Writerside

Writerside is a state-of-the-art technical authoring and publishing environment developed by JetBrains. It combines the advantages of Markdown and XML, allowing users to write, test, build, and publish high-quality tutorials, how-tos, API references, user guides, and SDK documentation. The tool integrates a built-in Git UI, an automated build tool, and a customizable layout to streamline the documentation process.

Writerside ensures documentation quality through over 100 on-the-fly inspections and offers a live preview feature to display docs exactly as they will appear to readers. It supports single-source content reuse, enabling efficient management of content chunks, topics, and sections. The environment facilitates the integration of API documentation into help websites, allowing for a seamless combination of auto-generated references and manually written content.

Developed from extensive customer feedback and over a decade of experience with IntelliJ Platform documentation, Writerside is designed to meet the needs of documentarians. It supports multiple output formats, including web-based documentation and PDF, with plans for additional formats and a potential hosting service in the future.

Customization options include altering the header and footer appearance, adding logos, choosing color presets, and embedding social media links. Writerside also supports migration from other formats like Markdown and XML-based formats such as DITA. The tool is available for free during its Early Access Program, with ongoing free versions or EAP programs planned post-release.