The templates contain a number of somewhat complex features - multi-tabbed views, icons, display conventions of bold or colors, tables with various content, etc. However the only 'help' icons point to a static page in the 'core' specification - which reflects content that isn't even generated with the IG publisher and doesn't reflect new enhancements like Questionnaire renderings, etc.
The documentation for how to read and interpret an IG created using the 'standard' template should be maintained in the 'Guidance' IG. The templates should provide links to the relevant section in the Guidance IG that explains how to understand that particular feature. We could create official 'releases' of the Guidance IG for each release of the base template, thus allowing the 'help' references to be specific to that particular release of the IG.
This would mean several benefits:
We could provide much more detailed guidance on how to read IGs
We could update that guidance as the templates change (which is much more frequent than new releases of the core specification)
Because publishing an official release of the template would be tied to publishing an official release of the IG Guidance IG, it would create a process for ensuring that all template changes are documented for users
It would also increase the likelihood that readers of IGs would become aware of the 'Guidance' IG and might navigate to other parts of the IG that describe best practices for IG authoring - and might therefore evaluate IGs they're reviewing against those criteria.
Presuming we eventually ballot the Guidance IG, it would also mean that the documentation of how IGs are documenting (and the rendering approach itself) could be subject to ballot review
The templates contain a number of somewhat complex features - multi-tabbed views, icons, display conventions of bold or colors, tables with various content, etc. However the only 'help' icons point to a static page in the 'core' specification - which reflects content that isn't even generated with the IG publisher and doesn't reflect new enhancements like Questionnaire renderings, etc.
The documentation for how to read and interpret an IG created using the 'standard' template should be maintained in the 'Guidance' IG. The templates should provide links to the relevant section in the Guidance IG that explains how to understand that particular feature. We could create official 'releases' of the Guidance IG for each release of the base template, thus allowing the 'help' references to be specific to that particular release of the IG.
This would mean several benefits: