* Start new parsers in gitbook itself
* Update markup-it
* Fix eslint errors
* Adapt basic parsing for summary
* Start tests for summaryFromDocument
* Continue
* Add parsing of glossary
* Add back languages parsing
* Adapt most tests for parsing
* Adapt all tests 🙌
* Adapt travis tests
* Bootstrap lerna before running tests
* Fix lowercase in require (linux)
* Fix command gitbook init
* Fix generation of ready by init command
* Fix generation of summary
* Fix watch after serve
* Add trademark to sidebar
* Add back favicon to default theme
* Open trademark in new tab
* Reuse old package config
* Add plugin config shape
* Add ButtonGroup to core components
* List all sharing sites
* Displaying buttons from config
* First iteration of Dropdown component (need CSS)
* Using Dropdown for sharing button
* Create HotKeys component
* Move Backdrop to its own file
* Trying a cleaner API for Dropdown
* Add README.md
* livereload: Add missing gitbook-plugin dependency
* sharing: Now use Immutable state
* sharing: Adapt quickly to new Dropdown
* sharing: Fix sharing from dropdown
Fixed issue in pluginDependency to dereference 'name' and 'version' using Immutable Map.get(...) accessors since config values are now wrapped by Immutable.fromJS(...) in config.js > setValue(...). Added associated unit test.
Fixed issue in resolveVersion where a plugin may be using a git URL rather than a semver for the version portion of the plugin config definition. In addition, refactored the resolveVersion function into a new module to allow for unit testing. Added associated unit test.
I translated to Catalan the Spanish font settings I used as template but I forgot to translate previously. I also changed LANGS_CHOOSE, SEARCH_TOGGLE, SEARCH_PLACEHOLDER, SHARE_TOGGLE and SHARE_ON properties to be more appropiate (more informal).
Removed the `antialias` setting which tells Chrome to not use native font rendering and instead use something from the late 2010's that isn't subpixel-friendly and looks very blocky. This used to be required when OS X browsers didn't antialias by default because it made fonts look bolder than on Windows. This has since been fixed and we are advised to not use `-webkit-font-smooth`.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/font-smooth
Looks like mozilla/nunjucks#504 was merged and released in v2.1.0, so this changes `package.json` to no longer depend on a specific commit. Incidentally, this also solves a problem where corporate firewalls blocks npm from pulling in straight from github repos.
Node.js for some reason queues up writes from fs.writeFile causing
memory and descriptor leaks, preventing building large books. This is
now fixed
Fixes#336, fixes#454
All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
This project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
## 4.0.0
- **Breaking Changes:** Most plugins and themes should be incompatible with this version
- GitBook rendering is now done using React, which brings better APIs for plugins and a more interactive website.
- *Performances*: Installation of plugins is much faster thanks to `ied`
- *Performances*: Git conrefs are faster over large books
- *Website Feature:* new default plugin `copy-code` to copy code blocks content in one click
- *Website Feature:* new default plugin `heading-anchors` to have clickable headings
- *Website Feature:* `fontsettings` is now only controlling the font size, and can work on multiple themes
- *Plugin API*: hook `page` can no longer modify the content, only the page's attributes
- *Plugin API*: plugins can no longer export resources, instead use the `_assets` folder
- [ ]*Plugin API*: testing framework
- [ ]`gitbook init` creates `.gitignore` if not found
- [ ] Ignore files are no longer copied to the output
## 3.2.2
- Fix catching parsing errors leading to possible missing pages in generated book
- Rollback markdown parser to `kramed` until `markup-it` is stable enough
## 3.2.1
- Fix bug on Firefox when navigating to an url containing an hash
- Update nunjucks to fix JS error when page contains a lot of templating blocks
## 3.2.0
- Switch markdown parser from `kramed` to `markup-it`
- Fix support of `|` in tables
- Fix access to `output.name` in templating
- Fix i18n for website and PDF
- Fix minor scrolling issues on website
- Improve options of default search indexer (keywords, disabling per pages)
- Improve pertinence of search results
## 3.1.1
- Fix order of plugins during loading
- Fix error when using math and conrefs
- Fix target attribute for external links
- Fix serve command
## 3.1.0
- Always load themes after plugins
- README/Introduction doesn't require to be the first entry in the summary
- Highlight active entry in summary when scrolling a page with anchors
- Support empty parts in summary
## 3.0.3
- Fix redirection in `gitbook serve` when accessing a folder without trailing slash
- Fix links/annotations for glossary not being correctly resolved
- Fix regression for supporting uppercase filenames in structure files
- Fix `gitbook install` when using Git URLs for plugins
## 3.0.2
- Fix crash for anchor links
## 3.0.1
- Fix regression in link resolution when contain anchor
- Fix `structure.<name>` configuration not supporting filenames with dots
## 3.0.0
- Summary can contain external links and anchors (Fix [#776](https://github.com/GitbookIO/gitbook/issues/776))
- Summary can contain differents entitled sections
- Glossary is generated as a normal page
- Headings are no longer annotated with glossary terms
- Themes are now published as a plugin, with ability to extend it from the book source
-`links.sidebar` configuration is no longer supported, use summary sections instead
-`pdf.headerTemplate` and `pdf.footerTemplate` have been replaced by a template in theme/book: `_layout/ebook/pdf_header.html` and `_layout/ebook/pdf_footer.html`
- Markdown parser is now using CommonMark
- Root folder for the book can be specified in the `"root"` property of the `book.json` file
- Multi-lingual books share assets folder
- YAML front matter is parsed and can extend page's properties
- Fix `uk` translation
- Fix heading ID including dashes
- Fix error in code highlighting for unknown languages
- Fix data-uri images being handled as external images
- Accept SSH url as plugin version
- Add templating blocks `markdown`, `asciidoc` and `markup`
- Better search experience
- Better default theme, more responsive and cleaner
## 2.6.7
- Fix bug with filenames including spaces
- Add Turkish and Catalan translations
## 2.6.6
- Fix custom CSS that are generated by plugins for PDF output
## 2.6.5
- Fix support for plugins generating custom stylesheets (`styles-less` and `styles-sass`)
- Fix glossary terms being replaced in script (ex: math)
## 2.6.4
- Fix regression introduced by `2.6.3` of single HTML tags in markdown
## 2.6.3
- Fix parsing bug with inline HTML in Markdown
## 2.6.2
- Fix `gitbook.state.bookRoot`, `gitbook.state.root` now has a trailing slash
- Update nunjucks to 2.2.0
## 2.6.1
- Use CamelCase for `gitbook.state.innerLanguage`
## 2.6.0
- Close sidebar after clicking a link on mobile
- Add root for multilingual books: `gitbook.state.bookRoot`
- Fix calcul of `gitbook.state.root` when serving HTML index as `/`
## 2.5.0
- Font settings, sharing and search are externalized as default plugins
