We place a high importance on consistency and readability of documentation.\nAfter all, Django was created in a journalism environment! So we treat our\ndocumentation like we treat our code: we aim to improve it as often as\npossible.
\nDocumentation changes generally come in two forms:
\nGeneral improvements: typo corrections, error fixes and better\nexplanations through clearer writing and more examples.
New features: documentation of features that have been added to the\nframework since the last release.
This section explains how writers can craft their documentation changes\nin the most useful and least error-prone ways.
\nThough Django’s documentation is intended to be read as HTML at\nhttps://docs.djangoproject.com/, we edit it as a collection of text files for\nmaximum flexibility. These files live in the top-level docs/ directory of a\nDjango release.
If you’d like to start contributing to our docs, get the development version of\nDjango from the source code repository\n(see Installing the development version). The development version has the\nlatest-and-greatest documentation, just as it has latest-and-greatest code.\nWe also backport documentation fixes and improvements, at the discretion of the\ncommitter, to the last release branch. That’s because it’s highly advantageous\nto have the docs for the last release be up-to-date and correct (see\nDiferencias entre versiones).
\nDjango’s documentation uses the Sphinx documentation system, which in turn\nis based on docutils. The basic idea is that lightly-formatted plain-text\ndocumentation is transformed into HTML, PDF, and any other output format.
\nTo build the documentation locally, install Sphinx:
\nLinux / macOS
$ python -m pip install Sphinx\nWindows
...\\> py -m pip install Sphinx\nThen from the docs directory, build the HTML:
Linux / macOS
$ make html\nWindows
...\\> make.bat html\nTo get started contributing, you’ll want to read the reStructuredText\nreference.
\nYour locally-built documentation will be themed differently than the\ndocumentation at docs.djangoproject.com.\nThis is OK! If your changes look good on your local machine, they’ll look good\non the website.
\nThe documentation is organized into several categories:
\nTutorials take the reader by the hand through a series\nof steps to create something.
\nThe important thing in a tutorial is to help the reader achieve something\nuseful, preferably as early as possible, in order to give them confidence.
\nExplain the nature of the problem we’re solving, so that the reader\nunderstands what we’re trying to achieve. Don’t feel that you need to begin\nwith explanations of how things work - what matters is what the reader does,\nnot what you explain. It can be helpful to refer back to what you’ve done and\nexplain afterwards.
\nTopic guides aim to explain a concept or subject at a\nfairly high level.
\nLink to reference material rather than repeat it. Use examples and don’t be\nreluctant to explain things that seem very basic to you - it might be the\nexplanation someone else needs.
\nProviding background context helps a newcomer connect the topic to things\nthat they already know.
\nReference guides contain technical reference for APIs.\nThey describe the functioning of Django’s internal machinery and instruct in\nits use.
\nKeep reference material tightly focused on the subject. Assume that the\nreader already understands the basic concepts involved but needs to know or\nbe reminded of how Django does it.
\nReference guides aren’t the place for general explanation. If you find\nyourself explaining basic concepts, you may want to move that material to a\ntopic guide.
\nHow-to guides are recipes that take the reader through\nsteps in key subjects.
\nWhat matters most in a how-to guide is what a user wants to achieve.\nA how-to should always be result-oriented rather than focused on internal\ndetails of how Django implements whatever is being discussed.
\nThese guides are more advanced than tutorials and assume some knowledge about\nhow Django works. Assume that the reader has followed the tutorials and don’t\nhesitate to refer the reader back to the appropriate tutorial rather than\nrepeat the same material.
\nWhen using pronouns in reference to a hypothetical person, such as «a user with\na session cookie», gender neutral pronouns (they/their/them) should be used.\nInstead of:
\nhe or she… use they.
him or her… use them.
his or her… use their.
his or hers… use theirs.
himself or herself… use themselves.
Try to avoid using words that minimize the difficulty involved in a task or\noperation, such as «easily», «simply», «just», «merely», «straightforward», and\nso on. People’s experience may not match your expectations, and they may become\nfrustrated when they do not find a step as «straightforward» or «simple» as it\nis implied to be.
\nHere are some style guidelines on commonly used terms throughout the\ndocumentation:
\nDjango – when referring to the framework, capitalize Django. It is\nlowercase only in Python code and in the djangoproject.com logo.
email – no hyphen.
MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite
SQL – when referring to SQL, the expected pronunciation should be\n«Ess Queue Ell» and not «sequel». Thus in a phrase like «Returns an\nSQL expression», «SQL» should be preceded by «an» and not «a».
