Do you produce the best End-User Documentation?

Updated by Seth Daily [SSW] 5 months ago. See history

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Video: GitBook vs. TinaCMS: Best Options for End-User Documentation | Seth Daily (4 min)

End-User Documentation

Option 1: Word document

word

Pros:

  • Content - Easy to edit
  • Navigation - Has nice navigation on the left

Cons:

  • Copying Code - No code elements for technical training
  • No Google Analytics
  • Not native to the web

Option 2: Plain HTML pages

Pros:

  • You have complete control over how it looks
  • Can add Google Analytics

Cons:

  • Content - Hard to edit using HTML
  • Navigation - Does not have any navigation
  • Copying Code - No code elements for technical training
  • Lacks basic features, like search

Option 3: GitBook

GitBook

GitBook

Pros:

  • Content - It's in Markdown
  • Navigation - Has nice navigation on the left
  • Copying Code - If you have code elements for technical training it allows easy copying and pasting
  • Simple Branding options
  • It's in GitHub - allows people to give suggestions
  • Integrated search
  • Integrated with Google Analytics

Cons:

  • $ 6.70 USD per user per month (expensive)

Option 4: Nextbook

Nextbook

Pros:

  • Content - It's in Markdown
  • Navigation - Has nice navigation on the left
  • Copying Code - If you have code elements for technical training it allows easy copying and pasting
  • It's in GitHub - allows people to give suggestions

Cons:

  • No Integrated search
  • No Integration with Google Analytics
  • No Branding options
  • Solo maintainer
  • Clunky menu system

Option 5: Docusaurus

docusaurus.io

Pros:

  • Content - It's in Markdown
  • Navigation - Has nice navigation on the left
  • Copying Code - If you have code elements for technical training it allows easy copying and pasting
  • Branding via CSS
  • It's in GitHub - allows people to give suggestions
  • Maintained by Meta (Facebook)
  • Highly customizable via plugins
  • Integrated search (Algolia and more)
  • Integration with Google Analytics (plugin)
  • Internationalization (i18n) support
  • Free

Cons:

  • Need to self-host

Option 6: TinaCMS (recommended)

Pros:

  • Content - Supports Markdown
  • Editing - user-friendly WYSIWYG editor
  • Copying Code - Supports easy copying and pasting of code elements
  • Customization - Freedom to build custom React components
  • Seamless with GitHub - Allows for pull requrests and suggestions
  • Internationalization (i18n) support
  • Pricing - Free for small projects and flexible pricing for larger ones
  • Hosting - free to choose - no lock in
  • Works with Docusaurus

Cons:

Developer investment - You get the best experience by taking the time to develop custom components

Acknowledgements

Adam Cogan
Jason Taylor
Greg Harris
Daniel Mackay
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