- Plugins can define a configuration schema in the manifest, this schema will be used to validate configuration during build
- New Node.js API for plugin: `book.formatString(type, content)`
- New client side API for website plugins: `gitbook.toolbar.createButton(opts)`
- Better header/footer for PDF, CSS wil be inlined to easily style the header/footer
- Cleaner table of contents for ebooks
- Support for RTL in ebook's table of contents
- Better colors for mobi (links and code blocks)
- Fix installation of plugins when using a pre-release
- Fix support for pre-releases
- Update asciidoc parser to remove git dependency
- Fix templating in imported content
- Fix querystring in image urls
- Normalize heading IDs like GitHub
- Use Arial as default font for PDFs
- Add `root`, `chapterTitle` and `filepath` to `gitbook.state` JS API
## 2.4.3
- Add ukrainian translation (`uk`)
- Add `book.json` configuration for maximum size of search index
- Improve reliability of summary parser
## 2.4.2
- Default plugins should not be installed by `gitbook install`
- Limit search index size to avoid crash during generation
- Fix code highlighting for html without language specified
- Fix warning message for gitbook version when building a multilingual book
## 2.4.1
- Fix disabling of default plugins, ex: `-highlight`
## 2.4.0
- Fix page being updated when user wants to open a link in a new tab
- Plugins can now replaced default code highlighter
- Add semantic information for screen readers (web version)
- Content references accept absolute paths, resolved to book folder
- Improve overall reliability
## 2.3.3
- Fix bug in SUMMARY parsing preventing multiple entries without filenames
## 2.3.2
- Fix blocks (like maths) in Asciidoc
- Fix error when checking gitbook version
## 2.3.1
- Fix black font color for ebooks (mobi, pdf and epub)
- Fix ISO code for korean language
- Fix korean translation
- Fix syntax highlighting for asciidoc
- Fix inline html escaping in markdown
- Add warning for file outside SUMMARY
- Force SUMMARY entries to be unique by filename
## 2.3.0
- Fix nunjucks issue with multiple `{% raw %}` blocks
- Fix crash when git conref failed
- Fix crash when failed to download remote image (better error message)
- Fix flicking effect when changing page (big UX improvement)
- Add Hebrew translation (`he`)
- Add utility method `book.config.get` for plugins
- Hooks `page:before` and `page` are no longer deprecated
- Remove webfonts to make website lighter
- Make glossary's order case insensitive
## 2.2.0
- Fix direction in code blocks (always LTR)
- Add options `chapterMark` and `pageBreaksBefore` for PDF
- Update code highlighting library
-`book.json` accessible as `config` in templating syntax
- Add Vietnamese translation (`vi`)
## 2.1.0
- Fix error in calcul of `levels` in table of contents, error introduced a few versions ago
- Add optional `styles/print.css` to replace `print.css` used in ebook
## 2.0.4
- Fix `{% raw %}`, got confused with "fake" variable declarations
- Fix title of language chooser
- Fix the X-UA-Compatible meta tag
- Move style sheets to the <head> section
## 2.0.3
- Fix `gitbook init` for SUMMARY with empty entries
- Fix escaping of code blocks in markdown
## 2.0.2
- Fix relative links in windows
- Improve watcher in serve command (switch to chokidar)
- Add Romanian translation (`ro`)
- Add Finish translation (`fi`)
- Add Japanese translation (`jp`)
- Add Korean translation (`kr`)
## 2.0.1
- Improve error logging (display file, line and column)
- Add back support for `options.originalInput`
- Don't process math in markdown parser (delegated to `mathjax` plugin)
- Fix some cases of code blocks escaping
- Fix i18n for introduction title in json format
- Fix reload when book configuration is updated
- Fix backslashes in url when building on windows
## 2.0.0
- Fix page title of introduction
- Ignore codeblocks when replacing glossary terms
- Improve Unit Tests
- Fix scrolling position in website when preparing page
## 2.0.0-beta.5
- Fix progress order in json format
## 2.0.0-beta.4
- Fix default generator for use programmatically
- Add option "author" for html meta tags
- Fix links normalization (content and hash)
## 2.0.0-beta.3
- Fix odd cases with code blocks escaping
## 2.0.0-beta.2
- Fix definition of entry point title using SUMMARY.md
## 2.0.0-beta.1
- Fix windows incompatibility
- Add support for rtl (enabled by default for `ar` and `fa`)
- Escape code blocks in markdown parser
- Add Persian/Farsi translation (`fa`)
- Add Arabic translation (`ar`)
- Add Bengali translation (`bn`)
- Provide generator name in template context
## 2.0.0-alpha.9
- Fix links in sidebar
- Fix normalization of html link (README to index)
- Fix html snippets escaping
## 2.0.0-alpha.8
- Improve locale detection for i18n
- Fix chapter name for Glossary in pdf
- Don't escape html in glossary items
- Fix generation of multilingual book as ebook
- Add "post" block attribute to post-process
## 2.0.0-alpha.7
- Fix display of glossary in ebook formats
- Add default footer and header to pdf
- Fix generation of json format compatible with 1.x.x
- Add Simplifiled Chinese and Traditional Chinese translations
## 2.0.0-alpha.6
- Add es and pt translations
- Fix replacement of glossary terms
## 2.0.0-alpha.5
- Fix copy of files/covers
- Add back `finish:before` hook
## 2.0.0-alpha.4
- Fix copy of cover for multilingal books
## 2.0.0-alpha.3
- Norwegian translation
- Load plugins from book in priority
## 2.0.0-alpha.3
- Fix init command
- Update parsers to fix spaces in summary (`gitbook-parsers@0.3.1`)
## 2.0.0-alpha.1
- Externalize parsing into `gitbook-parsers` module
- Supports AsciiDoc and reStructuredText
- Hooks for page (`page:*`) are now deprecated, plugins should extend filters and blocks instead
- Hooks `summary` and `glossary` (after and before) have been removed
- Exercises and Quizzes are no longer parsed in the markdown parser
- Support for more markdown extensions: `.markdown`, `.mdown`
- Templates are rendered with nunjucks instead of swig, syntax is almost compatible, there is some changes with contexts and filters. `{{ super() }}` should be use instead of `{% parent %}`
- Clean output folder on build without removing `.git` and `.svn`
- MathJAX is no longer a default plugin
- SVG images are converted to PNG during generation of ebooks
- i18n in website and ebook (ru, it, de, fr)
- New templating syntax
- Content references (both internal and external)
- Glossary terms are handled during generation (also in ebook format)
## 1.5.0
- Fix `serve` command, broken by `1.4.2`
- Add nicer `dark` theme :)
## 1.4.2
- Force `process.exit` after builds, to prevent (possibly) lingering plugins
## 1.4.1
- Fix command 'install' without arguments
## 1.4.0
- Add command `gitbook install` to install plugins from book.json
-`package.json` is no longer necessary
## 1.3.4
- Add glossary to ebooks
- Fix autocover with new hook "finish:before"
- Add X-UA-Compatible meta tag for IE
## 1.3.3
- Fix parsing of lexed content using the client library
We’ve done our best to test but your feedback is really important. If you encounter problems or have feedback about GitBook products (GitBook.com, GitBook Editor, or the Toolchain), please log an issue in the [GitbookIO/feedback](https://github.com/GitbookIO/feedback/issues) repository.
