GuideThread

Resources

Use the records that keep customer education current.

Start with a release intake, tutorial brief, FAQ triage record, or version audit. Each template names the source, audience, owner, and decision the team needs to make next.

Open the release intakeReview all templates
Product education planning kit with release intake, tutorial brief, FAQ triage and version audit records.

Release intake

Release intake template

Use this before writing the customer announcement or recording a tutorial.

  1. Release name and product version
  2. Approved source and source owner
  3. Changed behavior
  4. Unchanged surrounding behavior
  5. Removed behavior
  6. Open product questions
  7. Affected customer roles, plans, or prerequisites
  8. Customer action and completion cue
  9. Existing tutorials, guides, and FAQ answers affected
  10. Required reviewers
  11. Target destinations
  12. Decision date and content owner

If the release owner cannot identify what changed, who is affected, and what remains unresolved, the education brief is not ready for production.

Take the completed intake to Release Updates

Tutorial brief

Tutorial brief template

Use this when a customer needs to complete a product task, not merely hear that a feature exists.

  1. Tutorial title
  2. Audience and role
  3. Customer task
  4. Starting state and prerequisites
  5. Product version
  6. Source walkthrough
  7. Storyboard sequence
  8. Narration purpose for each step
  9. Known exceptions
  10. Completion cue
  11. Written companion requirement
  12. Product, support, and content reviewers
  13. Destination and owner
Review Tutorial Production

FAQ triage

FAQ triage template

Use this to decide whether a repeated question needs reusable education or account-specific investigation.

  1. Customer question and common variants
  2. Affected audience and context
  3. Approved answer source
  4. Current product version
  5. Existing coverage
  6. Direct answer
  7. Customer checks
  8. Success cue
  9. Escalation condition and owner
  10. Chosen format
  11. Review and revision owner
Review the FAQ workflow

Version audit

Version audit checklist

Use this after a release or before a customer academy refresh.

  1. Does every active asset name a product version or last verified date?
  2. Can each asset be traced to an approved source?
  3. Is the intended audience still correct?
  4. Does the screen sequence match the current workflow?
  5. Are prerequisites and completion cues still accurate?
  6. Are known exceptions still represented?
  7. Is the content owner still accountable?
  8. Has a newer asset superseded this one?
  9. Is the active destination serving the approved version?
  10. Does any unresolved change require a hold?
Review Batch Operations

Resource questions

Can these templates be used without GuideThread?

Yes. They describe the information a product-education team should keep together regardless of tooling.

What should we audit first?

Start with high-use onboarding and support content attached to recently changed workflows. Confirm the source, product version, owner, and active destination.

How often should a version audit run?

Set the cadence around release frequency and content risk. Also trigger an audit when a workflow, permission, prerequisite, or customer-facing label changes.

Who owns the final decision?

The organization should name owners for product accuracy, customer context, and content approval. GuideThread's operating model makes those responsibilities visible; it does not replace them.

Start with one release

Give the next tutorial a source, owner, audience, and version before production begins.

Use the release intake template to identify what changed, who needs an explanation, which assets are affected, and what still needs review.

Map a release threadReview tutorial production