Write effective documentation

Documentation quality can make the difference in people trying your project or passing it by.

A project’s documentation gets the most amount of traffic, by far. It’s the place where people decide whether to continue learning about your project or move on. Thus, spending time and energy on documentation and technical writing, focusing on the most important section, “Getting Started,” will do wonders for your project’s traction.

Five actionable writing tips

Here are five actionable writing tips you can apply today. They may seem painfully simple and obvious, yet they are ignored over and over again in technical writing.

1. Use active voice: Active voice: “You can change these configurations by…” vs. passive voice: “These configurations can be changed by…”
2. Use simple, short sentences: While not open source, Hemingway App and Grammarly are both helpful tools.
3. Format for easy reading: Use headings, bullet points, and links to break up information into chunks instead of long explanatory paragraphs.
4. Keep it visual: Use tables and diagrams, not sentences, to represent information with multiple dimensions.
5. Mind your spelling and grammar: Always, always, always spell check for typos and grammar check for polish.

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