## Reporting Bugs
If you run into any weird behavior while using GitBook, feel free to open a new issue in this repository! To be most helpful, please include the steps to reproduce the bug as best you can, including the output of command `gitbook -V`.
## Asking Questions
Questions are very welcome :smile:! Previous questions that folks have asked are tagged with a [`question`](https://github.com/GitBookIO/gitbook/issues?q=is%3Aissue+is%3Aclosed+label%3Aquestion) label, so before opening a new issue double-check that someone hasn't asked it before. But if you don't see anything, or if you're not sure if it's the same, err on the side of asking!
We've also got a [GitBook Community Slack](https://slack.gitbook.com/) where you can ask questions and get answers from other people using GitBook.
## Submitting Pull Requests
All pull requests are super welcomed and greatly appreciated! Easy issues are marked with an [`easy-one`](https://github.com/GitBookIO/gitbook/issues?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Aissue+label%3Aeasy-one) label if you're looking for a simple place to get familiar with the code base.
Please include tests and docs with every pull request!
## Running Tests
To run the examples, you need to have the GitBook repository cloned to your computer. After that, you need to `cd` into the directory where you cloned it, and install the dependencies from `npm` using `yarn`.
```
$ yarn install
```
Then you'll need to bootstrap it:
```
$ npm run bootstrap
```
Which will also compile the source files. Then run the tests with:
<p align="center">A <em>modern</em> customizable documentation format and toolchain</p>
GitBook is a command line tool (and Node.js library) for building beautiful books using GitHub/Git and Markdown. Here is an example: [Learn Javascript](https://www.gitbook.io/book/GitBookIO/javascript). You can publish book easily online using [gitbook.io](https://www.gitbook.io) and an [editor](https://github.com/GitbookIO/editor) is available for Windows, Mac and Linux. You can follow [@GitBookIO](https://twitter.com/GitBookIO) on Twitter. Complete documentation is available at [help.gitbook.io](http://help.gitbook.io/).
GitBook is a command line tool (and Node.js library) for building beautiful books using GitHub/Git and Markdown (or AsciiDoc). Here is an example: [ReduxJS documentation](http://redux.js.org/).
Options for commands `build` and `serve` are:
You can publish and host books easily online using [gitbook.com](https://www.gitbook.com). A desktop editor is [also available](https://www.gitbook.com/editor).
```
-o, --output <directory> Path to output directory, defaults to ./_book
-f, --format <name> Change generation format, defaults to site, availables are: site, page, ebook, json
--config <config file> Configuration file to use, defaults to book.js or book.json
```
Check out the [GitBook Community Slack Channel](https://slack.gitbook.com), Stay updated by following [@GitBookIO](https://twitter.com/GitBookIO) on Twitter or [GitBook](https://www.facebook.com/gitbookcom) on Facebook.
GitBook loads the default configuration from a `book.json` file in the repository if it exists.
Complete documentation is available at [toolchain.gitbook.com](http://toolchain.gitbook.com/).
Here are the options that can be stored in this file:
## Getting started
```js
{
// Folders to use for output
// Caution: it overrides the value from the command line
// It's not advised this option in the book.json
"output":null,
GitBook can be used either on your computer for building local books or on GitBook.com for hosting them. To get started, check out [the installation instructions in the documentation](docs/setup.md).
// Generator to use for building
// Caution: it overrides the value from the command line
// It's not advised this option in the book.json
"generator":"site",
## Usage examples
// Book title and description (defaults are extracted from the README)
"title":null,
"description":null,
GitBook can be used to create book, public documentation, enterprise manual, thesis, research papers, etc.
// For ebook format, the extension to use for generation (default is detected from output extension)
// "epub", "pdf", "mobi"
// Caution: it overrides the value from the command line
// It's not advised this option in the book.json
"extension":null,
You can find a [list of real-world examples](docs/examples.md) in the documentation.
// Plugins list, can contain "-name" for removing default plugins
"plugins":[],
## Help and Support
// Global configuration for plugins
"pluginsConfig":{
"fontSettings":{
"theme":"sepia","night"or"white",
"family":"serif"or"sans",
"size":1to4
}
},
We're always happy to help out with your books or any other questions you might have. You can ask a question on the following contact form at [gitbook.com/contact](https://www.gitbook.com/contact) or signal an issue on [GitHub](https://github.com/GitbookIO/gitbook).
// Variables for templating
"variables":{},
## Features
// Links in template (null: default, false: remove, string: new value)
"links":{
// Custom links at top of sidebar
"sidebar":{
"Custom link name":"https://customlink.com"
},
* Write using [Markdown](http://toolchain.gitbook.com/syntax/markdown.html) or [AsciiDoc](http://toolchain.gitbook.com/syntax/asciidoc.html)
* Output as a website or [ebook (pdf, epub, mobi)](http://toolchain.gitbook.com/ebook.html)
The platform [GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com/) is like an "Heroku for books": you can create a book on it (public, or private) and update it using **git push**.
//Header HTML template. Available variables: _PAGENUM_, _TITLE_, _AUTHOR_ and _SECTION_.
"headerTemplate":null,
//Footer HTML template. Available variables: _PAGENUM_, _TITLE_, _AUTHOR_ and _SECTION_.
"footerTemplate":null
}
}
```
You can publish your books to our index by visiting [GitBook.io](http://www.gitbook.io)
## Output Formats
GitBook can generate your book in the following formats:
* **Static Website**: This is the default format. It generates a complete interactive static website that can be, for example, hosted on GitHub Pages.
* **eBook**: A complete eBook with exercise solutions at the end of the book. Generate this format using: ```gitbook ebook ./myrepo```. You need to have [ebook-convert](http://manual.calibre-ebook.com/cli/ebook-convert.html) installed. The output format could be **PDF**, **ePub** or **MOBI**.
