Best Practices for Technical Documentation
Having the right tools is just the beginning. Best practices are the rules that ensure your documentation is clear, accurate, and scalable over time.
These guidelines are focused on maintaining high quality in a modern, developer-centric environment.
1. Adopt the Diátaxis Framework
This is the single most important rule for structuring your documentation. The Diátaxis framework helps you categorize content based on the user's intent, solving the problem of "where do I put this?"
| Type | User Intent | Primary Goal | Best Practice |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tutorials | Learning how to do something new. | Teach the user, step-by-step. | Hands-on, single path. Start with "Hello World" and end with success. |
| How-To Guides | Solving a specific problem. | Show how to achieve a goal. | Focused, actionable steps. Title should be a verb: "Configure," "Integrate," "Troubleshoot." |
| Conceptual | Understanding the topic/product. | Explain the why and the how it works. | High-level, narrative. Use diagrams (Mermaid!) and analogies. |
| Reference | Looking up technical specifics. | Provide accurate technical details. | Structured, pure facts. Use tables, parameters, and code snippets. |
Never mix document types. Do not put conceptual explanations inside a How-To Guide, or a reference table inside a Tutorial. Link, don't combine.
2. Embrace the Docs-as-Code Workflow
Since you're using Docusaurus, you are already committed to this workflow. Maximize its benefits:
2.1 Treat Docs Like Code
- Version Control: Use Git. Commit early and often. Every content change should be traceable to a specific, descriptive commit message.
- Pull Requests (PRs): All content changes should go through a PR process. This enables peer review from developers (for technical accuracy) and other writers (for clarity and style).
- Branching: Always work on a separate feature branch. The docs for a new feature should live on the same branch as the code for that feature, ensuring they merge and deploy together.
2.2 Prioritize Plain Text
- Stick to Markdown/MDX: Avoid embedding complex formatting or elements that break the portability of the plain text file. The simpler the text file, the easier it is to maintain for years.
- Automate Quality: Configure your repository to use a linter (like write-good or Vale) to check for grammatical, stylistic, and tone errors automatically with every commit.
3. Focus on Clarity and Consistency
The cardinal sins of documentation are ambiguity and inconsistency. Here’s how to avoid them:
3.1 Write for Your Audience
- Define Jargon: Always define specialized terms on first use. If your audience is diverse, you may need a separate Glossary (a Conceptual document!).
- The Golden Rule: Always write one level below your audience’s presumed knowledge. If you're writing for mid-level developers, explain everything as if you're writing for junior developers. Over-explaining is better than under-explaining.
3.2 Maintain a Style Guide
Consistency is achieved through rules. If your company doesn't have a technical writing style guide (e.g., Google Developer Documentation Style Guide), adopt one.
| Element | Rule | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Voice | Use the active voice and direct address ("you"). | Good: You must run the installer. Bad: The installer should be run. |
| UI Elements | Use bold for buttons, screen names, or menu items. | Click the Settings menu, then select Deploy. |
| Code | Use inline code blocks (code) for file paths, variable names, and function names. | Set the MAX_RETRIES variable in the config.yaml file. |
4. Maintenance is Mandatory
Documentation is not a one-time task; it's a perpetual commitment. If the code changes, the docs must change.
- Schedule Audits: Regularly audit your existing documentation. Tools can find broken links, but only a human writer can identify outdated procedures.
- Self-Correction: If an old doc is still receiving high traffic but is outdated, either update it or archive it with a clear note linking to the current version.
- Use Feedback Loops: Encourage users to report errors or suggest improvements. Docusaurus makes this easy with "Edit this page" links that direct users to GitHub to create a PR. You are only as good as the feedback you receive.
- Deprecation: When you remove a feature or API, update the documentation before the code is merged, or at the very least, simultaneously. Never leave a deprecated feature fully documented.
You've now established your methodology. The next crucial step is determining who you are writing for, which governs everything from tone to vocabulary.