One method that works quite well is to use the Bootstrap collapse visibility toggle.
The Form View when not being edited:
The Form View when being edited:
The Form View when being edited and a User clicks the help icon:
Once you have added the custom field, you can make an inherited View like this:
XML:
<xpath expr="//notebook" position="before">
<group>
<group>
<label for="x_distributor"/>
<div class="o_row">
<field name="x_distributor"/>
<span data-toggle="collapse" href="#x_distributor" role="button"
aria-expanded="false" aria-controls="x_distributor"
class="oe_edit_only fa fa-question-circle"/>
</div>
</group>
<group>
</group>
<div class="collapse oe_edit_only" style="color: blue;" colspan="4" id="x_distributor">
<b>HELP: The North American Industry Classification System Code can be found
<a target="new" href="https://www.naics.com/company-lookup-tool/">
<u>here</u></a>. Please search by Phone or DUNS Number where possible.</b>
</div>
</group>
</xpath>