Commit ff440799 authored by Achilleas Pipinellis's avatar Achilleas Pipinellis

Add doc guidelines on documents naming and location

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parent 195b20e1
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This styleguide recommends best practices to improve documentation and to keep
it organized and easy to find.
## Naming
## Location and naming of documents
- When creating a new document and it has more than one word in its name,
>**Note:**
These guidelines derive from the discussion taken place in issue [#3349](ce-3349).
The documentation hierarchy can be vastly improved by providing a better layout
and organization of directories.
Having a structured document layout, we will be able to have meaningful URLs
like `docs.gitlab.com/user/project/merge_requests.html`. With this pattern,
you can immediately tell that you are navigating a user related documentation
and is about the project and its merge requests.
The table below shows what kind of documentation goes where.
| Directory | What belongs here |
| --------- | -------------- |
| `doc/user/` | User related documentation. Anything that can be done within the GitLab UI goes here including `/admin`. |
| `doc/administration/` | Documentation that requires the user to have access to the server where GitLab is installed. The admin settings that can be accessed via GitLab's interface go under `doc/user/admin_area/`. |
| `doc/api/` | API related documentation. |
| `doc/development/` | Documentation related to the development of GitLab. Any styleguides should go here. |
| `doc/legal/` | Legal documents about contributing to GitLab. |
| `doc/install/`| Probably the most visited directory, since `installation.md` is there. Ideally this should go under `doc/administration/`, but it's best to leave it as-is in order to avoid confusion (still debated though). |
| `doc/update/` | Same with `doc/install/`. Should be under `administration/`, but this is a well known location, better leave as-is, at least for now. |
---
**General rules:**
1. The correct naming and location of a new document, is a combination
of the relative URL of the document in question and the GitLab Map design
that is used for UX purposes ([source][graffle], [image][gitlab-map]).
1. When creating a new document and it has more than one word in its name,
make sure to use underscores instead of spaces or dashes (`-`). For example,
a proper naming would be `import_projects_from_github.md`. The same rule
applies to images.
1. There are four main directories, `user`, `administration`, `api` and `development`.
1. The `doc/user/` directory has five main subdirectories: `project/`, `group/`,
`profile/`, `dashboard/` and `admin_area/`.
1. `doc/user/project/` should contain all project related documentation.
1. `doc/user/group/` should contain all group related documentation.
1. `doc/user/profile/` should contain all profile related documentation.
Every page you would navigate under `/profile` should have its own document,
i.e. `account.md`, `applications.md`, `emails.md`, etc.
1. `doc/user/dashboard/` should contain all dashboard related documentation.
1. `doc/user/admin_area/` should contain all admin related documentation
describing what can be achieved by accessing GitLab's admin interface
(_not to be confused with `doc/administration` where server access is
required_).
1. Every category under `/admin/application_settings` should have its
own document located at `doc/user/admin_area/settings/`. For example,
the **Visibility and Access Controls** category should have a document
located at `doc/user/admin_area/settings/visibility_and_access_controls.md`.
---
If you are unsure where a document should live, you can ping `@axil` in your
merge request.
## Text
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[single spaces]: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/technology/2011/01/space_invaders.html
[gfm]: http://docs.gitlab.com/ce/markdown/markdown.html#newlines "GitLab flavored markdown documentation"
[doc-restart]: ../administration/restart_gitlab.md "GitLab restart documentation"
[ce-3349]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-ce/issues/3349 "Documentation restructure"
[graffle]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-design/blob/d8d39f4a87b90fb9ae89ca12dc565347b4900d5e/production/resources/gitlab-map.graffle
[gitlab-map]: https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab-design/raw/master/production/resources/gitlab-map.png
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