tidy it in the editor: edit texts, reorder, merge, add a tip, warning or heading block, crop, add arrows and cover sensitive areas. The Free plan has 10 guides and PDF. See pricing or start free.
Frequently asked questions
How many guides does a training set need?
Start with the ten tasks that caused the most questions in the last months. Add a guide when someone asks the same thing twice. The count is less important than whether people open the guides.
Should I use video or written guides?
Use written steps for tasks people repeat and look up, and a narrated video as an introduction. Both can come from one recording, so you do not have to choose in advance.
Do readers need an account?
Viewers are always free. Plans are priced per creator, so only the people who record and edit guides pay, and the Free plan covers 10 guides.
Can I turn the same guide into a hand-out?
Yes. PDF export is on every plan, with a small footer on Free. Word, HTML and Markdown are on Pro and Studio.
Is it a good idea to document software that changes often?
Yes, if updating is cheap. Because each step is separate, you edit only the step that changed. That is the reason to record a guide instead of pasting screenshots into a document by hand.
Related pages
- GuideHow to Create a User Guide for Software, with Screenshots
- GuideTurn a Step-by-Step Guide into a Narrated Video
- GuideHow to keep training docs up to date
- Use caseEmployee onboarding documentation: step-by-step guides
- TemplateSOP Template with Screenshots
- GuideRecord a Task Once: Get a Guide and an Automation
Record it once and let the guide write itself
With Izly you do the task once in the browser. Clicks and screenshots become a step-by-step guide that you edit, share, turn into a narrated video or run again for every row of a table.