Chapter 4. Documentation Directory Structure

Table of Contents

Files and directories in the doc/ tree follow a structure meant to:

  1. Make it easy to automate converting the document to other formats.

  2. Promote consistency between the different documentation organizations, to make it easier to switch between working on different documents.

  3. Make it easy to decide where in the tree new documentation should be placed.

In addition, the documentation tree must accommodate documents in many different languages. It is important that the documentation tree structure does not enforce any particular defaults or cultural preferences.

4.1. The Top Level, doc/

There are three sections under doc/, documentation and website share the same structure.

DirectoryUsage

documentation

Contains all the articles and books in AsciiDoc format. Contains subdirectories to further categorize the information by languages.

tools

Contains a set of tools used to translate the documentation and the website using Weblate. The Weblate instance can be found here.

shared

Contains files that are not specific to the various translations of the documentation. Contains subdirectories to further categorize the information by languages and three files to store the authors, releases and mirrors information. This directory is shared between documentation and the website.

website

Contains the FreeBSD website in AsciiDoc format. Contains subdirectories to further categorize the information by languages.

4.2. The Directories

These directories contain the documentation and the website. The documentation is organized into subdirectories below this level, following the Hugo directory structure.

DirectoryUsage

archetypes

Contain templates to create new articles, books and webpages. For more information take a look here.

config

Contain the Hugo configuration files. One main file and one file per language. For more information take a look here.

content

Contain the books, articles and webpages. One directory exists for each available translation of the documentation, for example en and zh-tw.

data

Contain custom data for build the website in TOML format. This directory is used to store the events, news, press, etc. For more information take a look here.

static

Contain static assets. Images, security advisories, the pgpkeys, etc. For more information take a look here.

themes

Contain the templates in the form of .html files that specify how the website looks. For more information take a look here.

tools

Contain tools used to enhance the documentation build. For example to generate the Table of Contents of the books, etc.

beastie.png

This image does not need an introduction ;)

LICENSE

License of the documentation, shared and website. BSD 2-Clause License.

Makefile

The Makefile defines the build process of the documentation and the website.

4.3. Document-Specific Information

This section contains specific notes about particular documents managed by the FDP.

4.4. The Books: books/

The books are written in AsciiDoc.

For each FreeBSD book, the AsciiDoc document type (aka doctype) is book. Books have parts, each of which contains several chapters.

When the document is converted to HTML 5 (using the built-in html5 backend):

  • AsciiDoc section level 0 (=) at the beginning of a chapter of a book will be <h1>

  • AsciiDoc section level 1 (==) must be used for the first logical section of a chapter, and will be <h2>

  • AsciiDoc section level 2 (===) must be used for the first logical subsection, and will be <h3>

– and so on. Reference: Section Titles and Levels | Asciidoctor Docs.

4.4.1. Physical Organization

There are a number of files and directories within the books directory, all with the same structure.

4.4.1.1. _index.adoc

The _index.adoc file defines some AsciiDoc variables that affect how the AsciiDoc source is converted to other formats and list the Table of Contents, Table of Examples, Table of Figures, Table of Tables and the abstract section.

4.4.1.2. book.adoc

The book.adoc file defines some AsciiDoc variables that affect how the AsciiDoc source is converted to other formats and list the Table of Contents, Table of Examples, Table of Figures, Table of Tables, the abstract section and all the chapters. This file is used to generate the PDF with asciidoctor-pdf and to generate the book in one html page.

4.4.1.3. part*.adoc

The part*.adoc files store a brief introduction of one part of the book.

4.4.1.4. directory/_index.adoc

Each chapter in the Handbook is stored in a file called _index.adoc in a separate directory from the other chapters.

For example, this is an example of the header of one chapter:

---
title: Chapter 8. Configuring the FreeBSD Kernel
part: Part II. Common Tasks
prev: books/handbook/multimedia
next: books/handbook/printing
---

[[kernelconfig]]
= Configuring the FreeBSD Kernel
...

