Documentation Resources

These sites are good places to learn about Read the Docs (RtD), Sphinx, and all the things you can do in .rst files:

• RtD dashboard (you must be logged in)

• RtD documentation (in other words, RtD’s RtD site)

• Sphinx (Python Document Generator)

• Sphinx Getting Started

• Sphinx tutorial

• reStructuredText Primer

• Graphviz syntax

To write more effective software documentation generally, here are some useful sites:

• The 18F Content Guide houses best practices for software documentation focused on user experiences and needs, particularly as related to government websites.

• Write the Docs, a community focused on communication and documentation, has a catalog of learning resources (including videos and tutorials) as well as a robust documentation guide. This community also has a GitHub repo.

• Docs as Code provides resources for development teams to build documentation repeatably and consistently across multiple platforms.

• The Documentation System emphasizes four types of documentation: tutorials, how-to guides, technical reference, and explanation documents. The site provides examples of and tips for each.

• The Good Docs Project, to which you can contribute, includes templates and writing instructions for documenting open source software. The organization’s templates go through a rigorous writing, reviewing, and refining process.

• The Beautiful Docs repo has a list of language- and program-specific documentation resources.