* **JSON**: This format is used for debugging or extracting metadata from a book. Generate this format using: ```gitbook build ./myrepo -f json```.
## Book Format
A book is a Git repository containing at least 2 files: `README.md` and `SUMMARY.md`.
#### README.md
Typically, this should be the introduction for your book. It will be automatically added to the final summary.
#### SUMMARY.md
The `SUMMARY.md` defines your book's structure. It should contain a list of chapters, linking to their respective pages.
Example:
```markdown
# Summary
This is the summary of my book.
* [section 1](section1/README.md)
* [example 1](section1/example1.md)
* [example 2](section1/example2.md)
* [section 2](section2/README.md)
* [example 1](section2/example1.md)
```
Files that are not included in `SUMMARY.md` will not be processed by `gitbook`.
#### Multi-Languages
GitBook supports building books written in multiple languages. Each language should be a sub-directory following the normal GitBook format, and a file named `LANGS.md` should be present at the root of the repository with the following format:
```markdown
* [English](en/)
* [French](fr/)
* [Español](es/)
```
You can see a complete example with the [Learn Git](https://github.com/GitbookIO/git) book.
#### Glossary
Allows you to specify terms and their respective definitions to be displayed in the glossary. Based on those terms, `gitbook` will automatically build an index and highlight those terms in pages.
The `GLOSSARY.md` format is very simple :
```markdown
# term
Definition for this term
# Another term
With it's definition, this can contain bold text and all other kinds of inline markup ...
```
#### Ignoring files & folders
GitBook will read the `.gitignore`, `.bookignore` and `.ignore` files to get a list of files and folders to skip. (The format inside those files follows the same convention as `.gitignore`).
Best practices for the `.gitignore` is to ignore build files from **node.js** (`node_modules`, ...) and build files from GitBook: `_book`, `*.epub`, `*.mobi` and `*.pdf` ([Download GitBook.gitignore](https://github.com/github/gitignore/blob/master/GitBook.gitignore)).
#### Cover
A cover image can be set by creating a file: **/cover.jpg**.
The best resolution is **1800x2360**. The generation of the cover can be done automatically using the plugin [autocover](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-autocover).
A small version of the cover can also be set by creating a file: **/cover_small.jpg**.
#### Publish your book
The platform [GitBook.io](https://www.gitbook.io/) is like an "Heroku for books": you can create a book on it (public, paid, or private) and update it using **git push**.
#### Plugins
Plugins can be used to extend your book's functionality. Read [GitbookIO/plugin](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin) for more information about how to build a plugin for GitBook.
##### Official plugins:
| Name | Description |
| ----- | ---- |
| [exercises](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-exercises) | Add interactive exercises to your book. |
| [quizzes](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-quizzes) | Add interactive quizzes to your book. |
| [mathjax](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-mathjax) | Displays mathematical notation in the book. |
| [mixpanel](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-mixpanel) | Mixpanel tracking for your book |
| [Google Analytics](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-ga) | Google Analytics tracking for your book |
| [Disqus](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-disqus) | Disqus comments integration in your book |
| [Autocover](https://github.com/GitbookIO/plugin-autocover) | Generate a cover for your book |
| [Transform annoted quotes to notes](https://github.com/erixtekila/gitbook-plugin-richquotes) | Allow extra markdown markup to render blockquotes as nice notes |
| [Send code to console](https://github.com/erixtekila/gitbook-plugin-toconsole) | Evaluate javascript block in the browser inspector's console |
| [Revealable sections](https://github.com/mrpotes/gitbook-plugin-reveal) | Reveal sections of the page using buttons made from the first title in each section |
| [Markdown within HTML](https://github.com/mrpotes/gitbook-plugin-nestedmd) | Process markdown within HTML blocks - allows custom layout options for individual pages |
| [Bootstrap JavaScript plugins](https://github.com/mrpotes/gitbook-plugin-bootstrapjs) | Use the [Bootstrap JavaScript plugins](http://getbootstrap.com/javascript) in your online GitBook |
| [Piwik Open Analytics](https://github.com/emmanuel-keller/gitbook-plugin-piwik) | Piwik Open Analytics tracking for your book |
| [JSBin](https://github.com/jcouyang/gitbook-plugin-jsbin) | Embedded jsbin frame into your book |
| [gitbook-grvis](https://github.com/romanlytkin/gitbook-grvis) | Gitbook GrViz plugin is used to select from markdown dot and converting it into a picture format svg |
| [gitbook-plantuml](https://github.com/romanlytkin/gitbook-plantuml) | Gitbook PlantUml plugin is used to select from markdown uml and converting it into a picture format svg |
#### Debugging
You can use the environment variable `DEBUG=true` to get better error messages (with stack trace). For example:
```
$ export DEBUG=true
$ gitbook build ./
```
GitBook is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. See [LICENSE](LICENSE) for the full license text.
This document aims to be a comprehensive guide to GitBook. It contains the full documentation for version **{{ book.version }}**. Help for GitBook.com specific questions can be found at [help.gitbook.com](https://help.gitbook.com).
### What is GitBook?
GitBook is a command line tool (and Node.js library) for building beautiful books using GitHub/Git and Markdown (or AsciiDoc). This documentation has been generated using GitBook.
GitBook can output your content as a website ([customizable](themes/README.md) and [extensibles](plugins/README.md)) or as an ebook (PDF, ePub or Mobi).
[GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com) is the online platform to create and host books built using the GitBook format. It offers hosting, collaboration features and an [easy-to-use editor](https://www.gitbook.com/editor).
### Help and Support
We're always happy to help out with your books or any other questions you might have. You can ask a question on the following contact form at [gitbook.com/contact](https://www.gitbook.com/contact) or signal an issue on [GitHub](https://github.com/GitbookIO/gitbook).
Check out the [GitBook Community Slack Channel](https://slack.gitbook.com), Stay updated by following [@GitBookIO](https://twitter.com/GitBookIO) on Twitter or [GitBook](https://www.facebook.com/gitbookcom) on Facebook.
### FAQ
Some questions are frequently asked. If you have a problem you should [check this out](faq.md) first.
### Contribute to this documentation
You can contribute to improve this documentation on [GitHub](https://github.com/GitbookIO/gitbook) by signaling issues or proposing changes.
If specified, the component will subscribe to GitBook store updates. Any time it updates, `mapStateToProps` will be called. Its result must be a plain object, and it will be merged into the component’s props.
