A guide is only worth as much as the process behind it. This page sets out how Macalix Guides is researched, how it is tested, how mistakes are handled, and how the e-book is priced. It is written so that a careful reader can judge the work for themselves.
What we publish
This site publishes written guides and one printable e-book. That is the full catalogue. The guides appear as chapters on this site and are open to read. The e-book gathers those chapters into a single document with a checking routine and a reference appendix, and is the only paid item we offer. Nothing is distributed beyond the e-book, which is sent by email after purchase.
Sourcing
Every guide begins with Apple's own published documentation for the version of macOS it describes. That is the primary source, and it is where the names of panels, the paths through menus and the behaviour of each screen come from. Where Apple's documentation is silent on something a reader would want to know, we say that we are drawing on our own testing, and we describe exactly what we observed.
- Primary source: Apple's published documentation for the macOS version in question.
- Secondary source: our own testing on a standard Mac, recorded faithfully.
- No claim is repeated from another guide without being checked against the documentation first.
- Where the answer depends on the reader's machine, we say so rather than inventing a figure.
Testing
Each procedure is followed on a machine running a current release of macOS, with an ordinary set of files: a photo library, a working Mail archive, a few device backups and a partly full drive. We record what each step does and whether the storage figure moves afterwards. A step that no longer matches the screen is corrected before the chapter is published. The guides describe a standard Mac, not a heavily customised one, and we note where a reader's own setup may change what they see.
Updates and corrections
macOS changes, and so do the panels it presents. When Apple renames a screen or moves a setting, we update the affected chapters and the e-book together, so the two stay in step. When a reader reports an error, we verify it against the documentation and our own testing. If the report is right, we correct the text and note what changed. If it is not, we explain why in our reply. Corrections are welcome at any time and should be sent to [email protected].
How the e-book is priced
The e-book is priced as a single one-time purchase: US $19 for one reader, and US $69 for a five-seat team licence. There is no subscription and nothing recurring. The online chapters are open to read at no charge, and the e-book exists for readers who want the whole method in one printable document. We state the price openly, we do not run countdown offers, and the price does not change with the size of the reader's drive or how much room they recover.
Advertising and independence
These guides carry no advertising and accept no payment for mentioning anything. We do not offer sponsored content, and no outside party influences what a chapter says. The publisher is independent of Apple Inc. and of every other company mentioned on the site, and the only income is from the e-book.
Plain language
We write to be understood on a first reading. Where a term is unavoidable, we define it the first time it appears and often again in the glossary. We do not use fear to push a reader toward a purchase, and we do not promise an outcome we cannot know. If a chapter cannot say something honestly, it says less.
If anything on this site falls short of the process described here, we would like to hear about it. Write to [email protected] and it will be looked at properly.