When the HTML5 version of the Handbook is produced, this will yield kernelconfig/index.html.

A brief look will show that there are many directories with individual _index.adoc files, including basics/_index.adoc, introduction/_index.adoc, and printing/_index.adoc.

Do not name chapters or directories after their ordering within the Handbook. This ordering can change as the content within the Handbook is reorganized. Reorganization should be possible without renaming files, unless entire chapters are being promoted or demoted within the hierarchy.

4.5. The Articles: articles/

The articles are written in AsciiDoc.

The articles are organized as an AsciiDoc article. The articles are divided into sections (=) and subsections (==, ===) and so on.

4.5.1. Physical Organization

There is one _index.adoc file per article.

4.5.1.1. _index.adoc

The _index.adoc file contains all the AsciiDoc variables and the content.

For example, this is an example of one article, the structure is pretty similar to one book chapter:

---
title: Why you should use a BSD style license for your Open Source Project
authors:
  - author: Bruce Montague
    email: brucem@alumni.cse.ucsc.edu
trademarks: ["freebsd", "intel", "general"]
---

= Why you should use a BSD style license for your Open Source Project
:doctype: article
:toc: macro
:toclevels: 1
:icons: font
:sectnums:
:sectnumlevels: 6
:source-highlighter: rouge
:experimental:

'''

toc::[]

[[intro]]
== Introduction

4.6. Managing Contributor Lists

The FreeBSD project recognizes contributors in several different lists in the documentation and in printed materials. This section describes how the documentation team manages changes to these lists.

4.6.1. Mentor and New Committer Relationship Lists

Since FreeBSD 7.0, FreeBSD has maintained three lists of contributor mentor / mentee relationships - one for source code, one for ports and one for documentation. These files are in ".dot" format, intended for use with the popular graphing toolkit graphics/graphviz available as a FreeBSD package or port.

dot(1) is installed as part of the graphics/graphviz package or port. The dot program reads files in ".dot" format and creates a graphical image of the directed graph.

The three files often serve as a learning experience for new committers of all three teams who are instructed to add themselves, and their mentor, to the appropriate file as their first commit. Each file has a "current" section for new committers, an "alumni" section for when the commit bit is returned, and a "mentor / mentee" section showing the relationships. The format for each type of entry is explained at the top of the file.

4.6.2. General Contributor Lists

Contributors to FreeBSD are maintained in article format. The source file for managing the Contributors article file is located at:

doc
 /documentation
   /content
     /{language}
       /articles
         /contributors
           _index.adoc – Contains a list of include files that apply to each section.
           _index.po – Translation page
           contrib-develinmemoriam.adoc - content of “In Memoriam” section
           contrib-develinmemoriam.po – Translation page

Copies of this contributors directory may exist in other content language directories.

Note that the file contrib-develinmemoriam.adoc is also found in this directory. See below for additional information.

The contributors/_index.adoc file is designed as a collection of include files. The include files are listed in the Hugo specific section of the source file. The section is divided into several parts with "ifdef::" statements. There is a sub-section for website output and one for non-website (including PDF) output.

The text for each section of the Contributors page contains an "include::" statement. For example, the entry for "Port Manager Alumni" is include::{include-contrib-portmgralumni}[]. This pulls in the text for port manager alumni into the rendered output.

To make a change, edit the appropriate include file:

include-contrib-committers:     ~/doc/shared/contrib-committers.adoc
include-contrib-corealumni:     ~/doc/shared/contrib-corealumni.adoc
include-contrib-develalumni:    ~/doc/shared/contrib-develalumni.adoc
include-contrib-portmgralumni:  ~/doc/shared/contrib-portmgralumni.adoc
include-contrib-additional:     ~/doc/shared/contrib-additional.adoc
include-contrib-386bsd:         ~/doc/shared/contrib-386bsd.adoc

Also, edit the authors.adoc file:  ~/doc/shared/authors.adoc
and any related translations.

