The Standard ( First Draft)
There should also be a clear order to the sections (five sections). Two of the sections I propose (IV and V) will have non-linear content within, but the overall starting point should be obvious to the newcomer. One shouldn't need to "figure out" how to read the documentation.
In the following sections I frequently write as if you are the documentation reader, not the writer. I do this to put you in what I hope is a useful mindset. It's hard to make yourself unfmailiar with your own project so it's good to think about experiences you've had with other peoples' documentation.
What it is and why you might want to use it
- what problems it solves
- how it works (environment, dependencies)
- its shortcomings
- what it's not intended for
- how it compares to alternatives