Writing documentation is easy, but why bother because nobody ever reads it anyway.

Right? Doesn't everyone feel this way at least once in awhile? Writing documentation is not easy, but it is just as necessary as writing code. There are many options for creating good helpful documentation: wikis, blogs, videos, slideshows, wherever your imagination leads you. The important bit is doing something.

Some of the elements of good documentation are:

• Concise and to the point
• Task-oriented
• Procedural, with examples of both correct and incorrect results
• Simple and direct

After you have created your documentation people must be able to find it, and find what they want in it. And then someone has to maintain it.

This may all sound a little scary, like it's complicated and a lot of work. Let me show you how to minimize the pain and maximize pleasant results with proven tips and tricks learned from years of experience, such as SEO tricks to help users find your documentation, efficient tools and workflow, and how to encourage contributors.