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Helpfiles should be cross-indexed, and searchable. A good model that worked for me was:
[*]First find complete-word matches[*]Failing above, find partial-word matches to the prime keyword(s) requested[*]Failing above, find complete word matches to secondary keywords (ie, 'scabbard' as a secondary word for the helpfile 'sheath')[*]Failing above, compare requested helpfile name with socials, looking first for complete-word and then partial-word matches. If found, show the 'social' helpfile[*]Failing that, perform soundex matching () and see if it matches one of helpfiles' primary keyword (ie, they misspelled "sheath" as "sheathe" or "sheth")
In my experience, I have found it is more rewarding to use an onion metaphor for helpfiles, allowing the user to delve into successively deeper layers if they so choose, while providing general information on the top for the casual persuer. It is possible to create a relatively intuitive delving mechanism for immediate jumping to the deeper layers:
help sheath
help search sheath
help index sheath
help sheath 3 (third level helpfile)
help sheath 3 highlight scabbard (to highlight the location of 'scabbard' in the third tier helpfile)
Another, immeasurably helpful concept was the ability to 'assist' someone else - to queue the helpfile most recently read by you to another player.
--Robbert
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