In general, if a person is being added, there is only one edit necessary, and they can be added to the appropriate include file. If a person is being moved from "current" to "alumni" status, two edits are required - one to remove and one to insert for the appropriate files. The order of entries for all files is found in the table below.

PurposeSection AnchorFile in ~/doc/shared/Order Specification

FreeBSD Developers

include-contrib-committers

contrib-committers.adoc

alphabetical order by last name

Core Team Alumni

include-contrib-corealumni

contrib-corealumni.adoc

rough reverse chronological order

Development Team Alumni

include-contrib-develalumni

contrib-develalumni.adoc

rough reverse chronological order

Ports Management Team Alumni

include-contrib-portmgralumni

contrib-portmgralumni.adoc

rough reverse chronological order

Additional FreeBSD Contributors

include-contrib-additional

contrib-additional.adoc

alphabetical order by first name

386BSD Patch Kit Patch Contributors

include-contrib-386bsd

contrib-386bsd.adoc

alphabetical order by first name

Contributors to the central server project

No include file used

contributors/_index.adoc

unordered

Direct funding

No include file used

contributors/_index.adoc

unordered

Hardware contributors

No include file used

contributors/_index.adoc

unordered

Special contributors

No include file used

contributors/_index.adoc

unordered

4.6.3. "In Memoriam" Section

When notifying the BSD community of the death of a community member, the following procedure should be used:

  1. Use the file ~/doc/shared/authors.adoc to look up the person’s name and attribute reference, such as {foobsd}.

  2. If they are a current member of one or more FreeBSD project teams in ~/doc/website/content/en/administration.adoc, remove all instances of their attribute reference. Also, complete the following edits:

    • ~/doc/shared/contrib-committers.adoc - Remove the attribute reference.

    • ~/doc/shared/contrib-corealumni.adoc - If they are a current member of the core team, create an entry showing start and end dates.

    • ~/doc/shared/contrib-develalumni.adoc - Add the attribute reference and dates of activity as a committer.

    • ~/doc/shared/contrib-portmgralumni.adoc - Add the attribute reference if necessary.

    • ~/doc/shared/contrib-additional.adoc - Remove the entry.

    • ~/doc/shared/contrib-386bsd.adoc - This is a historical document only. No changes are needed.

  3. In the ~/doc/shared/authors.adoc file, comment out (using one backslash '\') the email address to avoid creating the email link "mailto:" See the example for itojun below:

    [shared/authors.adoc]

[..]

:itojun-name: Jun-ichiro Itoh
:itojun-email: \itojun@FreeBSD.org
:itojun: {itojun-name} <{itojun-email}>

[..]

  4. Since the member is deceased (which should be double checked), add them to the "In Memoriam" file contrib-develinmemoriam.adoc.

    Try to find some factual information about their contributions to FreeBSD over the years and add it with their entry in the file. This may require asking in the development mailing lists, contacting colleagues, contacting the FreeBSD Foundation, or searching through the commit logs.

    To find the date of their first commit, use:

    % cd ~/src
% git log --reverse --author=foobsd     # search for first commit of foobsd

    This will print out their commits in reverse order. The date of the first commit will be at the top.

    Ensure that the format of the dates match other entries:

    (year of commit bit start - year of commit bit end; RIP year deceased)

For example:

* Foo BSD (2007 - 2010; RIP 2016)

    Check the ordering of the entries in the file.

    PurposeSection AnchorFile in ~/doc/documentation/content/{language}/articles/contributors/Order Specification

    Development Team: In Memoriam

    contrib-develinmemoriam.adoc

    contrib-develinmemoriam.adoc

    rough reverse chronological order

    See the "In Memoriam" file for similar entries.

  5. Finally, if applicable, move the committer member entry from the "current" section to the "alumni" section of the appropriate list of contributor mentor / mentee relationships along with an appropriate date. It is not necessary to change the mentor / mentee relationship.

Last modified on: August 13, 2025 by Jim Brown

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