The invention relates to a system and method for automatically producing documents that incorporate one or more data elements. A guided/structured software environment is provided that assists users in creating manuals by defining the appropriate content for each manual in a document definition section, content rules and relationships, and tasks to be performed for each type of manual entry. Manual content is stored as data and data elements, rather than pages of sentences, to more efficiently generate, revise, and store the content of a manual. A storage database is provided for retrieving and storing predefined templates, documents, data elements and data to produce a final manual. Manuals are created by combining various data elements. A preview interface permits a user to quickly view what revisions will look like in a final document prior to actually publishing the manual. A published manual is compiled by assembling the stored data into document.