1--------
2Overview
3
4This is the content and its server for the extensions/apps documentation served
5from http://developer.chrome.com/(extensions|apps).
6
7Documentation for apps and extensions are partly generated from API definitions
8(for the reference material), and partly hand-written.
9
10All documentation sources are checked into source control, just like any other
11Chrome source code. The server consumes these sources and generates the
12documentation web pages dynamically.
13
14The goals of this system are:
15
16* Docs are generated from API definitions; it isn't possible to add or modify
17  APIs without creating stub reference documentation at the same time.
18
19* Docs are editable by anyone with Chrome commit access. This encourages
20  developers to do their part to keep doc up to date, and allows part-time
21  contributors to help too.
22
23* Docs go live automatically and immediately, upon check-in. There's no separate
24  push process for docs.
25
26* Docs are branched automatically with Chrome's source code; the docs for each
27  Chrome release are kept with the corresponding source code.
28
29* Users can always find the current doc for any Chrome release channel (i.e.,
30  /trunk/extensions/, /beta/apps/, etc.). These URLs are updated automatically
31  with Chrome's release process.
32
33
34------------
35Editing docs
36
37  1. Edit files.
38
39     - If you are not updating the static HTML for a docs page, you will most
40       likely not have to do anything. The docs server will automatically pick
41       up changes to the JSON or IDL schemas.
42
43     - Otherwise, they will be in chrome/common/extensions/docs/templates/.
44       See the "Overview of directories" section for more information.
45       Chances are you'll want to change a file in either "intros" (if changing
46       API documentation) or "articles" (if changing non-API documentation).
47       If adding files or APIs you'll also need to add something to "public".
48
49     - Files in templates directory use the Motemplate template language. It is
50       extremely simple, essentially: write HTML.
51       See third_party/motemplate/README.md.
52
53     - static/css/out/site.css is generated by compiling static/sass/*.scss
54       files. Don't change site.css directly. Instead, change the *.scss files
55       and run compass from this (docs/) directory:
56           compass compile .
57       See http://compass-style.org/install to install compass.
58       See https://codereview.chromium.org/238303002/#msg6 for configuration
59       information (config.rb).
60
61  2. Run 'server2/preview.py'
62
63  3. Check your work at http://localhost:8000/(apps|extensions)/<doc_name>
64
65  4. Upload patch and offer reviewers a preview link at a URL with your patch
66     number and files, similar to:
67     https://chrome-apps-doc.appspot.com/_patch/12345678/apps/index.html
68     https://chrome-apps-doc.appspot.com/_patch/12345678/extensions/index.html
69
70  5. Commit files as with any other Chrome change. The live server will update
71     within 5-10 minutes.
72
73
74-----------------------
75Overview of directories
76
77* examples: The source for the sample extensions. Note that the sample apps are
78  checked into github at https://github.com/GoogleChrome/chrome-app-samples.
79
80* server2: The Python AppEngine server which serves all the content (living at
81  developer.chrome.com). Unless you're developing the server itself, you won't
82  need to worry about this (and if you are, see the README in there).
83
84* static: The static content (images, CSS, JavaScript, etc).
85
86* templates: These are the templates that server2 interprets and generates HTML
87  content with. This has four subdirectories:
88    - intros: The static content that appears before the API reference on API
89              pages.
90    - articles: The static content that appears on non-API pages.
91    - public: The top level templates for all pages.
92    - private: Helper templates used in rendering the docs.
93
94
95--------------------
96The AppEngine server
97
98See server2/README.
99