5 Free Static Documentation Generators You Must Check Out.

Nafis Fuad — Fri, 20 Dec 2019 16:12:40 +0000

Documentation is an important aspect of development. Almost every codebase, regardless of how big/small requires some form of documentation. From a few simple READMEs and contribution guidelines to full-fledged ones. In most projects, however, it becomes necessary to use a nice & robust system for generating, maintaining and deploying the documentations. That's where "Static Documentation Generators" come handy. They are easy to use, versatile and extremely user-friendly. They are mostly used to document APIs, database schemas, and other information by organizations.

So, here's a list of 5 static site generators that you can use in your projects.

1. Docsify

Website: https://docsify.js.org
Github Repo: https://github.com/docsifyjs/docsify

Features

No statically built html files
Simple and lightweight (~21kB gzipped)
Smart full-text search plugin
Multiple themes
Useful plugin API
Compatible with IE11
Support SSR
Support embedded files

2. Docusaurus

Website: https://docusaurus.io/
Github: https://github.com/facebook/docusaurus/

Features

Powered by Markdown
Built Using React
Ready for Translations
Document Versioning
Document Search
Quick Setup

3. VuePress

Website: https://vuepress.vuejs.org/
Github Repo: https://github.com/vuejs/vuepress

Features

Minimal setup
Markdown-centered project structure
Custom themes with Vue
Pre-rendered static HTML
Runs as a SPA
Developed and maintained by the Vue community

4. Slate

Website: https://slatedocs.github.io/slate
Github: https://github.com/slatedocs/slate

Features

Clean, intuitive design
Single page documentation
Markdown support
Out-of-the-box syntax highlighting
Write code samples in multiple languages
Automatic, smoothly scrolling table of contents
Documentation is editable by users via Github
RTL Support

5. Docute

Website: https://docute.org/
Github Repo: https://github.com/egoist/docute

Features

Site generated on the fly.
Simple, elegant UI
Leveraging the power of Markdown and Vue.
Extensible plugin system
Good community support

What do you use for documentation? I know that I am definitely missing out on some great ones, so feel free to comment below.

** Please Note: The order is simply arbitrary and doesn't represent a ranking. Do your own research before choosing the best one for your project. **

DEV Community: Nafis Fuad

5 Free Static Documentation Generators You Must Check Out.

1. Docsify

Features

2. Docusaurus

Features

3. VuePress

Features

4. Slate

Features

5. Docute

Features