Skip to content

Improve & expand documentation #797

@ix5

Description

@ix5

Isso's docs have grown over time and some instructions have become outdated. Other parts lack needed info or are just not very inviting to newcomers.

Main problems

  • Information scattered over code comments, README, docs, (old) GitHub issues
  • Contribution guidelines are unclear to some people. @Guts complained about this in IRC and there should be some guidance on what kind of changes are favored and which will be rejected
  • Several configurations mentioned in Deploying probably haven't been tested in years

TODOs

(Not every item in this list must/should be addressed, this is just an overview of possible improvements)

  • Expand README, which serves as first point of contact for many people new to Isso
  • Expand FAQ
  • Review (obsolete?) tech such as Vagrant, Ansible, uWSGI whose configs might no longer work and investigate removing them
  • Deployment:
    • Add more deployment options such as Heroku, Vercel and investigate one-click installers for some SaaS platforms
    • Create current working Apache config, mention alternatives to nginx
    • Remove old/invalid references (e.g. ancient bugs in uwsgi/gevent)
    • Add example Content Security Policy (CSP)
  • Expand Troubleshooting with more common errors (survey GH issues for common culprits)
  • Overhaul contributing section
    • Point out more ways to contribute
    • Link to "contributor-needed" label
    • Write out a policy of what might be accepted/rejected
  • Document Isso's internals
    • Python part:
      • DB structure
      • Markdown rendering
      • Overview of libraries used
      • Document preferred coding style
      • Ensure references always mention python3 and pip3
    • Javascript part:
      • Overview of libraries used
      • RequireJS vs CommonJS format, AMD (now using webpack)
      • What bundling/minification is
    • Create an overview of all the tools/libraries/services associated with the project
  • Expand testing section to not only cover python part
    • Testing with docker
    • Pointing out easier ways to debug
    • Once migration to webpack/pug/... is complete:
      • Explain internal structure of JS part and how to debug inside the browser console
      • Document unit testing via jest
      • Document e2e integration testing via puppeteer (and common errors)
      • Document preferred code style
  • More purpose-oriented tagline (as opposed to "a disqus alternative")
  • Theme:
    • Style external links (perhaps with :before and an outgoing link icon)
    • Mobile-friendly theme
  • Add example cookie / GDPR policy (this necessitates explaining how Isso uses cookies and how long they're retained)

Related PRs

Metadata

Metadata

Assignees

No one assigned

    Labels

    docsDocumentation of the projectgood-first-issueHelp welcome!needs-contributorSomeone needs to implement this. Help wanted!

    Type

    No type

    Projects

    No projects

    Relationships

    None yet

    Development

    No branches or pull requests

    Issue actions