I use ScreenSteps to record the many hundreds of steps done for long, complex admin and upgrade processes of complex databases and core business system landscapes. Screen captures are incredibly fast, with no cut and paste required, one keyboard shortcut and a swipe of the mouse selects the image area and drops it into the document. Image annotations, document structuring, and text blocks are easily created. The toolkit is stripped down to the bare minimum for fast ramp-up and ease of use when you are tired and grumpy and things are going wrong. The annotation tools (boxes, arrows, and numbered dots!) allow me to build a detailed document with chapters and sections as I go through the procedure, with no need for subsequent reworking. When I finish the job, the document is ready for me to review to produce a condensed activity report, or to hand to the customer, complete with explanatory text and annotated screen captures (all created during billable time!) Customers love that I create these documents - they see it as evidence of a safe, methodical, risk-averse approach that is concerned with protecting their investment in their systems, and making ~them~ look good to their users. These documents are sometimes used by the customer's staff for self-education and auditing of my work, and very occasionally to confirm that the number of hours I bill is reasonable. I also use the ScreenSteps transcripts when something goes wrong partway through the process (usually around 4am on a Sunday.). I record absolutely every step including server logins (so I know which admin account I used) and every tiny pop-up so I can easily backtrack to find the cause of most problems. If you do server maintenance, you absolutely should use ScreenSteps to document everything you do for subsequent analysis in the event of "unexpected results". It will save you hours of forensic analysis and probably hours of unexpected downtime too. Use it to record what ~you~ will need to troubleshoot problems that arise in the future.

What I like best about ScreenSteps, is that it makes it fast and easy to create consistent product documentation. Authors do not have to worry about fonts and colours and line-spacing, or how best to format call-out boxes. And grabbing, incorporating, annotating and updating screenshots is simple. Authors can focus on sharing their knowledge, not formatting it. ScreenSteps support is great too - the guys know their stuff and are very responsive.

Screensteps make the creation of knowledge base articles simple and easy. Among other features, the autonumbering of steps and ability to re-arrange and have the auto numbering update automatically is a higher timesaver!