If you omit it, the component will not be subscribed to the GitBook store. If `ownProps` is specified as a second argument, its value will be the props passed to your component, and `mapStateToProps` will be additionally re-invoked whenever the component receives new props (e.g. if props received from a parent component have shallowly changed, and you use the `ownProps` argument, `mapStateToProps` is re-evaluated).
For example to render the title of the current page:
GitBooks provides different Node APIs and contexts to plugins. These APIs can vary according to the GitBook version being used, your plugin should specify the `engines.gitbook` field in `package.json` accordingly.
#### Book instance
The `Book` interface is the central point of GitBook, it centralize all access read methods.
GitBook allows you to customize your book using a flexible configuration. These options are specified in a `book.json` file. For authors unfamiliar with the JSON syntax, you can validate the syntax using tools such as [JSONlint](http://jsonlint.com).
### General Settings
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `root` | Path to the root folder containing all the book's files, except `book.json`|
| `structure` | To specify paths for Readme, Summary, Glossary etc. See [Structure paragraph](#structure). |
| `title` | Title of your book, default value is extracted from the README. On GitBook.com this field is pre-filled. |
| `description` | Description of your book, default value is extracted from the README. On GitBook.com this field is pre-filled. |
| `author` | Name of the author. On GitBook.com this field is pre-filled. |
| `isbn` | ISBN of the book |
| `language` | [ISO code](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ISO_639-1_codes) of the book's language, default value is `en` |
| `direction` | Text's direction. Can be `rtl` or `ltr`, the default value depends on the value of `language` |
| `gitbook` | Version of GitBook that should be used. Uses the [SemVer](http://semver.org) specification and accepts conditions like `">= 3.0.0"` |
### Plugins
Plugins and their configurations are specified in the `book.json`. See [the plugins section](plugins/README.md) for more details.
Since version 3.0.0, GitBook can use themes. See [the theming section](themes/README.md) for more details.
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `plugins` | List of plugins to load |
| `pluginsConfig` |Configuration for plugins |
### Structure
In addition to the `root` variable, you can tell Gitbook the name of the files for Readme, Summary, Glossary, Languages (instead of using the default names such as `README.md`).
These files must be at the root of your book (or the root of every language book). Paths such as `dir/MY_README.md` are not accepted.
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `structure.readme` | Readme file name (defaults to `README.md`) |
| `structure.summary` | Summary file name (defaults to `SUMMARY.md`) |
| `structure.glossary` | Glossary file name (defaults to `GLOSSARY.md`) |
| `structure.languages` | Languages file name (defaults to `LANGS.md`) |
### PDF Options
PDF Output can be customized using a set of options in the `book.json`:
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `pdf.pageNumbers` | Add page numbers to the bottom of every page (default is `true`) |
| `pdf.fontSize` | Base font size (default is `12`) |
| `pdf.fontFamily` | Base font family (default is `Arial`) |
| `pdf.paperSize` | Paper size, options are `'a0', 'a1', 'a2', 'a3', 'a4', 'a5', 'a6', 'b0', 'b1', 'b2', 'b3', 'b4', 'b5', 'b6', 'legal', 'letter'` (default is `a4`) |
| `pdf.margin.top` | Top margin (default is `56`) |
| `pdf.margin.bottom` | Bottom margin (default is `56`) |
| `pdf.margin.right` | Right margin (default is `62`) |
| `pdf.margin.left` | Left margin (default is `62`) |
GitBook can generates a website, but can also output content as ebook (ePub, Mobi, PDF).
```
# Generate a PDF file
$ gitbook pdf ./ ./mybook.pdf
# Generate an ePub file
$ gitbook epub ./ ./mybook.epub
# Generate a Mobi file
$ gitbook mobi ./ ./mybook.mobi
```
### Installing ebook-convert
`ebook-convert` is required to generate ebooks (epub, mobi, pdf).
##### GNU/Linux
Install the [Calibre application](https://calibre-ebook.com/download).
```
$ sudo aptitude install calibre
```
In some GNU/Linux distributions node is installed as nodejs, you need to manually create a symlink:
```
$sudo ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node
```
##### OS X
Download the [Calibre application](https://calibre-ebook.com/download). After moving the `calibre.app` to your Applications folder create a symbolic link to the ebook-convert tool:
You can replace `/usr/bin` with any directory that is in your $PATH.
### Cover
Covers are used for all the ebook formats. You can either provide one yourself, or generate one using the [autocover plugin](https://plugins.gitbook.com/plugin/autocover).
To provide a cover, place a **`cover.jpg`** file at the root directory of your book. Adding a **`cover_small.jpg`** will specify a smaller version of the cover. The cover should be a **JPEG** file.
A good cover should respect the following guidelines:
* Size of 1800x2360 pixels for `cover.jpg`, 200x262 for `cover_small.jpg`
* No border
* Clearly visible book title
* Any important text should be visible in the small version
description: Real world examples of content published using GitBook.
---
# Examples
More than 50,000 books have been published on [GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com/explore).
### Books
- [Front-end Handbook](https://www.gitbook.com/book/frontendmasters/front-end-handbook/details) by [Cody Lindley](http://codylindley.com)
- [How to make an Operating System](https://www.gitbook.com/book/samypesse/how-to-create-an-operating-system/details) by [@SamyPesse](https://github.com/SamyPesse)
- [Building Web Apps with Go](https://www.gitbook.com/book/codegangsta/building-web-apps-with-go/details) by [@codegangsta](https://github.com/codegangsta)
- [Django Girls Tutorial](http://tutorial.djangogirls.org/en/index.html) by [Django Girls](https://djangogirls.org)
- [Linux Inside](https://www.gitbook.com/book/0xax/linux-insides/details) by [0xAX](https://twitter.com/0xAX)
- [Learn Javascript](https://www.gitbook.com/book/gitbookio/javascript/details) by [GitBook](https://twitter.com/GitbookIO)
### Research Papers
- [TowCenter Collection](https://www.gitbook.com/@towcenter) by [Columbia Journalism School](http://www.journalism.columbia.edu/)
- [Block Relaxation Algorithms in Statistics](https://www.gitbook.com/@jandeleeuw) by Jan de Leeuw
### Documentation
- [DuckDuckHack Documentation](http://docs.duckduckhack.com) by [DuckDuckGo](https://duckduckgo.com/about)
- [Loomio Handbook](http://loomio.coop/) and [guide to using Loomio](https://loomio.gitbooks.io/manual/content/en/index.html) both by [Loomio](https://www.loomio.org/)
- [Enspiral Handbook](http://handbook.enspiral.com/) by [Enspiral](http://enspiral.com/)
This page gathers common questions and answers concerning the GitBook format and toolchain.
Questions about GitBook.com and the Editor are gather into the [help.gitbook.com's FAQ](http://help.gitbook.com/faq.html).
#### How can I host/publish my book?
Books can easily be published and hosted on [GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com). But GitBook output can be hosted on any static file hosting solution.
#### What can I use to edit my content?
Any text editor should work! But we advise using the [GitBook Editor](https://www.gitbook.com/editor). [GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com) also provides a web version of this editor.
---
#### Does GitBook supports RTL/bi-directional text ?
The GitBook format supports right to left, and bi-directional writing. To enable it, you either need to specify a language (ex: `ar`), or force GitBook to use RTL in your `book.json`:
```json
{
"language":"ar",
"direction":"rtl"
}
```
With version 3.0 of GitBook, it's automatically detected according to the content.
_Note that, while the output book will indeed respect RTL, the Editor doesn't support RTL writing yet_.
#### Should I use an `.html` or `.md` extensions in my links?
You should always use paths and the `.md` extensions when linking to your files, GitBook will automatically replace these paths by the appropriate link when the pointing file is referenced in the Table of Contents.
#### Can I create a GitBook in a sub-directory of my repository?
Yes, GitBooks can be created in [sub-directories](structure.md#subdirectory). GitBook.com and the CLI also looks by default in a series of [folders](structure.md).
#### Does GitBook supports RTL languages?
Yes, GitBook automatically detect the direction in your pages (`rtl` or `ltr`) and adjust the layout accordingly. The direction can also be specified globally in the [book.json](config.md).
---
#### Does GitBook support Math equations?
GitBook supports math equations and TeX thanks to plugins. There are currently 2 official plugins to display math: [mathjax](https://plugins.gitbook.com/plugin/mathjax) and [katex](https://plugins.gitbook.com/plugin/katex).
#### Can I customize/theme the output?
Yes, both the website and ebook outputs can be customized using [themes](themes/README.md).
#### Can I add interactive content (videos, etc)?
GitBook is very [extensible](plugins/README.md). You can use [existing plugins](https://plugins.gitbook.com) or create your own!
GitBook supports building books written in multiple languages. Each language should be a sub-directory following the normal GitBook format, and a file named `LANGS.md` should be present at the root of the repository with the following format:
```markdown
# Languages
* [English](en/)
* [French](fr/)
* [Español](es/)
```
### Configuration for each language
When a language book (ex: `en`) has a `book.json`, its configuration will extend the main configuration.
The only exception is plugins, plugins are specified globally, and language specific plugins cannot be specified.
Allows you to specify terms and their respective definitions to be displayed as annotations. Based on those terms, GitBook will automatically build an index and highlight those terms in pages.
The `GLOSSARY.md` format is a list of `h2` headings, along with a description paragraph:
GitBook uses a `SUMMARY.md` file to define the structure of chapters and subchapters of the book. The `SUMMARY.md` file is used to generate the book's table of contents.
The format of `SUMMARY.md` is just a list of links. The link's title is used as the chapter's title, and the link's target is a path to that chapter's file.
Adding a nested list to a parent chapter will create subchapters.
##### Simple example
```markdown
# Summary
* [Part I](part1/README.md)
* [Writing is nice](part1/writing.md)
* [GitBook is nice](part1/gitbook.md)
* [Part II](part2/README.md)
* [We love feedback](part2/feedback_please.md)
* [Better tools for authors](part2/better_tools.md)
```
Each chapter has a dedicated page (`part#/README.md`) and is split into subchapters.
##### Anchors
Chapters in the Table of Contents can be pointing to specific part of a file using anchor.
```markdown
# Summary
### Part I
* [Part I](part1/README.md)
* [Writing is nice](part1/README.md#writing)
* [GitBook is nice](part1/README.md#gitbook)
* [Part II](part2/README.md)
* [We love feedback](part2/README.md#feedback)
* [Better tools for authors](part2/README.md#tools)
```
##### Parts
The Table of Contents can be divided into parts separated by headings or horizontal lines:
```markdown
# Summary
### Part I
* [Writing is nice](part1/writing.md)
* [GitBook is nice](part1/gitbook.md)
### Part II
* [We love feedback](part2/feedback_please.md)
* [Better tools for authors](part2/better_tools.md)
----
* [Last part without title](part3/title.md)
```
Parts are just groups of chapters and do not have dedicated pages, but according to the theme, it will show in the navigation.
### Pages
#### Markdown syntax
Most of the files for GitBook use the Markdown syntax by default. GitBook infers your pages's structure from it. The syntax used is similar to the [GitHub Flavored Markdown syntax](https://guides.github.com/features/mastering-markdown/). One can also opt for the [AsciiDoc syntax](asciidoc.md).
##### Example of a chapter file
```markdown
# Title of the chapter
This is a great introduction.
## Section 1
Markdown will dictates _most_ of your **book's structure**
## Section 2
...
```
#### Front Matter
Pages can contain an optional front matter. It can be used to define the page's description. The front matter must be the first thing in the file and must take the form of valid YAML set between triple-dashed lines. Here is a basic example:
```yaml
---
description:This is a short description of my page
---
# The content of my page
...
```
The front matter can define variables of your own, they will be added to the [page variable](templating/variables.md) so you can use them in your templating.
Plugins are the best way to extend GitBook functionalities (ebook and website). There exist plugins to do a lot of things: bring math formulas display support, track visits using Google Analytics, etc.
### How to find plugins?
Plugins can be easily searched on [plugins.gitbook.com](https://plugins.gitbook.com).
### How to install a plugin?
Once you find a plugin that you want to install, you need to add it to your `book.json`:
```
{
"plugins": ["myPlugin", "anotherPlugin"]
}
```
You can also specify a specific version using: `"myPlugin@0.3.1"`. By default GitBook will resolve the latest version of the plugin compatbile with the current GitBook version.
### GitBook.com
Plugins are automatically installed on [GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com). Locally, run `gitbook install` to install and prepare all plugins for your books.
### Configuring plugins
Plugins specific configurations are stored in `pluginsConfig`. You have to refer to the documentation of the plugin itself for details about the available options.
GitBooks provides different APIs and contexts to plugins. These APIs can vary according to the GitBook version being used, your plugin should specify the `engines.gitbook` field in `package.json` accordingly.
#### Book instance
The `Book` class is the central point of GitBook, it centralize all access read methods. This class is defined in [book.js](https://github.com/GitbookIO/gitbook/blob/master/book.js).
Extending templating blocks is the best way to provide extra functionalities to authors.
The most common usage is to process the content within some tags at runtime. It's like [filters](./filters.md), but on steroids because you aren't confined to a single expression.
### Defining a new block
Blocks are defined by the plugin, blocks is a map of name associated with a block descriptor. The block descriptor needs to contain at least a `process` method.
```js
module.exports={
blocks:{
tag1:{
process:function(block){
return"Hello "+block.body+", How are you?";
}
}
}
};
```
The `process` should return the html content that will replace the tag. Refer to [Context and APIs](./api.md) to learn more about `this` and GitBook API.
A GitBook plugin is a node package published on NPM that follow a defined convention.
## Structure
#### package.json
The `package.json` is a manifest format for describing **Node.js modules**. GitBook plugins are built on top of Node modules. It declares dependencies, version, ownership, and other information required to run a plugin in GitBook. This document describes the schema in detail.
A plugin manifest `package.json` can also contain details about the required configuration. The configuration schema is defined in the `gitbook` field of the `package.json` (This field follow the [JSON-Schema](http://json-schema.org) guidelines):
```js
{
"name":"gitbook-plugin-mytest",
"version":"0.0.1",
"description":"This is my first GitBook plugin",
"engines":{
"gitbook":">1.x.x"
},
"gitbook":{
"properties":{
"myConfigKey":{
"type":"string",
"default":"it's the default value",
"description":"It defines my awesome config!"
}
}
}
}
```
You can learn more about `package.json` from the [NPM documentation](https://docs.npmjs.com/files/package.json).
The **package name** must begin with `gitbook-plugin-` and the **package engines** should contains `gitbook`.
#### index.js
The `index.js` is main entry point of your plugin runtime:
```js
module.exports={
// Map of hooks
hooks:{},
// Map of new blocks
blocks:{},
// Map of new filters
filters:{}
};
```
## Publish your plugin
GitBook plugins can be published on [NPM](https://www.npmjs.com).
To publish a new plugin, you need to create an account on [npmjs.com](https://www.npmjs.com) then publish it from the command line:
```
$ npm publish
```
## Private plugins
Private plugins can be hosted on GitHub and included using `git` urls:
Testing your plugin on your book before publishing it is possible using [npm link](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/link).
In the plugin's folder, run:
```
$ npm link
```
Then in your book's folder:
```
$ npm link gitbook-plugin-<plugin's name>
```
### Unit testing on Travis
[gitbook-tester](https://github.com/todvora/gitbook-tester) makes it easy to write **Node.js/Mocha** unit tests for your plugins. Using [Travis.org](https://travis.org), tests can be run on each commits/tags.
Getting GitBook installed and ready-to-go should only take a few minutes.
### GitBook.com
[GitBook.com](https://www.gitbook.com) is an easy to use solution to write, publish and host books. It is the easiest solution for publishing your content and collaborating on it.
It integrates well with the [GitBook Editor](https://www.gitbook.com/editor).
### Local Installation
##### Requirements
Installing GitBook is easy and straightforward. Your system just needs to meet these two requirements:
* NodeJS (v4.0.0 and above is recommended)
* Windows, Linux, Unix, or Mac OS X
##### Install with NPM
The best way to install GitBook is via **NPM**. At the terminal prompt, simply run the following command to install GitBook:
```
$ npm install gitbook-cli -g
```
`gitbook-cli` is an utility to install and use multiple versions of GitBook on the same system. It will automatically install the required version of GitBook to build a book.
##### Create a book
GitBook can setup a boilerplate book:
```
$ gitbook init
```
If you wish to create the book into a new directory, you can do so by running `gitbook init ./directory`
Preview and serve your book using:
```
$ gitbook serve
```
Or build the static website using:
```
$ gitbook build
```
##### Install pre-releases
`gitbook-cli` makes it easy to download and install other versions of GitBook to test with your book:
```
$ gitbook fetch beta
```
Use `gitbook ls-remote` to list remote versions available for install.
##### Debugging
You can use the options `--log=debug` and `--debug` to get better error messages (with stack trace). For example:
GitBook uses a simple directory structure. All Markdown/Asciidoc files listed in the [SUMMARY](pages.md) will be transformed as HTML. Multi-Lingual books have a slightly [different structure](languages.md).
A basic GitBook usually looks something like this:
```
.
├── book.json
├── README.md
├── SUMMARY.md
├── chapter-1/
| ├── README.md
| └── something.md
└── chapter-2/
├── README.md
└── something.md
```
An overview of what each of these does:
| File | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `book.json` | Stores [configuration](config.md) data (__optional__) |
| `README.md` | Preface / Introduction for your book (**required**) |
| `SUMMARY.md` | Table of Contents (See [Pages](pages.md)) (__optional__) |
| `GLOSSARY.md` | Lexicon / List of terms to annotate (See [Glossary](lexicon.md)) (__optional__) |
### Static files and Images
A static file is a file that is not listed in the `SUMMARY.md`. All static files, unless [ignored](#ignore), are copied to the output.
### Ignoring files & folders {#ignore}
GitBook will read the `.gitignore`, `.bookignore` and `.ignore` files to get a list of files and folders to skip.
The format inside those files, follows the same convention as `.gitignore`:
```
# This is a comment
# Ignore the file test.md
test.md
# Ignore everything in the directory "bin"
bin/*
```
### Project integration with subdirectory {#subdirectory}
For software projects, you can use a subdirectory (like `docs/`) to store the book for the project's documentation. You can configure the [`root` option](config.md) to indicate the folder where GitBook can find the book's files:
Since version `2.0.0`, GitBook can also accept AsciiDoc as an input format.
Please refer to the [AsciiDoc Syntax Quick Reference](http://asciidoctor.org/docs/asciidoc-syntax-quick-reference/) for more informations about the format.
Just like for markdown, GitBook is using some special files to extract structures: `README.adoc`, `SUMMARY.adoc`, `LANGS.adoc` and `GLOSSARY.adoc`.
### README.adoc
This is the main entry of your book: the introduction. This file is **required**.
### SUMMARY.adoc
This file defines the list of chapters and subchapters. Just like in Markdown, the `SUMMARY.adoc`'s format is simply a list of links, the name of the link is used as the chapter's name, and the target is a path to that chapter's file.
Subchapters are defined simply by adding a nested list to a parent chapter.
Most of the examples from this documentation are in Markdown. Markdown is default parser for GitBook, but one can also opt for the [AsciiDoc syntax](asciidoc.md).
Here’s an overview of Markdown syntax that you can use with GitBook (same as GitHub with some additions).
### Headings
To create a heading, add one to six `#` symbols before your heading text. The number of # you use will determine the size of the heading.
