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Example configurations

Common configurations cheat-sheet.

Single version

mkdocs.publish.docPath = ''

Documentation always published into root folder:

gh-pages root/
    generated docs

Very specific option, suitable for some site, blog etc. Project documentation requires multi-version publication so users could always consult with old docs.

Simple multi-version

mkdocs.publish {
    docPath = '$version'  
    rootRedirect = true
}

Documentation published into sub-folder. Only this sub folder would be updated on publication - other folders remain untouched.

Tip

It's better to specify exact version in docPath, because usually documentation site being updated after release and with default $version you would publish snapshot version instead.

docPath = '1.0'

Each publication would publish:

gh-pages root/
    version/
        generated docs
    index.html
    versions.json

Root index.html required to redirect use to the latest version when it opens site root.

To activate version switcher component add in mkdocs.yml:

extra:
  version:
    provider: mike

(component requires only versions.json file generated at site root)

Using latest alias

It is quite common for projects to allow user to put latest in doc url instead of exact version: this way user could put link in his own code/docs which would always lead to up-to-date page.

mkdocs.publish {
    docPath = '1.0'  
    rootRedirect = true
    versionAliases = ['latest']
}

Everything as before, but on publication new folder would appear:

gh-pages root/
    version/
        generated docs
    latest/
        generated docs    
    index.html
    versions.json

Root redirect to alias

In the example above root is still redirecting to exact version. To redirect into latest alias: 

mkdocs.publish {
    docPath = '1.0'  
    rootRedirect = true
    rootRedirectTo = 'latest'
    versionAliases = ['latest']
}

And now site root will lead to latest directory. See plugin site as an example.

Reference project version in docs

It is a very common need to reference project version instead of changing it everywhere before each release. It is possible with variables support.

In mkdocs.yml add plugins:

plugins:
  - search
  - markdownextradata

In build.gradle declare variables:

mkdocs {
    extras = [
            'version': "${-> project.version}"
    ]
}

Now you can reference version as:

{{ gradle.version }}

But, as mentioned before, it is more common to put raw version instead of relying on project version (because release docs could be updated after release):

mkdocs {
    publish.docPath = '1.0'
    extras = [
            'version': '1.0'
    ]
}

And yes, this means specifying version two times.

Old version publish

You can always change and re-publish any old documentation version: it works the same as with new version publication.

EXCEPT:

  • Remember to switch off root redirection with mkdocs.publish.rootRedirect = false: otherwise root index.html would be overridden and site root would point to wrong docs version
  • Remember to remove aliases (remove mkdocs.publish.versionAliases): otherwise alias folders would be overridden (e.g. latest would contain old version)
  • Use mkdocsVersionsFile task to validate old version correctness: It would try to warn you if it can detect more recent versions override
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