Graphics in help screens and search

[GeraldineMoore2]

Please can graphics be added to ArcGIS Pro help pages?  (There are some, but most pages appear to be purely text.)  I find diagrams and screenshots helpful in:

• Knowing if the page I have found is relevant to my problem.
• Quickly understanding concepts and techniques.
• Seeing what different buttons, functions and effects do.
• Overcoming the difficulties of jargon and different English usage between countries.

GIS is very visual, so only describing concepts in words seems very limiting and potentially difficult for users.

Can search functionality be added too?  Google isn't necessarily reliable at finding relevant ArcGIS Pro pages.

[TimLangner]

It would be really helpful if the ArcGIS Pro documentation had screenshots, especially as it's layout and build is quite different to the ArcMap part of ArcGIS desktop.

Also is ArcGIS Pro part of ArcGIS Desktop, as I don't see an option in the ArcGIS Ideas section that mentions ArcGIS Pro? Hence I selected ArcGIS Desktop.

[KoryKramer]

Thank you for the idea, infobleep‌.  Yes, ArcGIS Pro is part of the ArcGIS Desktop product.  Categorizing the idea as Desktop and including ArcGIS Pro in the title is perfect!

I understand that the request is generally for all documentation, but if you have any specific examples of places where you think it would be particularly helpful, that will help understand where or what kinds of topics to focus on first.

Thank you!

[TimLangner]

Thanks Kory for your reply.

I've selected a random page as an example:

Set a custom full extent—Properties of maps | ArcGIS Desktop 

The below one for example tells you to use the Convert labels to annotations tool but doesn't explain where you can find it.

Convert labels to annotation—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop 

Click through you get the tools reference:

Convert Labels To Annotation—ArcGIS Pro | ArcGIS Desktop 

However that doesn't include any screenshots.

Another useful thing would be the documentation number in the help file so you know which version the help refers to.

[KBKnight]

I often struggle with the documentation/instructions because they lack pictures. In particular, when instructions say something like “click on the bottom of the edit window and then the add feature button.” It’s hard because a lot of tools/buttons/etc. are not labeled in Pro. So, just sticking a little screen capture showing that tool and where it is in Pro would be super helpful!

[Marie_Ducharme]

I agree, especially for newcomers to ArcGIS Pro....the terminology is very complex when it comes to tasks bar/sections of the taskbar.....the context-dependent taskbars/context menu are not always intuitive. I agree that screenshots or a link to a demo would be very useful

[Wayne_Rennick]

When I first graduated college, I had a job with an organization that made an ArcView extension. We included a detailed help document that walked the user through each popup/GUI and explained what it did in detail. ESRI provided similar, detailed documentation (printed at the time) that was super helpful.

Why does the help for the modern Esri products almost completely lack graphics? The new help is mostly text. Maybe it's optimized for google? But as a GIS professional, I'd appreciate more visual help. (and while videos are nice, they don't replace quality documentation).

For example, this help should include a screenshot of the legend to quickly show the user what it's talking about. Use advanced labeling for a continuous raster dataset—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation
Or this topic: Work with a legend item—ArcGIS Pro | Documentation Where is a screenshot showing the different types of legends?

[AdrianWelsh]

I fully agree and have always found this very tedious. My guess is that Esri does not want to have a static graphic for a potential dynamic idea. However, there is a toggle at the top of every help article for which version of Pro it is, so static images should be perfectly fine.