5.5. Maintaining Your HOWTO

Just because your HOWTO has now been published doesn't mean your job is done. HOWTOs need regular maintenance, to make sure they are up to date, and to improve them in response to readers' ideas and suggestions. A HOWTO is a living, growing body of knowledge, not just a publish-and-forget-it static document.

You put your email address in the HOWTO, and politely requested feedback from your readers, right? Once you are officially published, you will begin to receive notes with suggestions. Some will be very valuable; others will request personal assistance. You should feel free to decline personal assistance if you cannot spare the time. Writing a HOWTO for the LDP doesn't commit you to a lifetime of free support for anyone on the net. It is polite to refer questioners to another resource, if you can. And, if you see a pattern in the questions you receive, it might indicate a topic you should add to your HOWTO.