dnscontrol/documentation/styleguide-doc.md

Documentation Coding Style

Where are the docs?

TL;DR version: docs is the marketing website. documentation is the docs.dnscontrol.org website. (Yes, the names are backwards!)

The two websites

1. https://dnscontrol.org/
   • The main website
   • Source code: docs
   • Mostly "marketing" for the project.
   • Rarely changes. Updated via GitHub "pages" feature.
2. https://docs.dnscontrol.org/
   • Project documentation
   • Source code: documentation
   • Users and developer documentation
   • Changes frequently. Updated via GitBook

The directory structure

Within the git repo, docs are grouped:

• documentation/: general docs
• documentation/provider/: One file per provider
• documentation/language-reference/: One file per dnsconfig.js language feature
• documentation/assets/FOO/: Images for page FOO(PNGs only, please!)

How to add a new page?

1. Add the page to the documentation folder (possibly a sub folder)
2. List the page in SUMMARY.md so that it will appear in the table of contents, sidebar, etc.

Top-of-Document parameters

Files in the documentation/language-reference/{record,domain,global} subdirectories have a header at the top that is used to populate other systems.

Here's an example from A

---
name: A
provider: NAMEDOTCOM
parameters:
  - name
  - address
  - modifiers...
parameter_types:
  name: string
  address: string | number
  "modifiers...": RecordModifier[]
---

• name: The name of the function/constant in the document. This should match the filename (aside from the .md suffix).
• parameters: These are the names of the parameters that the function accepts. modifiers... indicates that a variable number of modifiers can be added.
• parameter_types: The typescript type for each parameter. This is used when generating types-dnscontrol.d.ts
• provider: If a feature is only available for one provider

GitHub pull request preview

When you submit a GitHub pull request, you can view the result in advance. This allows you to check the impact of changes.

How to access preview links

For every pull request, you’ll see a status added to the GitHub pull request with a unique preview URL. Clicking the Details link on the status will take you to the preview URL for your content. You can then make sure the content is as expected.

{% hint style="info" %} NOTE: A new preview URL is created for every git update. Please check the GitHub status for the most up to date URL. {% endhint %}

Formatting tips

General

Break lines every 80 chars.

Include a blank line between paragraphs.

Leave exactly one blank line before and after a heading.

JavaScript code should use double quotes (") for strings, not single quotes ('). They are equivalent but consistency is good.

Headings

#  Title of the page

## Heading

At least one paragraph.

## Subheadings

At least one paragraph.

* **Step 1: Foo**

Description of the step.

* **Step 2: Bar**

Description of the step.

(further sub sub headings are discouraged encouraged)

Code Snippets

See the examples below, for the Markdown syntax click on the 'Source code'.

Long example: (with filename)

{% code title="dnsconfig.js" %}

var REG_NONE = NewRegistrar("none");
var DNS_BIND = NewDnsProvider("bind");

D("example.com", REG_NONE, DnsProvider(DNS_BIND),
    A("@", "1.2.3.4"),
END);

{% endcode %}

Source code

Long example: (without filename)

{% code %}

var REG_NONE = NewRegistrar("none");
var DNS_BIND = NewDnsProvider("bind");

D("example.com", REG_NONE, DnsProvider(DNS_BIND),
    A("@", "1.2.3.4")
);

{% endcode %}

Source code

Hint

Hints are a great way to bring the reader's attention to specific elements in your documentation.

There are 4 different types of hints, and both inline content and formatting are supported.

Example of a hint

{% hint style="info" %} Info hints are great for showing general information, or providing tips and tricks. {% endhint %}

Source code

{% hint style="success" %} Success hints are good for showing positive actions or achievements. {% endhint %}

Source code

{% hint style="warning" %} Warning hints are good for showing important information or non-critical warnings. {% endhint %}

Source code

{% hint style="danger" %} Danger hints are good for highlighting destructive actions or raising attention to critical information. {% endhint %}

Source code

{% hint style="info" %}

This is a heading

This is a line

This is a second line {% endhint %}

Technical references

Mentioning language features

Not every mention to A, CNAME, or function needs to be a link to the manual for that record type. However, the first mention on a page should always be a link. Others are at the authors digression.

The [`PTR`](language-reference/domain-modifiers/PTR.md) feature is helpful in LANs.

Mentioning functions from the Source code

The function `GetRegistrarCorrections()` returns...

Links

Internal links

Blah blah blah [M365_BUILDER](language-reference/domain-modifiers/M365_BUILDER.md)

{% hint style="info" %} NOTE: The .md is required. {% endhint %}

Link to another website

Just list the URL.

Blah blah blah <https://www.google.com> blah blah.

Link with anchor text

Blah blah blah [a search engine](https://www.google.com) blah blah.

Capitalization matters

Please capitalize these terms as you see them here:

• DNSControl
• GitHub

Proofreading

Please spellcheck documents before submitting a PR.

Don't be surprised if Tom rewrites your text. He often does that to keep the documentation consistent and make it more approachable by new users. It's not because he has a big ego. Well, not usually.