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Appendix: Deploying a Sphinx project online
===========================================
When you are ready to show your documentation project to the world, there are
many options available to do so. Since the HTML generated by Sphinx is static,
you can decouple the process of building your HTML documentation from hosting
such files in the platform of your choice. You will not need a sophisticated
server running Python: virtually every web hosting service will suffice.
Therefore, the challenge is less how or where to serve the static HTML, but
rather how to pick a workflow that automatically updates the deployed
documentation every time there is a change in the source files.
The following sections describe some of the available options to deploy
your online documentation, and give some background information. If you want
to go directly to the practical part, you can skip to :ref:`publishing-sources`.
Sphinx-friendly deployment options
----------------------------------
There are several possible options you have to host your Sphinx documentation.
Some of them are:
**Read the Docs**
`Read the Docs`_ is an online service specialized in hosting technical
documentation written in Sphinx, as well as MkDocs. They have a
number of extra features, such as versioned documentation, traffic and
search analytics, custom domains, user-defined redirects, and more.
**GitHub Pages**
`GitHub Pages`_ is a simple static web hosting tightly integrated with
`GitHub`_: static HTML is served from one of the branches of a project,
and usually sources are stored in another branch so that the output
can be updated every time the sources change (for example using `GitHub
Actions`_). It is free to use and supports custom domains.
**GitLab Pages**
`GitLab Pages`_ is a similar concept to GitHub Pages, integrated with
`GitLab`_ and usually automated with `GitLab CI`_ instead.
**Netlify**
`Netlify`_ is a sophisticated hosting for static sites enhanced by
client-side web technologies like JavaScript (so-called `"Jamstack"`_).
They offer support for headless content management systems and
serverless computing.
**Your own server**
You can always use your own web server to host Sphinx HTML documentation.
It is the option that gives more flexibility, but also more complexity.
All these options have zero cost, with the option of paying for extra features.
.. _Read the Docs: https://readthedocs.org/
.. _GitHub Pages: https://pages.github.com/
.. _GitHub: https://github.com/
.. _GitHub Actions: https://github.com/features/actions
.. _GitLab Pages: https://about.gitlab.com/stages-devops-lifecycle/pages/
.. _GitLab: https://gitlab.com/
.. _GitLab CI: https://about.gitlab.com/stages-devops-lifecycle/continuous-integration/
.. _Netlify: https://www.netlify.com/
.. _"Jamstack": https://jamstack.org/
Embracing the "Docs as Code" philosophy
---------------------------------------
The free offerings of most of the options listed above require your
documentation sources to be publicly available. Moreover, these services
expect you to use a `Version Control System`_, a technology that tracks the
evolution of a collection of files as a series of snapshots ("commits").
The practice of writing documentation in plain text files with the same tools
as the ones used for software development is commonly known as `"Docs as Code"`_.
The most popular Version Control System nowadays is Git_, a free and open
source tool that is the backbone of services like GitHub and GitLab.
Since both Read the Docs and Netlify have integrations with GitHub and GitLab,
and both GitHub and GitLab have an integrated Pages product, the most effective
way of automatically build your documentation online is to upload your sources
to either of these Git hosting services.
.. _Version Control System: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Version_control
.. _"Docs as Code": https://www.writethedocs.org/guide/docs-as-code/
.. _Git: https://git-scm.com/
.. _publishing-sources:
Publishing your documentation sources
-------------------------------------
GitHub
~~~~~~
The quickest way to upload an existing project to GitHub is to:
1. `Sign up for a GitHub account <https://github.com/signup>`_.
2. `Create a new repository <https://github.com/new>`_.
3. Open `the "Upload files" page`_ of your new repository.
4. Select the files on your operating system file browser (in your case
``README.rst``, ``lumache.py``, the makefiles under the ``docs`` directory,
and everything under ``docs/source``) and drag them to the GitHub interface
to upload them all.
5. Click on the :guilabel:`Commit changes` button.
.. _the "Upload files" page: https://docs.github.com/en/repositories/working-with-files/managing-files/adding-a-file-to-a-repository
.. note::
Make sure you don't upload the ``docs/build`` directory, as it contains the
output generated by Sphinx and it will change every time you change the
sources, complicating your workflow.
These steps do not require access to the command line or installing any
additional software. To learn more, you can:
- Follow `this interactive GitHub course`_ to learn more about how the GitHub
interface works.
- Read `this quickstart tutorial`_ to install extra software on your machine
and have more flexibility. You can either use the Git command line, or the
GitHub Desktop application.
.. _this interactive GitHub course: https://lab.github.com/githubtraining/introduction-to-github
.. _this quickstart tutorial: https://docs.github.com/en/get-started/quickstart
GitLab
~~~~~~
Similarly to GitHub, the fastest way to upload your project to GitLab is
using the web interface:
1. `Sign up for a GitLab account <https://gitlab.com/users/sign_up>`_.
2. `Create a new blank project <https://gitlab.com/projects/new>`_.
3. Upload the project files (in your case ``README.rst``, ``lumache.py``, the
makefiles under the ``docs`` directory, and everything under
``docs/source``) one by one using the :guilabel:`Upload File` button [#f1]_.
Again, these steps do not require additional software on your computer. To
learn more, you can:
- Follow `this tutorial`_ to install Git on your machine.
- Browse the `GitLab User documentation`_ to understand the possibilities of
the platform.
.. _this tutorial: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/gitlab-basics/start-using-git.html
.. _GitLab User documentation: https://docs.gitlab.com/ee/user/index.html
.. note::
Make sure you don't upload the ``docs/build`` directory, as it contains the
output generated by Sphinx and it will change every time you change the
sources, complicating your workflow.
.. [#f1] At the time of writing, `uploading whole directories to GitLab using
only the web
interface <https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/228490>`_ is
not yet implemented.
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