Adding a New Topic to Internal Automation System Documentation: A Focus on Employee Training

Publication date: September 28, 2026.

• Step 1. Creating or Opening a Project
• Step 2. Creating a New Topic
• Step 3. Adding Content to a Topic
• Step 4. Managing Structure and Statuses
• Step 5. Checking and Previewing
• Step 6. Exporting or Saving
• Frequently Asked Questions

You are preparing user documentation for complex products — for example, manuals for accounting and automation systems that employees will use every day. There is a lot of material, and you need to ensure that people don't waste time searching, and that they learn topics sequentially. Structure is the first thing that helps readers avoid getting lost.

In Dr.Explain, the project structure is a topic tree. You add, move, and nest topics inside each other in whatever way is convenient for you. Everything is visual: you can see what is already done and what is still in progress. You don't need to keep the hierarchy in your head or assemble the document from pieces — the tree is the document.

An example of a topic tree in Dr.Explain:

In this article, you will learn how to create a new topic for your user documentation, fill it with content, and export it.

Step 1. Creating or Opening a Project

If you are starting a help system from scratch, you can choose one of the predefined templates at the beginning. If you already have some documentation, you can import it and continue working with it in the program. Dr.Explain supports importing DOCX (Microsoft Word), RTF, CHM, HLP, HTML, and folders with documents. During import, the program automatically creates a topic tree based on the structure of the source file. This saves hours of manual work.

If you don't have any documentation yet, create a new project. To do this, click "Create a local project" on the startup screen. Or, after launching the program, go to File → Create a local project. You can also use the Ctrl+N keyboard shortcut. See the full list of Dr.Explain keyboard shortcuts.

To import your existing documentation, click "Open an existing project" on the startup screen. Or, after launching the program, go to File → Open an existing project. You can also use the Ctrl+O keyboard shortcut.

Dr.Explain includes ready-made templates: "Corporate knowledge base", "Software user guide" and "Web service user guide". A template immediately provides a structure — you just need to fill it with content. This is convenient when you need to quickly prepare manuals for industrial equipment or manuals for accounting and automation systems for a typical project. If you are documenting control systems — SCADA, DCS, or PLC — it is worth first understanding how they differ and what set of documents each requires: see How to Write Documentation for SCADA, DCS, and PLC.

You can select a template from File → Create a local project from a template, either on the startup screen or after launching the program.

Step 2. Creating a New Topic

Now the new project is created. On the left side of the window, you can see the topic tree. This is the skeleton of your future help system.

To add a new topic, right-click the topic under which it should appear. In the context menu, select Add and choose the appropriate option:

A dialog window will open where you need to enter the topic title. For example, "Getting started with the system" or "Configuring reference data". If you are writing manuals for complex equipment, logical topics would include "Safety precautions" or "Starting and stopping".

The new topic will appear in the tree. To change its nesting level, drag it with the mouse or use the context menu. You can decrease or increase its nesting level (as well as perform many other actions) using the Ctrl+Up/Down Arrow keyboard shortcuts.

Don't create all topics at once. Add two or three, fill them with content, and see how the structure looks. The tree can be rearranged at any time.

There is no limit to the nesting level of topics.

Step 3. Adding Content to a Topic

The topic is created. Now you need to fill it with text, images, and other elements.

Select the topic in the tree — the content of the selected topic will be displayed in the content editor on the right side of the window. Make sure the "Content editor" mode is selected. Here you work with content in WYSIWYG mode: the text looks the same as it will appear in the final document.

Enter the text. Use the toolbar for formatting: font, size, color, alignment, lists. Just like in most text editors.

But Dr.Explain has something Word doesn't: ready-made text blocks for typical manual elements.

To add a typical element, click the text block insertion button on the toolbar. In the drop-down list, select Warning — and the corresponding block will appear in the topic. Example with a list:

The remaining text blocks are added in the same way. The program allows you to save formatting settings and add new templates for text blocks:

Don't overload the topic. If you feel it is growing too large, create a subtopic. The AI assistant can help you evaluate the quality of your material, find errors, and provide recommendations for improving your manuals.

Step 4. Managing Structure and Statuses

Sometimes, due to the scale of a knowledge base, it is difficult to assess the readiness of the entire project as a whole and of individual topics separately. This is especially true for user documentation for software and equipment, where there can be hundreds of topics. Dr.Explain offers a heat map that shows completion status.

In the topic settings, you can choose a color code that reflects its state of readiness. Four options are available:

• Not started — gray;
• In progress — yellow;
• Completed — green;
• Waiting — red.

To change the status, right-click the topic and select Set a status, then choose the desired option. Or use the topic properties panel in the lower-left corner.

This is especially useful when several people are working on the documentation and you can prioritize each part of the development.

Locking a topic. If you don't want a co-author to accidentally change it, lock the topic. Right-click it and select Lock this item. The topic will become available for viewing only. You can unlock it via Unlock this and all subitems.

This is convenient for collaboration: an author writes the text, an editor reviews the finished material and locks it so that no one makes changes without approval.

Step 5. Checking and Previewing

Before exporting the document, you can see how it will look in different formats:

Step 6. Exporting or Saving

When the structure is ready and filled with content, save the project. Press Ctrl+S, click the Save project icon on the toolbar, or select File → Save project. The project is saved as a file with the .gui extension.

To export to the desired format, use one of the buttons on the main toolbar or select the appropriate option in the Export section of the horizontal menu:

• Export to HTML — for online help;
• Export to CHM — for help embedded in an application;
• Export to DOCX — for printed documentation (a file for working in MS Word);
• Export to PDF — for printed documentation: convenient if you need operating manuals in a format that can be printed and always kept at hand;
• Export to Markdown — for storing in a version control system and for working with AI.

For online help, you need the HTML format. Select the format, specify the folder for saving, and click Start export.

Result

You have created the structure of a manual for employees. Now you have a topic tree that you can fill with content, track progress using the heat map, and export user manuals to the desired format.

Structure in Dr.Explain is not a separate file that requires assembly. The tree is the document. You work with it directly and see the result immediately.

What's Next

Once the main structure is ready, you can move on to related tasks.

Setting up export conditions. You can create different versions of a document from a single project. For example, a full administrator's guide and a brief manual for a regular user. To do this, configure logical export conditions in the topic properties: the topic will be included in the final document only when certain conditions are met.

Collaboration. If several authors are working on the documentation, connect the Tiwri.com cloud service or a local collaboration server. You will be able to edit topics one by one, send changes to the server, and view the revision history.

Keyboard shortcuts. Once you are comfortable with the basic actions, these combinations will help you work faster: