Docs Writer

Documentation Writer

This skill provides guidance for writing effective documentation for SkiaSharp.Extended.

Documentation Principles

Goals

• Help new developers discover features
• Help experienced developers find advanced features and customization
• Be helpful, consistent, and informative - not verbose
• This is a community docs page - impress and help users

Style Guidelines

• Friendly feature names in TOC and titles (e.g., "Blur Hash" not "SKBlurHash")
• Conceptual first - explain why/when, then how
• Conversational tone - write as if explaining to a colleague
• Concise code examples - show primary overloads, not all variants
• Research origins - credit creators, link to official resources
• Strategic visuals - screenshots that add clarity, not decoration
• Second person - use "you can..." not "users can..."

What Makes Good Docs

• Explain the problem it solves before showing how to use it
• Show before/after comparisons where applicable
• Include real-world usage patterns (API responses, MAUI bindings)
• Provide customization options with visual comparisons when helpful
• Link to authoritative sources for external technologies

API Documentation

• Link to generated API docs using xref syntax: [API Reference](xref:SkiaSharp.Extended.SKBlurHash)
• Include summary tables only when they reduce redirects and add clarity
• Don't reproduce the full API docs in conceptual pages

Images

• Keep existing images; use descriptive names for new ones (e.g., components-comparison.png)
• Store in docs/images/extended/<feature>/ or docs/images/ui/controls/<control>/
• Use PNGs for UI screenshots, can use GIFs for animations

Page Structure

Each documentation page follows this pattern:

# Feature Name

Brief intro - what it is, the problem it solves (1-2 sentences)

[Hero image or comparison - e.g., before/after, original vs processed]

## Quick Start
- Encode/create: one code example
- Decode/use: one code example

## How It Works
- Brief explanation of underlying concepts
- Credit original creators if external technology
- Visual showing key concept if helpful

## Customization
- Key parameters and options with explanations
- Tables for parameters when helpful (reduces need to check API docs)
- Visual comparisons showing effect of different parameter values

## Usage Patterns
- Real-world integration examples (API responses, data models)
- MAUI binding/converter examples where applicable
- Brief XAML usage example

## Learn More
- Link to official site (if external technology like BlurHash, Lottie)
- Link to GitHub/source repository
- Link to origin story or detailed explanations
- Link to API reference using xref

Example: External Technology Attribution

For features based on external technologies (BlurHash, Lottie, etc.):

## Learn More

- [BlurHash.sh](https://blurha.sh/) — Official demo and explanation
- [BlurHash GitHub](https://github.com/woltapp/blurhash) — Original algorithm by Dag Ågren at Wolt
- [How Wolt created BlurHash](https://careers.wolt.com/en/blog/tech/...) — The origin story
- [API Reference](xref:SkiaSharp.Extended.SKBlurHash) — Full method documentation

Example: Parameter Table

When parameters need explanation:

| Components | String Length | Best For |
| :--------: | :-----------: | :------- |
| 2x2 | ~12 chars | Simple gradients |
| 4x3 | ~28 chars | Most images (recommended) |
| 6x6 | ~76 chars | Complex images with fine detail |

Screenshot Generation

Base Library Features

Generate screenshots using a temporary console app in /tmp/:

mkdir -p /tmp/docs-screenshots
cd /tmp/docs-screenshots

Create a minimal .csproj:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="/path/to/source/SkiaSharp.Extended/SkiaSharp.Extended.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Write Program.cs to generate comparison images, then run:

dotnet run

Screenshot Best Practices

• Generate side-by-side comparisons (e.g., different parameter values)
• Add labels to images using SKPaint/SKFont
• Use white background for consistency
• Cell size around 200x200 pixels works well
• Save directly to docs/images/extended/<feature>/

Example: Comparison Image Generator

using SkiaSharp;

var configs = new[] { (2, 2), (4, 3), (6, 6) };
var cellWidth = 200;
var padding = 10;

using var surface = SKSurface.Create(new SKImageInfo(totalWidth, totalHeight));
var canvas = surface.Canvas;
canvas.Clear(SKColors.White);

// Draw each variant side-by-side with labels
for (int i = 0; i < configs.Length; i++)
{
    // Generate image for this config
    // Draw to canvas at position
    // Add label below
}

using var image = surface.Snapshot();
using var data = image.Encode(SKEncodedImageFormat.Png, 100);
File.WriteAllBytes("comparison.png", data.ToArray());

MAUI Controls

Discuss approach case-by-case - may require running on actual platforms. Existing GIFs in the repo can be kept.

MAUI Integration Examples

Always test MAUI code in a real project before including in docs.

Test Project Setup

mkdir -p /tmp/maui-test
cd /tmp/maui-test
dotnet new maui -n TestApp
cd TestApp
dotnet add package SkiaSharp.Views.Maui.Controls
dotnet add reference /path/to/source/SkiaSharp.Extended/SkiaSharp.Extended.csproj
dotnet build -f net9.0-maccatalyst  # or net9.0-android

SKBitmap to ImageSource

Use the implicit conversion to SKBitmapImageSource (cross-platform, not Windows-specific):

using SkiaSharp;
using SkiaSharp.Views.Maui.Controls;

SKBitmap bitmap = /* ... */;
ImageSource source = (SKBitmapImageSource)bitmap;

Do NOT use ToWriteableBitmap() - that's Windows-only.

