Support/Firefox3.5

Support plan for Firefox 3.5

In-product help

Between Firefox 2 and Firefox 3, help documentation was moved from the Firefox source code to the Support website, and the information in those docs were updated to reflect changes in Firefox 3. The subject of the content was not changed, nor was the structure. This set of documentation is referred to as in-product help articles.

Concept

For Firefox 3.5, the concept of "in-product articles" is being changed. Most users who don't exit the site after visiting the Product help start page, use the search field, which gives results for the entire Knowledge Base, not just in-product articles. The entire Knowledge Base should be considered in-product help.

So what is the primary set of articles needed for Firefox 3.5 Support? That will be a list of top articles, based on traffic and top search terms.

Legacy articles

When the Firefox 2 help documents were imported, the structure and subject of the content was not changed. The subject of the content also overlapped some articles that were already in the Knowledge Base. Now that the entire Knowledge Base is considered in-product help, we should clean up the legacy documentation to fit the Knowledge Base approach.

Articles being purged:

• Options Window
• Using Firefox
• Customizing Firefox

Product help start page

Approximately 65% of support.mozilla.com page views (including search and forums) is the Product Help start page (Help > Firefox Help). The start page is not taking advantage of that. It does not link users to the top questions. It does not showcase new features, that users may need to learn about (because they were not part of the old help documentation).

The Product help start page should get a make over, in both presentation and content, to make sure most users find the help the need.

Updating KB content with changes in 3.5

KB Backend

• SHOWFOR has been updated to include support for 3.5 content. bug 457027 For instructions, see this blog post.
• Category for 3.5 is going to be added in 0.8.2 bug 470454
• Make inproduct mode apply to all articles and search results bug 475294

Tracking 3.5 changes

We're tracking user-end changes at Support/Firefox3.5:Changes.

Tracking articles that need updating

We have a page on support.mozilla.com to track articles that need updating.

New articles

• Private Browsing
• This Connection Is Untrusted
• Clear Recent History
• Geolocation support
• The bookmarks and history system will not be functional bug 467814

Screenshots

Do not add Firefox 3.5 screenshots for now. I do not expect to have clearance for this until there is a release candidate.