Skip to content
New issue

Have a question about this project? Sign up for a free GitHub account to open an issue and contact its maintainers and the community.

By clicking “Sign up for GitHub”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy statement. We’ll occasionally send you account related emails.

Already on GitHub? Sign in to your account

adding readme alternative page #4091

Merged
merged 1 commit into from
Jul 22, 2024
Merged
Show file tree
Hide file tree
Changes from all commits
Commits
File filter

Filter by extension

Filter by extension

Conversations
Failed to load comments.
Loading
Jump to
Jump to file
Failed to load files.
Loading
Diff view
Diff view
6 changes: 6 additions & 0 deletions fern/docs.yml
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
Expand Up @@ -294,6 +294,12 @@ navigation:
path: ./pages/docs/components/endpoint-response-snippet.mdx
icon: "turn-down"
slug: response-snippet
- section: Alternatives
hidden: true
contents:
- page: ReadMe
slug: readme
path: ./pages/docs/comparison/readme.mdx
- tab: cli-api
layout:
- section: CLI Reference
Expand Down
Binary file added fern/pages/docs/comparison/hume-docs.png
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
Binary file added fern/pages/docs/comparison/nested-objects.png
Loading
Sorry, something went wrong. Reload?
Sorry, we cannot display this file.
Sorry, this file is invalid so it cannot be displayed.
60 changes: 60 additions & 0 deletions fern/pages/docs/comparison/readme.mdx
Original file line number Diff line number Diff line change
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
---
title: ReadMe
excerpt: How do Fern and ReadMe differ?
---

[ReadMe](https://www.readme.com/), similar to Fern, supports generating docs for APIs. Below, we walk through the different capabilities of Fern and ReadMe.

### 1. Fern offers docs as code
Fern leverages your git version control provider (e.g., GitHub) as a content management system (CMS). You commit markdown files (MDX) & your OpenAPI specification to benefit from branching, pull requests, and approval workflows. Generating docs takes place in CI/CD (e.g., GitHub Actions) and is done automatically when your content changes.

ReadMe has a built-in content management system backed by markdown, but not accessible in your code repository.

### 2. Fern offers more levels of customization
Fern's docs allow you to completely customize your docs to match your brand's needs.

| Feature | Fern | ReadMe |
| ------- | ---- | ------ |
| Custom CSS/HTML | ✅ | ✅ |
| Custom JS | ✅ | ✅ |
| Reusable content | ✅ | ✅ |
| Built-in translations | ❌ | ✅ |
| UI (React) components | ✅ | ❌ |
| Direct communication for feature requests | ✅ | ❌ |

### 3. Fern is an all-in-one: SDKs + Docs
When you generate SDKs with Fern, you automatically get the SDK code snippets embedded inside your API reference. Plus, you get an SDK reference that informs a developer about how to get started. In the API Playground, developers can try the API and see how to make a request using the SDK, allowing them to copy, paste, and go.

<Frame caption="API Docs with SDK code snippets (generated by Fern)">
<img src="./hume-docs.png" />
</Frame>

If you choose ReadMe, you would have to find a separate vendor for SDK generation and would need to manually maintain code examples using the SDK. You also do not have access to dynamic SDK snippets in the API Playground.

### 4. Fern offers full OpenAPI support
Fern is built with first-class support for nested objects and will give developers detailed information about what properties are required vs optional as well. Fern can also support the intuitive display of additional properties.

<Frame caption="First-class support for nested objects (generated by Fern)">
<img src="./nested-objects.png" />
</Frame>

### 5. Fern offers live editing experience
With Fern, you can iterate quickly by running a local development server, changing markdown, and then immediately seeing what the page looks like in your browser. Local development allows for real-time editing, where you can see what you get while writing documentation.

<Frame caption="Local development environment (generated by Fern)">
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hF7h3BD_6u-qlIKdZPhyTI96tWXV4ast/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>
</Frame>

ReadMe has an editor in the browser that allows you to edit guides without seeing the underlying markdown. This is appealing to non-technical teammates who aren’t familiar with git, terminal, VS Code, and CLI commands.

### 6. Universal search
When you have more than 1 API, Fern allows you to search between them all. ReadMe’s search is specific to the API you’re currently looking at. Fern's search extends to mobile versions, as well.









Loading