Writing Docs: A beginners guide to writing documentation

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Eric Holscher [email protected] PDX Python August 13, 2013 Writing docs A beginners guide to writing documentation

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What you should do • Stop me if anything is unclear • Ask questions

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About me • Write the Docs • Read the Docs

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What we’ll cover • Why write docs • What technology • What to write

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Why Write Docs

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You will be using your code in 6 months

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You want people to use your code

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You want people to help out

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It makes your code better

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You want a (better) community

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You want to be a better writer

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What Technology

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Simple is best

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Plain Text

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Resources --------- * Online documentation: http://docs.writethedocs.org/ * Conference: http://conf.writethedocs.org/ Basic Example

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Basic Example

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Version Controlled

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Canonical

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README.md

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markdowntutorial.com

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Moving beyond a single file

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docs/ with ﬁles

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Sphinx See: http://write-the-docs.rtfd.org/sphinx

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What to write See: write-the-docs.rtfd.org/oss

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Who are you writing for?

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What problem your project solves

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Small code example

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Major Features

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Installation Instructions

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Tutorial

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Links to code and issues

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Any other way to get support

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A license! Reference: http://choosealicense.com/

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Changelog

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Cookbook*

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Community Information*

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Design Document*

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Contributor information*

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Conclusion • Why write docs • What technology • What to write

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Resources • http://producingoss.com/en/getting- started.html • http://docs.writethedocs.org/ • http://jacobian.org/writing/great- documentation/

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Interested? • Thinking about starting a doc meetup • groups.google.com/group/write-the-docs

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This is a living document • It will be edited and live on • Other people can give this talk • Create an intermediate & advanced talk

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Questions & Feedback • Here and now • [email protected] • @ericholscher