14. User Guide

The user guide helps end users accomplish their goals. It should be task-oriented, with steps for common workflows. Screenshots and examples make it concrete.

The document Q&A application has three primary workflows: uploading documents, asking questions, and managing conversation history.

Uploading Documents

1. Navigate to the Documents page
2. Click the Upload button or drag a file to the dropzone
3. Wait for the upload to complete (progress bar shows status)
4. The document appears in your list once processing finishes

Accepted formats: PDF (up to 50MB)

After upload, documents enter a processing queue. Processing typically takes 30-60 seconds depending on file size. The status badge shows "Processing" until complete.

Asking Questions

1. Select a document from the sidebar
2. Type your question in the input field
3. Press Enter or click Send
4. Read the streaming response

Example questions for a research paper:

• "What is the main contribution of this paper?"
• "Summarize the methodology used"
• "What are the key findings?"

The response streams in real-time. You can scroll up to review previous exchanges in the conversation.

Managing History

Conversations save automatically. Access conversation history from the History panel. Search past conversations by keyword. Delete individual messages or entire conversations.

Troubleshooting

Upload fails with "File too large"

• Files must be under 50MB
• Try compressing images or removing unnecessary pages

Responses are slow

• Large documents take longer to process
• Check system status for queue depth
• Try shorter, more specific questions

Response quality is poor

• Ensure the document contains text (scanned PDFs may not work)
• Try rephrasing the question
• Break complex questions into smaller parts

Session expired

• Log in again to continue
• History is preserved and accessible after logging back in