Python – when referring to the language, capitalize Python.
realize, customize, initialize, etc. – use the American\n«ize» suffix, not «ise.»
subclass – it’s a single word without a hyphen, both as a verb\n(«subclass that model») and as a noun («create a subclass»).
Web, World Wide Web, the Web – note Web is always\ncapitalized when referring to the World Wide Web.
website – use one word, without capitalization.
model – it’s not capitalized.
template – it’s not capitalized.
URLconf – use three capitalized letters, with no space before\n«conf.»
view – it’s not capitalized.
These guidelines regulate the format of our reST (reStructuredText)\ndocumentation:
\nIn section titles, capitalize only initial words and proper nouns.
Wrap the documentation at 80 characters wide, unless a code example\nis significantly less readable when split over two lines, or for another\ngood reason.
The main thing to keep in mind as you write and edit docs is that the\nmore semantic markup you can add the better. So:
\nAdd ``django.contrib.auth`` to your ``INSTALLED_APPS``...\nIsn’t nearly as helpful as:
\nAdd :mod:`django.contrib.auth` to your :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`...\nThis is because Sphinx will generate proper links for the latter, which\ngreatly helps readers.
\nYou can prefix the target with a ~ (that’s a tilde) to get only the\n«last bit» of that path. So :mod:`~django.contrib.auth` will\ndisplay a link with the title «auth».
Use intersphinx to reference Python’s and Sphinx”\ndocumentation.
Add .. code-block:: <lang> to literal blocks so that they get\nhighlighted. Prefer relying on automatic highlighting using ::\n(two colons). This has the benefit that if the code contains some invalid\nsyntax, it won’t be highlighted. Adding .. code-block:: python, for\nexample, will force highlighting despite invalid syntax.
To improve readability, use .. admonition:: Descriptive title rather than\n.. note::. Use these boxes sparingly.
Use these heading styles:
\n===\nOne\n===\n\nTwo\n===\n\nThree\n-----\n\nFour\n~~~~\n\nFive\n^^^^\nUse :rfc: to reference RFC and try to link to the relevant\nsection if possible. For example, use :rfc:`2324#section-2.3.2` or\n:rfc:`Custom link text <2324#section-2.3.2>`.
Use :pep: to reference a Python Enhancement Proposal (PEP)\nand try to link to the relevant section if possible. For example, use\n:pep:`20#easter-egg` or :pep:`Easter Egg <20#easter-egg>`.
Use :mimetype: to refer to a MIME Type unless the value\nis quoted for a code example.
Use :envvar: to refer to an environment variable. You may\nalso need to define a reference to the documentation for that environment\nvariable using .. envvar::.
Besides Sphinx’s built-in markup, Django’s docs\ndefine some extra description units:
\nSettings:
\n.. setting:: INSTALLED_APPS\nTo link to a setting, use :setting:`INSTALLED_APPS`.
Template tags:
\n.. templatetag:: regroup\nTo link, use :ttag:`regroup`.
Template filters:
\n.. templatefilter:: linebreaksbr\nTo link, use :tfilter:`linebreaksbr`.
Field lookups (i.e. Foo.objects.filter(bar__exact=whatever)):
.. fieldlookup:: exact\nTo link, use :lookup:`exact`.
django-admin commands:
.. django-admin:: migrate\nTo link, use :djadmin:`migrate`.
django-admin command-line options:
.. django-admin-option:: --traceback\nTo link, use :option:`command_name --traceback` (or omit command_name\nfor the options shared by all commands like --verbosity).
Links to Trac tickets (typically reserved for patch release notes):
\n:ticket:`12345`\nDjango’s documentation uses a custom console directive for documenting\ncommand-line examples involving django-admin, manage.py, python,\netc.). In the HTML documentation, it renders a two-tab UI, with one tab showing\na Unix-style command prompt and a second tab showing a Windows prompt.
For example, you can replace this fragment:
\nuse this command:\n\n.. code-block:: console\n\n $ python manage.py shell\nwith this one:
\nuse this command:\n\n.. console::\n\n $ python manage.py shell\nNotice two things:
\nYou usually will replace occurrences of the .. code-block:: console\ndirective.
You don’t need to change the actual content of the code example. You still\nwrite it assuming a Unix-y environment (i.e. a '$' prompt symbol,\n'/' as filesystem path components separator, etc.)
The example above will render a code example block with two tabs. The first\none will show:
\n$ python manage.py shell\n(No changes from what .. code-block:: console would have rendered).
The second one will show:
\n...\\> py manage.py shell\nOur policy for new features is:
\n\n\nAll documentation of new features should be written in a way that\nclearly designates the features are only available in the Django\ndevelopment version. Assume documentation readers are using the latest\nrelease, not the development version.
