Docutils | Overview | About | Users | Reference | API | Developers

Docutils Project Documentation Overview

Author:

David Goodger

Contact:
docutils-develop@lists.sourceforge.net
Date:
2023-12-06
Revision:
9499

The latest working documents may be accessed individually below, or from the docs directory of the Docutils distribution.

Docutils Stakeholders

can be categorized in several groups:
End-users

users of reStructuredText and the Docutils tools. Although some are developers (e.g. Python developers utilizing reStructuredText for docstrings in their source), many are not.

Client-developers

developers using Docutils as a library, programmers developing with Docutils.

Component-developers:

those who implement application-specific components, directives, and/or roles, separately from Docutils.

Core-developers

developers of the Docutils codebase and participants in the Docutils project community.

Re-implementers

developers of alternate implementations of Docutils.

There's a lot of overlap between these groups.

Most (perhaps all) developers are also end-users. Core-developers are also client-developers, and may also be component-developers in other projects. Component-developers are also client-developers.

Project Fundamentals

These files are for all Docutils stakeholders. They are kept at the top level of the Docutils project directory.

README:

Project overview: quick-start, requirements, installation, and usage.

COPYING:

Conditions for Docutils redistribution, with links to licenses.

FAQ:

Docutils Frequently Asked Questions. If you have a question or issue, there's a good chance it's already answered here.

BUGS:

A list of known bugs, and how to report a bug.

RELEASE-NOTES:

Summary of the major changes in recent releases and notice of future incompatible changes.

HISTORY:

Detailed change history log.

THANKS:

Acknowledgements.

Introductory & Tutorial Material for End-Users

Docutils-general:
Writer-specific:
reStructuredText:
Editor support:

Reference Material for All Groups

Many of these files began as developer specifications, but now that they're mature and used by end-users and client-developers, they have become reference material. Successful specs evolve into refs.

Docutils-general:
reStructuredText:
Python Enhancement Proposals

Please note that PEPs in the master repository developed independent from the local versions after submission.

Prehistoric:

Setext Documents Mirror

API Reference Material for Client-Developers

The Docutils Publisher

entry points for using Docutils as a library

Docutils Runtime Settings

configuration framework details

Docutils Transforms

change the document tree in-place (resolve references, …)

The Docutils Design Specification (PEP 258) is a must-read for any Docutils developer.

Instructions for Developers

Development Notes and Plans for Core-Developers

Docutils-general:
reStructuredText: