# noffle/art-of-readme

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7,154 stars · 447 forks · archived

## Links

- GitHub: https://github.com/noffle/art-of-readme
- awesome-repositories: https://awesome-repositories.com/repository/noffle-art-of-readme.md

## Description

This project is a documentation best practices guide and a technical documentation framework focused on creating high-quality project README files. It provides a set of structural principles and a README writing guide to improve project discoverability and usability for open source contributors.

The framework employs a cognitive funneling structure to organize information from high-level summaries down to deep technical details. It includes a standardized documentation quality checklist to audit technical documents for essential elements, such as license information and installation steps.

The guide covers developer experience optimization, information architecture planning, and API documentation design. It emphasizes the use of runnable examples and standardized API formatting to reduce cognitive load for users evaluating a tool.

## Tags

### Content Management & Publishing

- [Technical Documentation Frameworks](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/content-management-publishing/technical-documentation-frameworks.md) — Provides a structural methodology for organizing technical project information using a cognitive funneling approach.
- [README Authoring Guides](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/content-management-publishing/content-management-systems/content-architecture-modeling/documentation/readme-files/readme-authoring-guides.md) — Provides a comprehensive set of structural principles and best practices for authoring high-quality project README files.
- [Documentation Auditing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/content-management-publishing/documentation-knowledge-management/technical-documentation/documentation-auditing.md) — Implements a system for evaluating existing project documentation against a checklist of critical installation and usage details.

### Education & Learning Resources

- [Technical Writing](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/education-learning-resources/technical-writing.md) — Provides a comprehensive guide and structural principles for writing high-quality, effective project README files. ([source](https://github.com/noffle/art-of-readme#readme))
- [Best Practice Guides](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/education-learning-resources/best-practice-guides.md) — Serves as a primary collection of structural principles and best practices for creating high-quality README files.
- [Runnable Demonstrations](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/education-learning-resources/documentation-examples/runnable-demonstrations.md) — Emphasizes the use of runnable code snippets and isolated demonstrations to reduce user friction during tool evaluation.
- [Contributor Guides](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/education-learning-resources/contributor-guides.md) — Offers guidelines to improve the onboarding process for new contributors by reducing the cognitive load of project documentation.
- [Landing Page Best Practices](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/education-learning-resources/documentation-examples/landing-page-best-practices.md) — Offers best practices for improving project landing pages through runnable examples and descriptive links. ([source](https://github.com/noffle/art-of-readme#readme))

### Part of an Awesome List

- [Open Source Documentation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/awesome-lists/devtools/open-source-documentation.md) — Provides a framework specifically for creating high-quality open source project READMEs that facilitate quick installation.
- [Package Management](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/awesome-lists/devtools/package-management.md) — Guide to writing effective project documentation.

### Development Tools & Productivity

- [Developer Experience](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/developer-utilities-libraries/workflow-productivity-enhancers/developer-productivity-utilities/developer-experience.md) — Focuses on reducing cognitive load for developers by structuring technical information for efficient tool evaluation.
- [API Documentation](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/api-documentation.md) — Provides design principles for formatting API references and technical specifications to increase accessibility.
- [API Documentation Standards](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/api-documentation-standards.md) — Defines standardized formatting for API references to ensure consistent readability and accessibility across project documents.
- [Documentation Standards](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/development-tools-productivity/documentation-standards.md) — Establishes conventions for improving project discoverability through standardized API references and runnable examples.

### Software Engineering & Architecture

- [Information Sequencing Patterns](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/information-sequencing-patterns.md) — Implements a cognitive funneling structure that organizes information from high-level summaries down to deep technical details.
- [Quality Assurance Checklists](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/software-engineering-architecture/project-management-governance/project-management/project-management-tooling/quality-assurance-checklists.md) — Provides a standardized checklist to ensure project documentation and READMEs contain essential elements like licenses and installation steps.

### User Interface & Experience

- [Information Architecture Resources](https://awesome-repositories.com/f/user-interface-experience/information-architecture-resources.md) — Provides structural guidelines and layout patterns to improve the discoverability of information for new project contributors.