These guides were collected from the wild on the Internet. They are presented here for edification only, and should not be construed as defining Gopher standards.

FAQs and Handbooks

Gopher FAQ
What is Gopher - (.pdf)
An introduction to the Gopher protocol
Internet Gopher Users Guide - (.pdf)
Gopher and Gopher+ - (.pdf)
Tricks of the Internet Gurus
Veronica FAQ
Gopher and Veronica - (.pdf)
Gopher Search Tools - (.pdf)

Server Tips and Tricks

Gopher Protocol - (.pdf)
Item-Type choices
Selector Strings Explained - (.pdf)
How to create a Link File
How to link to URLs
Menu design tips
Informational File design tips
ASCII Document design tips
Gophermap How-To - (.pdf)
Creating a Gopher server with PHP and InetD - (.pdf)
Virtual name-based hosts using xInetD and BuckD

Although RFC1436 is an interesting antiquity describing how Gopher was once used within the University of Minnesota's private campus network, many of the concepts were never implemented in the same manner by Gopher Servers operating on the Internet. This is particularly true for Item-Type mappings, and as such, most Item-Type mappings mentioned in that obsolete document should not be taken as canon (or even considered desirable).

Warning: Every menu line offered-up by a Gopher Server, regardless of its lines Name or Host address, MUST be "Type" mapped!
However, what Item-Type is assigned to the line is totally at the discretion of the individual Server operator.

At a minimum, all Clients are required to recognize these three Item-Types:
~ Item-Type 1 = a Menu of items offered for clicking.
~ Item-Type 9 = any file offered only for downloading (which could include ASCII-Text files if so desired).
~ Item-Type 0 = a 7-bit ASCII-Text file offered for opening by the Clients built-in Text file viewer.

Note about Item-Type 9:
While assigning a line as Item-Type 9 will prevent the item from being accidentally opened by a Client's Text viewer; the Client might be accessing the Server from a platform that cannot perform a Download Save, and thus the Client will be prevented from ever having a way of viewing the items contents.
Note about the "Informational" Item-Type i:
This special Item-Type was invented as a way for the Server operator to provide an informational description within a Menu listing (essentially it is a dummy file, where the file name is being used to hold the message).
Unfortunately some poorly written Clents treat the "Informational" line as if it was a legitimate Text file pointer (rather than a non-clickable entity), and should it be clicked on, try to open it like it was an Item-Type 0 file. Therefore, to prevent Client crashing should the line be clicked, the Server operator should point all Item-Type i lines to some actual ASCII-Text file (such as an error document that might only say "Nothing To See Here").
Note about Item-Type h:
While Gopher has always had the ability to deliver HyperText Markup Language files (they are afterall just Text files), marking the file as Item-Type h signals the Client that the HTML page should be "rendered".

Persons who use UNIX based systems will typically not add file type extensions to file names. Extensions, especially if limited to a maximum of 3 characters, are however an important compliment to Item-Types, especially when the server is accessed using older Client software. It is therefore recommended that EVERY file posted on a Gopher Server include a file type extension, regardless of the Gopher Servers underlying operating system.