ABSTRACT
The software should, in the first place, be user friendly. Most clinicians will not have the computer skills to use any software that is not intuitive. Therefore it must function in publishing terms in a similar way to word processing software. It should not use HTML, even though this is the publishing language for most Internet sites or intranets. Ease of use creates the problem that unauthorised users may feel able to alter the guidelines if they disagree with them. This means that the publishing of the guidelines must be disconnected from the site on which they are published. This leads to the requirement of the software having security levels established, determining who can access which guidelines through the software, and who can edit which guidelines. It may mean that each department will only have one authorised publisher. The way in which the guideline is published should allow the author to be established separately from the publisher.