\n
Our preferred way for marking new features is by prefacing the features”\ndocumentation with: «.. versionadded:: X.Y», followed by a mandatory\nblank line and an optional description (indented).
General improvements, or other changes to the APIs that should be emphasized\nshould use the «.. versionchanged:: X.Y» directive (with the same format\nas the versionadded mentioned above.
These versionadded and versionchanged blocks should be «self-contained.»\nIn other words, since we only keep these annotations around for two releases,\nit’s nice to be able to remove the annotation and its contents without having\nto reflow, reindent, or edit the surrounding text. For example, instead of\nputting the entire description of a new or changed feature in a block, do\nsomething like this:
.. class:: Author(first_name, last_name, middle_name=None)\n\n A person who writes books.\n\n ``first_name`` is ...\n\n ...\n\n ``middle_name`` is ...\n\n .. versionchanged:: A.B\n\n The ``middle_name`` argument was added.\nPut the changed annotation notes at the bottom of a section, not the top.
\nAlso, avoid referring to a specific version of Django outside a\nversionadded or versionchanged block. Even inside a block, it’s often\nredundant to do so as these annotations render as «New in Django A.B:» and\n«Changed in Django A.B», respectively.
If a function, attribute, etc. is added, it’s also okay to use a\nversionadded annotation like this:
.. attribute:: Author.middle_name\n\n .. versionadded:: A.B\n\n An author's middle name.\nWe can remove the .. versionadded:: A.B annotation without any indentation\nchanges when the time comes.
Optimize image compression where possible. For PNG files, use OptiPNG and\nAdvanceCOMP’s advpng:
$ cd docs\n$ optipng -o7 -zm1-9 -i0 -strip all `find . -type f -not -path "./_build/*" -name "*.png"`\n$ advpng -z4 `find . -type f -not -path "./_build/*" -name "*.png"`\nThis is based on OptiPNG version 0.7.5. Older versions may complain about the\n-strip all option being lossy.
For a quick example of how it all fits together, consider this hypothetical\nexample:
\nFirst, the ref/settings.txt document could have an overall layout\nlike this:
========\nSettings\n========\n\n...\n\n.. _available-settings:\n\nAvailable settings\n==================\n\n...\n\n.. _deprecated-settings:\n\nDeprecated settings\n===================\n\n...\nNext, the topics/settings.txt document could contain something like\nthis:
You can access a :ref:`listing of all available settings\n<available-settings>`. For a list of deprecated settings see\n:ref:`deprecated-settings`.\n\nYou can find both in the :doc:`settings reference document\n</ref/settings>`.\nWe use the Sphinx doc cross reference element when we want to\nlink to another document as a whole and the ref element when\nwe want to link to an arbitrary location in a document.
Next, notice how the settings are annotated:
\n.. setting:: ADMINS\n\nADMINS\n======\n\nDefault: ``[]`` (Empty list)\n\nA list of all the people who get code error notifications. When\n``DEBUG=False`` and a view raises an exception, Django will email these people\nwith the full exception information. Each member of the list should be a tuple\nof (Full name, email address). Example::\n\n [('John', 'john@example.com'), ('Mary', 'mary@example.com')]\n\nNote that Django will email *all* of these people whenever an error happens.\nSee :doc:`/howto/error-reporting` for more information.\nThis marks up the following header as the «canonical» target for the\nsetting ADMINS. This means any time I talk about ADMINS,\nI can reference it using :setting:`ADMINS`.
That’s basically how everything fits together.
\nBefore you commit your docs, it’s a good idea to run the spelling checker.\nYou’ll need to install sphinxcontrib-spelling first. Then from the\ndocs directory, run make spelling. Wrong words (if any) along with the\nfile and line number where they occur will be saved to\n_build/spelling/output.txt.
If you encounter false-positives (error output that actually is correct), do\none of the following:
\nSurround inline code or brand/technology names with grave accents (`).
Find synonyms that the spell checker recognizes.
If, and only if, you are sure the word you are using is correct - add it\nto docs/spelling_wordlist (please keep the list in alphabetical order).
See Localizing the Django documentation if\nyou’d like to help translate the documentation into another language.
\ndjango-admin man pageLink to this heading#Sphinx can generate a manual page for the\ndjango-admin command. This is configured in\ndocs/conf.py. Unlike other documentation output, this man page should be\nincluded in the Django repository and the releases as\ndocs/man/django-admin.1. There isn’t a need to update this file when\nupdating the documentation, as it’s updated once as part of the release process.
To generate an updated version of the man page, run make man in the\ndocs directory. The new man page will be written in\ndocs/_build/man/django-admin.1.