Documentation Development

Introduction

My deployment of documentation this year is different compared to a plain word or PowerPoint document. This is due to me using a piece of software called JetBrains Writerside. This software converts pages, written in Markdown, to actual webpage listing documentation. The software itself is currently in early access, so I thought that this would be a good time to test this out and teach myself how to write documentation in Markdown further than I already knew. It also has useful features, such as the ability to export documentation to PDF, making this a very versatile piece of software depending on what type of documentation deployment I am aiming for.

The raw files for this documentation can be accessed in my GitHub Repository, where you can find the markdown files for each page before they have been converted to webpage format and deployed to GitHub Pages.

Benefits

• Structure: Markdown is a very versatile format, allowing my documentation to be formatted by different websites i.e., GitHub

• Learning Markdown: Extending my knowledge further with Markdown is extremely beneficial, especially as seeing that services such as GitHub use to display documentation for repositories.

• Appearance: Using this results in spotless looking documentation for my project, and can be more intriguing compared to a Word document.

Downside

• Formatting: Exporting to other formats i.e., PDF loses support for specific image formatting, and loses the support for GIFs and video files to be implemented.

• Reliance on software: To add changes to my work, I have to use writerside. Maybe a problem when the software exits EAP and becomes a paid-for product.

• Early Access Software: The risk of undiscovered bugs may break certain pieces of software, full reliance is a bad idea.