Page content types

The Kubernetes documentation follows several types of page content:

  • Concept
  • Task
  • Tutorial
  • Reference

Content sections

Each page content type contains a number of sections defined by Markdown comments and HTML headings. You can add content headings to your page with the heading shortcode. The comments and headings help maintain the structure of the page content types.

Examples of Markdown comments defining page content sections:

<!-- overview -->

<!-- body -->

To create common headings in your content pages, use the heading shortcode with a heading string.

Examples of heading strings:

  • whatsnext
  • prerequisites
  • objectives
  • cleanup
  • synopsis
  • seealso
  • options

For example, to create a whatsnext heading, add the heading shortcode with the "whatsnext" string:

## {{% heading "whatsnext" %}}

You can declare a prerequisites heading as follows:

## {{% heading "prerequisites" %}}

The heading shortcode expects one string parameter. The heading string parameter matches the prefix of a variable in the i18n/<lang>.toml files. For example:

i18n/en.toml:

[whatsnext_heading]
other = "What's next"

i18n/ko.toml:

[whatsnext_heading]
other = "다음 내용"

Content types

Each content type informally defines its expected page structure. Create page content with the suggested page sections.

Concept

A concept page explains some aspect of Kubernetes. For example, a concept page might describe the Kubernetes Deployment object and explain the role it plays as an application once it is deployed, scaled, and updated. Typically, concept pages don't include sequences of steps, but instead provide links to tasks or tutorials.

To write a new concept page, create a Markdown file in a subdirectory of the /content/en/docs/concepts directory, with the following characteristics:

Concept pages are divided into three sections:

Page section
overview
body
whatsnext

The overview and body sections appear as comments in the concept page. You can add the whatsnext section to your page with the heading shortcode.

Fill each section with content. Follow these guidelines:

  • Organize content with H2 and H3 headings.
  • For overview, set the topic's context with a single paragraph.
  • For body, explain the concept.
  • For whatsnext, provide a bulleted list of topics (5 maximum) to learn more about the concept.

Annotations is a published example of a concept page.

Task

A task page shows how to do a single thing, typically by giving a short sequence of steps. Task pages have minimal explanation, but often provide links to conceptual topics that provide related background and knowledge.

To write a new task page, create a Markdown file in a subdirectory of the /content/en/docs/tasks directory, with the following characteristics:

Page section
overview
prerequisites
steps
discussion
whatsnext

The overview, steps, and discussion sections appear as comments in the task page. You can add the prerequisites and whatsnext sections to your page with the heading shortcode.

Within each section, write your content. Use the following guidelines:

  • Use a minimum of H2 headings (with two leading # characters). The sections themselves are titled automatically by the template.
  • For overview, use a paragraph to set context for the entire topic.
  • For prerequisites, use bullet lists when possible. Start adding additional prerequisites below the include. The default prerequisites include a running Kubernetes cluster.
  • For steps, use numbered lists.
  • For discussion, use normal content to expand upon the information covered in steps.
  • For whatsnext, give a bullet list of up to 5 topics the reader might be interested in reading next.

An example of a published task topic is Using an HTTP proxy to access the Kubernetes API.

Tutorial

A tutorial page shows how to accomplish a goal that is larger than a single task. Typically a tutorial page has several sections, each of which has a sequence of steps. For example, a tutorial might provide a walkthrough of a code sample that illustrates a certain feature of Kubernetes. Tutorials can include surface-level explanations, but should link to related concept topics for deep explanations.

To write a new tutorial page, create a Markdown file in a subdirectory of the /content/en/docs/tutorials directory, with the following characteristics:

Page section
overview
prerequisites
objectives
lessoncontent
cleanup
whatsnext

The overview, objectives, and lessoncontent sections appear as comments in the tutorial page. You can add the prerequisites, cleanup, and whatsnext sections to your page with the heading shortcode.

Within each section, write your content. Use the following guidelines:

  • Use a minimum of H2 headings (with two leading # characters). The sections themselves are titled automatically by the template.
  • For overview, use a paragraph to set context for the entire topic.
  • For prerequisites, use bullet lists when possible. Add additional prerequisites below the ones included by default.
  • For objectives, use bullet lists.
  • For lessoncontent, use a mix of numbered lists and narrative content as appropriate.
  • For cleanup, use numbered lists to describe the steps to clean up the state of the cluster after finishing the task.
  • For whatsnext, give a bullet list of up to 5 topics the reader might be interested in reading next.

An example of a published tutorial topic is Running a Stateless Application Using a Deployment.

Reference

A component tool reference page shows the description and flag options output for a Kubernetes component tool. Each page generates from scripts using the component tool commands.

A tool reference page has several possible sections:

Page section
synopsis
options
options from parent commands
examples
seealso

Examples of published tool reference pages are:

What's next

Last modified July 17, 2020 at 12:07 PM PST: