Daniel D. Beck

Write the Readable README

Learn to write READMEs that will help your users identity, evaluate, use, and engage with your projects.

Presented on May 23, 2016 at Write the Docs North America 2016

A photo of a man on stage with a large screen behind him that says "200 READMEs"

Photo by Write the Docs is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

I gave a talk on writing better README files at the Write the Docs North America conference held in Portland, Oregon in May 2016. If you attended the talk, I hope you enjoyed it! If you were unable to attend, you can watch a recording of Write the Readable README on YouTube.

Here are some of the things I mentioned in my talk:

If you're desperate to revisit my slides, then you can download a PDF.

Reception

"Allison Reinheimer Moore (@schmalliso) writes in a tweet, "Well this is suboptimal." Accompanied by a photo of Daniel speaking with a slide that says, "46% of READMEs don't want you to know where the project is."

Britta Gustafson (@dreamyshade) writes in an Instagram post, "there are reasons I am fond of this conference #writethedocs"

If you liked this, then subscribe to get updates on making documentation, tech writing, and docs as code. When you sign up, you’ll also get The 30-Minute Information Rescue, a short guide to interviewing subject matter experts when there’s no time to spare.

    Subscribe for periodic articles and offers. I won’t sell, rent, or give away your personal information. Unsubscribe at any time. Read my privacy policy for details.

    Don’t want more email? Subscribe to my RSS feed instead.

    About this page

    • Published .