Value Converter Pattern

Include configurable properties for flexibility:

using System.Globalization;
using SkiaSharp;
using SkiaSharp.Extended;
using SkiaSharp.Views.Maui.Controls;

public class BlurHashConverter : IValueConverter
{
    public int Width { get; set; } = 32;
    public int Height { get; set; } = 32;

    public object? Convert(object? value, Type targetType, object? parameter, CultureInfo culture)
    {
        if (value is string hash && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(hash))
        {
            var bitmap = SKBlurHash.DeserializeBitmap(hash, Width, Height);
            return (SKBitmapImageSource)bitmap;
        }
        return null;
    }

    public object? ConvertBack(object? value, Type targetType, object? parameter, CultureInfo culture)
        => throw new NotImplementedException();
}

XAML Usage

Always show how to use the converter in XAML:

<ContentPage.Resources>
    <local:BlurHashConverter x:Key="BlurHashConverter" Width="32" Height="32" />
</ContentPage.Resources>

<Image Source="{Binding BlurHash, Converter={StaticResource BlurHashConverter}}" />

Building and Previewing Docs

cd docs
docfx build                    # Build docs
docfx serve _site --port 8080  # Serve locally
docfx --serve                  # Build and serve in one command

Verify pages render correctly:

curl -s http://localhost:8080/docs/blurhash.html | grep -o '<h1[^>]*>.*</h1>'

Code Block Language Tags

Use consistent language tags for syntax highlighting:

• xml for XAML/XML content (not xaml - docfx highlights xml better)
• csharp for C# code
• bash for shell commands
• yaml for YAML files

TOC Structure

For small documentation sites, use a flat TOC with section headings:

items:
- name: Overview
  href: ../index.md

- name: SkiaSharp.Extended      # Heading only (no href = visual separator)
- name: Blur Hash
  href: blurhash.md
- name: Geometry Helpers
  href: geometry.md
- name: Path Interpolation
  href: path-interpolation.md

- name: SkiaSharp.Extended.UI.Maui  # Heading only
- name: Confetti Effects
  href: confetti.md
- name: Lottie Animations
  href: lottie.md

- name: Resources               # Catch-all for non-essential items
- name: Migration Guides
  items:
  - name: SVG Migration
    href: svg-migration.md

TOC Guidelines

• Headings without href become visual section separators
• Use friendly feature names (not type names)
• Put migration guides and other non-essential content under a "Resources" heading
• Nested items only when there are true sub-pages (like Migration Guides)

File Naming

When renaming doc files for friendlier URLs:

• skblurhash.md → blurhash.md
• skgeometry.md → geometry.md (if renaming)
• Update TOC href references accordingly

Research Checklist

When documenting external technologies:

1. Who invented/created it?
2. Is there an official website or demo?
3. Is there a GitHub repository?
4. Is there an origin story or blog post?
5. What problem does it solve?
6. Are there alternatives? (mention if relevant)

Testing Doc Code Snippets

Always test code snippets before including in docs.

Create a Test Project

For each doc page, create a minimal test project in /tmp/:

mkdir -p /tmp/docs-code-test
cd /tmp/docs-code-test

Create .csproj:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">
  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net9.0</TargetFramework>
    <ImplicitUsings>enable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>enable</Nullable>
  </PropertyGroup>
  <ItemGroup>
    <ProjectReference Include="/path/to/source/SkiaSharp.Extended/SkiaSharp.Extended.csproj" />
  </ItemGroup>
</Project>

Test All Code Snippets

Create Program.cs that exercises all code from the doc page:

// Test all code snippets from [Feature] docs
using SkiaSharp;
using SkiaSharp.Extended;

Console.WriteLine("Testing [Feature] doc code snippets...\n");

// === Quick Start: Encode ===
Console.WriteLine("1. Quick Start - Encode:");
// Copy code from docs here
// Verify it compiles and runs

// === Quick Start: Decode ===
Console.WriteLine("2. Quick Start - Decode:");
// Copy code from docs here

Console.WriteLine("\n✅ All code snippets compile and run correctly!");

Run the test:

dotnet run

For MAUI Code

Test in a separate MAUI project (see MAUI Integration Examples section).

Quality Checklist

Before finalizing a doc page:

• Friendly title (not type name)
• Brief intro explaining the value proposition
• Hero image or comparison
• Quick start with working code
• Customization options explained
• MAUI integration example (if applicable)
• Learn More links (official resources + API reference)
• All code snippets tested in /tmp/ project
• Build docs and verify no warnings
• Check rendered page in browser

CI and Deployment

Workflow Requirements

The docs workflow (builds-docs.yml) requires:

• MAUI workloads installed with explicit nuget.org source:

  dotnet workload install maui --source https://api.nuget.org/v3/index.json
  

PR Best Practices

• Never merge with failing CI - always wait for green checks
• Workflow failures related to workload installation often need the nuget.org source fix
• Check job logs to understand the actual failure before dismissing as transient

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