--- title: "Book review: Every Page is Page One" id: "6590" type: "post" slug: "book-review-every-page-is-page-one" published_at: "2014-01-03T10:42:13+00:00" modified_at: "2014-01-03T10:42:13+00:00" url: "https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one/" markdown_url: "https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one.md" excerpt: "There’s a joke in education along the lines that students are taught the notes their teachers wrote down at university 20 years earlier…without going through the heads of either. I mention this because there have been a number of technical..." taxonomy_category: - "book" - "content strategy" - "single sourcing" - "Technical Author" - "Technical Communication" - "trends" - "user assistance" taxonomy_post_tag: - "book review" - "minimal" - "single sourcing" - "Technical Author" - "Technical Communication" - "trends" --- There’s a joke in education along the lines that students are taught the notes their teachers wrote down at university 20 years earlier…without going through the heads of either. I mention this because there have been a number of technical communicators who have started to question the technical writing best practices that have been taught to student Technical Authors for the past 30+ years. At Cherryleaf, we show on our [advanced technical writing techniques course](https://www.cherryleaf.com/training/trends-in-technical-communication-workshop-advanced-technical-writing-techniques/) how some of the largest websites have been breaking the generally accepted rules for writing User Assistance – companies that test and test again to see what works best for their users. Ray Gallon of CultureCom has been developing his cognitive approach to User Assistance, and Mark Baker has been developing and promoting the idea of “Every Page is Page One” (EPPO) Help topics. Mark has published his ideas in a new book called “[Every Page is Page One](http://xmlpress.net/publications/eppo/) “. I was asked to review an early draft of the book, and, over Christmas, I was sent a copy of the published version. In a nutshell, Mark’s argument is that, with Web-based content, you don’t know the context in which people are reading a Help page. You cannot assume that they have read any other pages prior to reading this topic. Therefore, you need to treat every page as Page One, the starting point, and include more introductory, contextual information in your topics. He argues that most Technical Authors have misunderstood minimalism, and the EPPO approach is actually more consistent with how John Carroll (the creator of minimalism) recommended User Assistance should be written. The book provides recommendations on the level of detail you should include on a page before you need to create a new topic, and when and where to create links to other pages. He also compares EPPO to Information Mapping and DITA, and outlines how EPPO can complement these standards. Reading the early PDF draft with a reviewer’s eye was struggle at times, but reading the final version in printed book format was an easy and enjoyable exercise. Perhaps reading some sections for a second time helped, as well. We agree with a great deal of Mark’s ideas. We agree with the general idea of self-contained topics that provide the context for a task. We agree with the need for mini-Tables of Contents and a bottom-up approach to writing. We agree that tasks should include some contextual information. We agree online content can be atomised too much. We also liked his analysis of why screencasts are so popular, and the secrets to their success. We have a few minor issues. Mark cautions against duplicating content on more than one Web page, because it’s bad for Search Engine Optimisation. We believe you should write efficiently in a way that’s best for the user, and that it’s up to the Search Engines to improve their algorithms so they can differentiate between “good” duplication and “bad” duplication. Google should be adapting and learning from the way good content is written, not us having to create sub-optimal content in order to satisfy Google. It’s a book for people involved today in writing online User Assistance. Although the book is very clear and well structured, you probably need to have some experience of creating User Assistance to fully understand everything that’s covered in the book. It’s an important contribution to the discussion over whether technical communicators have focused too much on production efficiencies to the detriment of creating content that’s actually of value to their users. It’s worth getting a copy of this book. ### Share this: - [Share on Facebook (Opens in new window) Facebook](https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one/?share=facebook) - [Share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window) LinkedIn](https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one/?share=linkedin) - [Share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window) WhatsApp](https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one/?share=jetpack-whatsapp) - [Share on Bluesky (Opens in new window) Bluesky](https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one/?share=bluesky) - ### *Related* ### One