Update README documentation

[jsoref]

Why:

• Closes: Title implies there are multiple relevant README files, but the content relates to a single README.md file per repository #39707

What's being changed (if available, include any code snippets, screenshots, or gifs):

Check off the following:

• A subject matter expert (SME) has reviewed the technical accuracy of the content in this PR. In most cases, the author can be the SME. Open source contributions may require an SME review from GitHub staff.
• The changes in this PR meet the docs fundamentals that are required for all content.
• All CI checks are passing and the changes look good in the review environment.

[github-actions]

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Table of review links

Note: Please update the URL for your staging server or codespace.

The table shows the files in the content directory that were changed in this pull request. This helps you review your changes on a staging server. Changes to the data directory are not included in this table.

Source	Review	Production	What Changed
repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-readmes.md	fpt ghec ghes@ 3.17 3.16 3.15 3.14	fpt ghec ghes@ 3.17 3.16 3.15 3.14

Key: fpt: Free, Pro, Team; ghec: GitHub Enterprise Cloud; ghes: GitHub Enterprise Server

🤖 This comment is automatically generated.

[jsoref]

@Sharra-writes are these links supposed to work?

fpt

This adjective-noun-hash-4000.app.github.dev page can’t be found
No webpage was found for the web address: https://adjective-noun-hash-4000.app.github.dev/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-readmes
HTTP ERROR 404

[jsoref]

This is a hack. @Sharra-writes can fix it more properly at a later date.

[Sharra-writes]

I looked through our "about" docs and I've realized that most of them start with a section that's "About thing." I don't love that, I think it's a little pointless, but it seems to be the format. And then I read your issue again and realized you were initially talking about changing the title. What would you think about doing that, using "About the repository README file" as the title, and leaving "About READMEs" as the section title? Alternatively, if you can come up with another/better section title, I would be very in favor of it. I was kicking around things like "Overview of READMEs" or "Purpose of a README," but I'm not sure "overview" is different enough from "about" to justify breaking the format, and the section as currently written doesn't quite fit a "purpose" heading.

In the meantime, I'm pretty sure we changed things recently so that the URL can match the short title instead of having to match the title, but I need to see if there's anything special I have to do to make that work.

[jsoref]

The about section title is indeed annoying.

And yes, I'm more interested in changing the first title than the second. afaict the shortTitle does let me do what I need to avoid trying to rename things all over.

The second About READMEs is actually pretty terrible in this case given the content it "covers" (but doesn't actually cover!):

You can add a README file to a repository to communicate important information about your project. A README, along with a repository license, citation file, contribution guidelines, and a code of conduct, communicates expectations for your project and helps you manage contributions.

Effectively half of the content for the first paragraph in the section has nothing to do with the README file!

I considered:
## Repository Overview

Which might properly cover what's in that paragraph.

---

If you put your README file in your repository's hidden .github, root, or docs directory, GitHub will recognize and automatically surface your README to repository visitors.

This sentence might not be technically wrong, but I read it as:

• If you put your README file in your repository's hidden .github directory; or
• If you put your README file in your repository's hidden root directory; or
• If you put your README file in your repository's hidden docs directory;
  ...

which isn't what the author was trying to say. I have to endorse your plan to make rewriting this file a project to do very soon.

---

This paragraph needs a section heading so it can have an anchor:

If you add a README file to the root of a public repository with the same name as your username, that README will automatically appear on your profile page. You can edit your profile README with GitHub Flavored Markdown to create a personalized section on your profile. For more information, see Managing your profile README.

---

https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-readmes#relative-links-and-image-paths-in-readme-files

Your link text should be on a single line. The example below will not work.

[Contribution
guidelines for this project](docs/CONTRIBUTING.md)

I hope that statement was correct at some point, but regardless, it doesn't appear to be correct today:

https://github.com/check-spelling-sandbox/ideal-eureka-effective-guacamole?tab=readme-ov-file

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/check-spelling-sandbox/ideal-eureka-effective-guacamole/refs/heads/prerelease/README.md

[jsoref]

I'm actually struggling w/ a title for the document.

I considered:

title: About the repository README file

But, I don't think that's really what this document is about.

It's more like "What to put into a repository README file, where to put it, and how it will be seen"

How about:

title: Using a repository README file

That isn't wrong, the document does help you use one. It helps you know where to put it, it helps you know what to put in it, and it helps you understand how others will use/experience it.

[jsoref]

Fwiw, I've reverted me change to the ## About READMEs -- I can't think of any good way to handle that, and the page title is more important/problematic than the first item in it, even though that's clearly a mess. 🤷‍♂️

[dm9502055-arch]

src/ghes-releases/lib/enterprise-dates.json

[jsoref]

Since this page has a ToC that's automatically displayed, I see no reason for the section titles to say README when the section content clearly says "well, actually, any markdown file".

[christianmmaduka50-spec]

- Josh Soref initiated a pull request to update README documentation on GitHub. - He is debating with Sharra-writes and Daniel about specific changes and titles. 08165013013

…

On Fri, Aug 8, 2025, 8:46 PM Josh Soref ***@***.***> wrote: ***@***.**** commented on this pull request. ------------------------------ In content/repositories/managing-your-repositorys-settings-and-features/customizing-your-repository/about-readmes.md <#39720 (comment)>: > @@ -35,25 +36,25 @@ When your README is viewed on GitHub, any content beyond 500 KiB will be truncat {% data reusables.profile.profile-readme %} -## Auto-generated table of contents for README files +## Auto-generated table of contents for markdown files Since *this* page has a ToC that's automatically *displayed*, I see no reason for the section titles to say README when the section content clearly says "well, actually, any markdown file". image.png (view on web) <https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/2b34a041-1771-482d-a446-002fa3614150> — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#39720 (review)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BU5CSBMNXHCUOFKVTDACFG33MT5CBAVCNFSM6AAAAACDME2WWSVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43YUDVNRWFEZLROVSXG5CSMV3GSZLXHMZTCMBRHE3TQNZRHE> . You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>