Two collisions come up constantly. A writer resolves them by feel, which is fine once and inconsistent across 400+ articles. Resolve them this way instead.
One authoritative answer against reduce unnecessary navigation
Repeat material only when it is short, stable, and unlikely to change on its own schedule. A required permission, a default value or a one-line prerequisite can be repeated. A procedure, an explanation or a reference table cannot.
The test is maintenance. If the repeated material would need updating in two places the next time the product changes, link to it instead.
Sufficiently self-contained against one primary job
Include the explanation when the user cannot complete the step without it. Link the explanation when the user could complete the step without it but would understand the outcome better with it.
If the explanation runs longer than the step it supports, it belongs on its own page.
