Docusaurus Documentation

What it is

Docusaurus is an open source static site generator maintained by Meta's open source team. It turns a folder of Markdown or MDX files into a fast documentation website built on React. The documentation covers installation, project structure, writing docs and blog posts, sidebars, versioning, internationalisation, search, theming, plugins and deployment.

Key features listed in the docs include:

• MDX, so you can embed interactive components in Markdown.
• Document versioning that keeps docs in step with product releases.
• Internationalisation for translated sites.
• Full-site search.
• Static HTML output for every page, which helps search engines.

Why a technical writer or advocate should learn it

Docs as code means documentation lives in a Git repository as plain text files, goes through pull request review and is built and published automatically. Docusaurus is one of the most common tools for that workflow in open source, so knowing it helps when you contribute to projects or join a team that uses it. Even if your future team uses a different generator, the concepts carry over: front matter, sidebars, versioned folders, build previews.

For a portfolio, a Docusaurus site hosted for free on GitHub Pages or a similar host shows that you can work the way engineering teams work.

Prerequisites

You need Node.js installed and basic comfort with a terminal and Git. You do not need to know React to write docs, only to customise components.

How to learn it

1. Follow the installation page to create a site with the classic template.
2. Replace the sample docs with three of your own pages: a tutorial, a how-to guide and a reference page.
3. Configure the sidebar and a simple navbar.
4. Set up a deployment and a pull request preview if your host supports it.
5. Later, try versioning to see how docs track releases.

Alternatives

MkDocs with the Material theme is a popular Python-based alternative; Sphinx is common in Python projects; Hugo and Astro Starlight are other choices. Pick whichever the project you want to contribute to uses.

Free vs paid

Free and open source under the MIT licence. Hosting can also be free on GitHub Pages or similar services for small sites.

Common questions

Do I need to code to use it? Very little. Writing pages is Markdown; setup needs a few terminal commands.

Is it overkill for a portfolio? A simple site is fine. The point is to show a real docs workflow, not a complex site.