Comment > Mark cautions against duplicating content on more than one Web page, because it’s bad for Search Engine Optimisation. We believe you should write efficiently in a way that’s best for the user, and that it’s up to the Search Engines to improve their algorithms so they can differentiate between “good” duplication and “bad” duplication. I wrote about [SEO and duplicate content](http://idratherbewriting.com/2013/12/16/seo-duplicate-content-and-single-sourcing/) last week. Duplicate content should be more of a red flag for people who single source multiple help files online. It’s not just about Google learning to distinguish between good and bad content. It’s that Google will only serve up the best version of the content. Google is never going to serve up duplicate versions of the same material, because that would result in poor search results. Google wants to present a variety of sources to the user. If you have several different versions of the same content, and only one surfaces, how do you prioritize the right one to surface? You have to specify which version is the canonical one through a canonical link on the page. But beyond the SEO aspects, I think it’s weird to have multiple versions of the same content online. That paradigm works in the print world maybe, but not online. ### Leave a Reply[Cancel reply](/2014/01/book-review-every-page-is-page-one/#respond) This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. [Learn how your comment data is processed.](https://akismet.com/privacy/) #### Previous post [Every Sherlock Holmes needs his Watson (or Molly)](https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/every-sherlock-holmes-needs-his-watson-or-molly/) #### Next post [Estimating production times for screencasts and elearning](https://www.cherryleaf.com/2014/01/estimating-production-times-for-screencasts-and-elearning/) #### Browse posts by month Browse posts by month Select Month October 2026 (3) September 2026 (12) August 2026 (8) July 2026 (7) June 2026 (14) May 2026 (8) April 2026 (6) March 2026 (14) February 2026 (9) January 2026 (9) December 2025 (7) November 2025 (9) October 2025 (10) September 2025 (7) August 2025 (6) July 2025 (1) June 2025 (3) May 2025 (2) April 2025 (5) March 2025 (3) February 2025 (3) January 2025 (2) November 2024 (8) October 2024 (3) September 2024 (2) August 2024 (3) July 2024 (4) June 2024 (1) May 2024 (2) April 2024 (4) March 2024 (1) February 2024 (2) January 2024 (1) December 2023 (2) November 2023 (9) October 2023 (8) September 2023 (5) August 2023 (3) July 2023 (1) June 2023 (1) May 2023 (2) April 2023 (3) March 2023 (2) January 2023 (2) December 2022 (4) November 2022 (1) October 2022 (1) September 2022 (1) August 2022 (1) July 2022 (1) June 2022 (1) May 2022 (2) April 2022 (1) March 2022 (1) February 2022 (1) January 2022 (2) December 2021 (1) November 2021 (2) October 2021 (1) August 2021 (1) July 2021 (2) June 2021 (3) May 2021 (5) April 2021 (3) March 2021 (3) February 2021 (1) January 2021 (2) December 2020 (4) November 2020 (4) August 2020 (3) February 2020 (3) January 2020 (1) November 2019 (3) October 2019 (1) September 2019 (1) August 2019 (3) July 2019 (2) June 2019 (3) May 2019 (4) April 2019 (1) November 2018 (2) October 2018 (1) July 2018 (2) June 2018 (4) May 2018 (2) April 2018 (3) March 2018 (4) February 2018 (2) January 2018 (3) December 2017 (2) October 2017 (3) September 2017 (1) August 2017 (3) July 2017 (2) June 2017 (7) May 2017 (4) April 2017 (5) March 2017 (1) February 2017 (7) January 2017 (1) December 2016 (3) November 2016 (4) October 2016 (1) September 2016 (5) July 2016 (1) June 2016 (3) May 2016 (1) April 2016 (2) February 2016 (2) January 2016 (5) December 2015 (1) November 2015 (4) October 2015 (2) August 2015 (1) July 2015 (1) June 2015 (2) May 2015 (3) February 2015 (2) January 2015 (6) December 2014 (1) October 2014 (1) September 2014 (4) June 2014 (4) May 2014 (1) April 2014 (2) March 2014 (3) February 2014 (4) January 2014 (4) November 2013 (2) October 2013 (5) September 2013 (3) July 2013 (3) June 2013 (11) May 2013 (4) April 2013 (6) March 2013 (7) February 2013 (4) January 2013 (4) December 2012 (9) November 2012 (23) October 2012 (14) September 2012 (8) August 2012 (4) July 2012 (12) June 2012 (12) May 2012 (10) April 2012 (8) March 2012 (12) February 2012 (3) January 2012 (6) December 2011 (2) October 2011 (3) August 2011 (1) June 2011 (5) May 2011 (2) April 2011 (1) January 2011 (1) December 2010 (1) November 2010 (3) October 2010 (4) September 2010 (8) August 2010 (5) May 2010 (2) April 2010 (3) March 2010 (3) February 2010 (2) January 2010 (3) December 2009 (2) November 2009 (6) September 2009 (1) July 2009 (6) June 2009 (7) April 2009 (8) March 2009 (3) February 2009 (3) January 2009 (3) December 2008 (1) November 2008 (3) October 2008 (3) September 2008 (4) August 2008 (1) July 2008 (3) June 2008 (5) May 2008 (2) April 2008 (2) March 2008 (3) February 2008 (2) January 2008 (1) November 2007 (3) October 2007 (2) September 2007 (1) July 2007 (3) November 2006 (1) October 2006 (2) September 2006 (3) August 2006 (1) April 2006 (1) March 2006 (3) #### Browse posts by category