Update your guides after a software release

A vendor renamed a menu and redesigned a screen. Fix the words in every guide, retake the screenshots and re-approve what needs it.

The situation

Pinecrest Portal 4.0 renamed “Users” to “People” and moved the sidebar. Thirty-one of your guides mention it, and six of them are approved SOPs.

What you end up with: Every guide says “People”, shows the new screens, and the six SOPs are approved again at a new revision.

For: Anyone who owns documentation
Takes about: an afternoon
You’ll use: Find and replace Refresh screenshots after the software changes Get a guide approved

1
Fix the words
In the library, choose Find and replace. Find Users and replace with People, tick Whole words only and Match case, and set In to All guides. Untick matches that aren’t about the menu (a guide that talks about “users” in general). Details.
2
Refresh shared steps first
Sign-in and navigation steps are probably reusable sets. Refresh each set once and every guide that uses it gets the new pictures.
3
Refresh the rest
Open a guide, choose Refresh screenshots, and click the ringed controls. Review the before and after, untick any you don’t want, and choose Use N new screenshots. See Refresh screenshots.
4
Chase the missed controls
The review lists controls that weren’t found. Those steps probably changed more than a rename. Retake them by hand with Replace with screenshot, and update the text.
5
Mark them reviewed
In Guide settings → Owner and review, choose Mark as reviewed. They drop off the Needs review list.
6
Re-approve the SOPs
The six approved guides now show Changed since approval. Open each, check what changed, and approve the next revision. Get a guide approved.