Qt Writing Guidelines

The Qt Writing Guidelines contains information about writing Qt documentation in a consistent way. Though there are exceptions, maintain the consistency level outlined in the guidelines or the existing Qt documentation.

Language and Article Styles - writing articles and pages

• Language Guidelines
• C++ Documentation Style
• QML Documentation Style
• Examples and Tutorials Style
• Spelling Qt Module Names

QDoc Guidelines - writing the QDoc files

These QDoc guidelines complement the QDoc Manual

• Style Guidelines - proper use of commands, code blocks, markup, and indentation
• Linking Guidelines
• Integrating Examples
• QDoc Project Templates

Qt 5 Documentation Requirements

When writing Qt documentation, ensure that new Qt 5 modules conform to the requirements:

• Qt 5 Documentation
• Checklist for Adding Documentation for a New Module
• Documentation Structure page contains a map of how the directory structure of a repository or module should be

QDoc changes should pass the QDocRegressionTesting

Licensing Qt Reference Documentation

We distribute documentation, examples, or snippets under the following licenses:

• GNU Free Documentation License: for pure documentation (typically in .qdoc files)
• BSD 3-Clause License: for snippet documentation and examples
• LGPL: for demo applications and when LGPL is warranted

The header for the licenses are located in qtbase and should be pasted on the top of the files.

Using images in documentation

It can be useful to include images in documentation, such as screenshots, diagrams, icons, or even animated images and embedded YouTube videos. QUIP-21 describes the requirements and considerations for use of images in Qt's documentation.

As the images must be checked in to git, the binary blob size is a point of some concern. Prefer the webp image format when possible, and crop out unnecessary details to reduce the overall size.

Related Links

• Qt Documentation Wiki - the main Documentation wiki which contains style information and contribution details. Also contains contact information for the Qt Documentation Team
• QDoc Manual - contains a guide to QDoc as well as information about C++ and QML commands
• Building Qt Documentation - outlines how to build the documentation for Qt 5 and for each module
• doc-snapshots.qt.io - the documentation snapshot