diff --git a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
index 49331b7..0234033 100644
--- a/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
+++ b/app/helpers/application_helper.rb
@@ -76,39 +76,71 @@ module ApplicationHelper
     end
   end
 
-  # Displays context help. Pass the content of the help message in the block
-  # passed to this method. Example:
+  # Displays context help. You can pass the content of the help message as the
+  # first parameter or using template code inside a block passed to this
+  # method. *Note*: the block is ignored if <tt>content</tt> is not
+  # <tt>nil</tt>
+  #
+  # The method returns the text generated, so you can also use it inside a
+  #  <%= ... %>
+  #
+  # Follow some examples ...
+  #
+  # Passing the text as argument:
+  #
+  #  <% help 'This your help message' %>
+  #
+  # Using a block:
   #
   #  <% help do %>
   #    This is the help message to be displayed. It can contain any HTML you
-  #    want: <strong>bold</strong>, <em>italic</em>, and even
-  #    <%= link_to '', 'links' %> using Rails helpers.
+  #    want: <strong>bold</strong>, <em>italic</em>. It can also contain calls
+  #    to any Rails helper, like <%= link_to 'home', :controller => 'home' %>.
   #  <% end %>
   #
   # You can also pass an optional argument to force the use of textile in your
   # help message:
   #
-  #  <% help :textile do %>
+  #  <% help nil, :textile do %>
   #    You can also use *textile*!
   #  <% end %>
   #
+  # or, using the return of the method:
+  #
+  #  <%= help 'this is your help message' %>
+  #
   # Formally, the <tt>type</tt> argument can be <tt>:html</tt> or
   # <tt>:textile</tt>. It defaults to <tt>:html</tt>.
   #
   # TODO: implement correcly the 'Help' button click
-  def help(type = :html, &block)
-    content = capture(&block)
+  def help(content = nil, type = :html, &block)
+
+    if content.nil?
+      return '' if block.nil?
+      content = capture(&block)
+    end
+
     if type == :textile
       content = RedCloth.new(content).to_html
     end
+
+    # TODO: implement this button, and add style='display: none' to the help
+    # message DIV
     button = link_to_function(_('Help'), "alert('change me, Leandro!')")
-    concat(content_tag('div', button + content_tag('div', content, :class => 'help_message'), :class => 'help_box'), block.binding)
+
+    text = content_tag('div', button + content_tag('div', content, :class => 'help_message'), :class => 'help_box')
+
+    unless block.nil?
+      concat(text, block.binding)
+    end
+
+    text
   end
 
-  # alias for <tt>help(:textile)</tt>. Pass a block in the same way you would
-  # do if you called <tt>help</tt> directly.
-  def help_textile(&block)
-    help(:textile, &block)
+  # alias for <tt>help(content, :textile)</tt>. You can pass a block in the
+  # same way you would do if you called <tt>help</tt> directly.
+  def help_textile(content = nil, &block)
+    help(content, :textile, &block)
   end
 
 end
diff --git a/app/views/features/index.rhtml b/app/views/features/index.rhtml
index 1dfefb1..aa79e58 100644
--- a/app/views/features/index.rhtml
+++ b/app/views/features/index.rhtml
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
 <h2><%= _('Enable/Disable features') %></h2>
 
 <%= render :partial => 'features_table' %>
+
+<%= help_textile _('
+Here you can enable or disable several features of your virtual community. Each feature represents some funcionality that your virtual community can use you enable it.
+') %>
diff --git a/test/functional/application_controller_test.rb b/test/functional/application_controller_test.rb
index 5e19e64..3a9cd7e 100644
--- a/test/functional/application_controller_test.rb
+++ b/test/functional/application_controller_test.rb
@@ -53,8 +53,8 @@ class ApplicationControllerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_not_nil assigns(:chosen_icons_theme)
   end
 
-  def test_should_generate_help_box
-    get :help
+  def test_should_generate_help_box_when_passing_string
+    get :help_with_string
     assert_tag({
       :tag => 'div',
       :attributes => { :class => 'help_box'},
@@ -66,8 +66,37 @@ class ApplicationControllerTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     })
   end
 
-  def test_should_generate_help_box_expanding_textile_markup
-    get :help_textile
+  def test_should_generate_help_box_when_passing_block
+    get :help_with_block
+    assert_tag({
+      :tag => 'div',
+      :attributes => { :class => 'help_box'},
+      :descendant => {
+        :tag => 'div',
+        :content => /my_help_message/,
+        :attributes => { :class => 'help_message'}
+      }
+    })
+  end
+
+  def test_should_generate_help_box_expanding_textile_markup_when_passing_string
+    get :help_textile_with_string
+    assert_tag({
+      :tag => 'div',
+      :attributes => { :class => 'help_box'},
+      :descendant => {
+        :tag => 'div',
+        :attributes => { :class => 'help_message'},
+        :descendant => {
+          :tag => 'strong',
+          :content => /my_bold_help_message/
+        }
+      }
+    })
+  end
+
+  def test_should_generate_help_box_expanding_textile_markup_when_passing_block
+    get :help_textile_with_block
     assert_tag({
       :tag => 'div',
       :attributes => { :class => 'help_box'},
diff --git a/test/mocks/test/test_controller.rb b/test/mocks/test/test_controller.rb
index f9a41cb..8beb290 100644
--- a/test/mocks/test/test_controller.rb
+++ b/test/mocks/test/test_controller.rb
@@ -8,12 +8,28 @@ class TestController < ApplicationController
     render :text => '<span>post_only</span>'
   end
 
-  def help
-    render :inline => '<% help { %> my_help_message <% } %>'
+  def help_with_string
+    render :inline => '<%= help "my_help_message" %>'
   end
 
-  def help_textile
-    render :inline => '<% help_textile { %> *my_bold_help_message* <% } %>'
+  def help_with_block
+    render :inline => '
+      <% help do %>
+        my_help_message
+      <% end %>
+    '
+  end
+
+  def help_textile_with_string
+    render :inline => '<%= help_textile "*my_bold_help_message*" %>'
+  end
+
+  def help_textile_with_block
+    render :inline => '
+      <% help_textile do %>
+        *my_bold_help_message*
+      <% end %>
+    '
   end
 
 end
--
libgit2 0.21.2