```markdown
# This is an <h1> tag
## This is an <h2> tag
###### This is an <h6> tag
```
GitBook supports a nice way for explicitly setting the header ID. If you follow the header text with an opening curly bracket (separated from the text with a least one space), a hash, the ID and a closing curly bracket, the ID is set on the header. If you use the trailing hash feature of atx style headers, the header ID has to go after the trailing hashes. For example:
```markdown
Hello {#id}
-----
# Hello {#id}
# Hello # {#id}
```
### Paragraphs and Line Breaks {#paragraphs}
A paragraph is simply one or more consecutive lines of text, separated by one or more blank lines. (A blank line is any line that looks like a blank line — a line containing nothing but spaces or tabs is considered blank.) Normal paragraphs should not be indented with spaces or tabs.
```
Here's a line for us to start with.
This line is separated from the one above by two newlines, so it will be a *separate paragraph*.
```
### Emphasis {#emphasis}
```markdown
*This text will be italic*
_This will also be italic_
**This text will be bold**
__This will also be bold__
~~This text will be crossed out.~~
_You **can** combine them_
```
### Lists {#lists}
Markdown supports ordered (numbered) and unordered (bulleted) lists.
##### Unordered
Unordered lists use asterisks, pluses, and hyphens — interchangably — as list markers:
```markdown
* Item 1
* Item 2
* Item 2a
* Item 2b
```
##### Ordered
Ordered lists use numbers followed by periods:
```markdown
1. Item 1
2. Item 2
3. Item 3
* Item 3a
* Item 3b
```
### Links {#links}
Markdown supports two style of links: inline and reference.
A simple link can be created by surrounding the text with square brackets and the link URL with parentheses:
```markdown
This is [an example](http://example.com/ "Title") inline link with a title.
[This link](http://example.net/) has no title attribute.
```
Links can point to relative paths, anchors or absolute urls.
### References
There is another way to create links which does not interrupt the text flow. The URL and title are defined using a reference name and this reference name is then used in square brackets instead of the link URL:
```markdown
This is [an example][id] reference-style link.
```
Then, anywhere in the document, you define your link label like this, on a line by itself:
```markdown
[id]: http://example.com/ "Optional Title Here"
```
### Images {#images}
Images can be created in a similar way than links: just use an exclamation mark before the square brackets. The link text will become the alternative text of the image and the link URL specifies the image source:
```markdown
An image: 
```
### Blockquotes {#blockquotes}
A blockquote is started using the `>` marker followed by an optional space; all following lines that are also started with the blockquote marker belong to the blockquote. You can use any block-level elements inside a blockquote:
```markdown
As Kanye West said:
> We're living the future so
> the present is our past.
```
### Tables {#tables}
You can create tables by assembling a list of words and dividing them with hyphens `-` (for the first row), and then separating each column with a pipe `|`:
```markdown
| First Header | Second Header |
| ------------- | ------------- |
| Content Cell | Content Cell |
| Content Cell | Content Cell |
```
The pipes on either end of the table are optional. Cells can vary in width and do not need to be perfectly aligned within columns. There must be at least three hyphens in each column of the header row.
### Code {#code}
Markdown supports two different code block styles. One uses lines indented with either four spaces or one tab whereas the other uses lines with tilde characters as delimiters – therefore the content does not need to be indented:
```markdown
This is a sample code block.
Continued here.
```
##### Fenced code blocks
You can create fenced code blocks by placing triple backticks ` ``` ` before and after the code block. We recommend placing a blank line before and after code blocks to make the raw formatting easier to read.
```
function test() {
console.log("notice the blank line before this function?");
}
```
##### Syntax highlighting
You can add an optional language identifier to enable syntax highlighting in your fenced code block.
For example, to syntax highlight Ruby code:
```ruby
require 'redcarpet'
markdown = Redcarpet.new("Hello World!")
puts markdown.to_html
```
##### Inline code
Text phrases can be marked up as code by surrounding them with backticks:
Use `gitbook` to convert the `text` in markdown
syntax to HTML.
### Footnotes
GitBook supports a simple syntax for such footnotes. Footnotes are relative to each pages.
```markdown
Text prior to footnote reference.[^2]
[^2]: Comment to include in footnote.
```
### HTML
GitBook supports use of raw HTML in your text, Markdown syntax in HTML is not processed:
```
<div>
Markdown here will not be **parsed**
</div>
```
### Horizontal Rule
Horizontal Rules can be inserted using three or more asterisks, dashes or underscores, optionally separated by spaces or tabs, on an otherwise blank line:
```markdown
Three or more...
---
Hyphens
***
Asterisks
```
### Ignoring Markdown formatting
You can tell GitBook to ignore (or escape) Markdown formatting by using `\` before the Markdown character.
```
Let's rename \*our-new-project\* to \*our-old-project\*.
GitBook uses the [Nunjucks templating language](https://mozilla.github.io/nunjucks/) to process pages and theme's templates.
The Nunjucks syntax is very similar to **Jinja2** or **Liquid**. Its syntax uses surrounding braces `{ }` to mark content that needs to be processed.
### Variables
A variable looks up a value from the template context. If you wanted to simply display a variable, you would use the `{{ variable }}` syntax. For example :
```twig
My name is {{name}}, nice to meet you
```
This looks up username from the context and displays it. Variable names can have dots in them which lookup properties, just like JavaScript. You can also use the square bracket syntax.
```twig
{{foo.bar}}
{{foo["bar"]}}
```
If a value is undefined, nothing is displayed. The following all output nothing if foo is undefined: `{{ foo }}`, `{{ foo.bar }}`, `{{ foo.bar.baz }}`.
GitBook provides a set of [predefined variables](variables.md) from the context.
### Filters
Filters are essentially functions that can be applied to variables. They are called with a pipe operator (`|`) and can take arguments.
```twig
{{foo|title}}
{{foo|join(",")}}
{{foo|replace("foo","bar")|capitalize}}
```
The third example shows how you can chain filters. It would display "Bar", by first replacing "foo" with "bar" and then capitalizing it.
### Tags
##### if
`if` tests a condition and lets you selectively display content. It behaves exactly as JavaScript's `if` behaves.
```twig
{%ifvariable%}
It is true
{%endif%}
```
If variable is defined and evaluates to true, "It is true" will be displayed. Otherwise, nothing will be.
You can specify alternate conditions with `elif` and `else`:
GitBook provides a serie of builtin filters and blocks to help you write templates.
### Filters
`value|default(default, [boolean])`
If value is strictly undefined, return default, otherwise value. If boolean is true, any JavaScript falsy value will return default (false, "", etc)
`arr|sort(reverse, caseSens, attr)`
Sort arr with JavaScript's arr.sort function. If reverse is true, result will be reversed. Sort is case-insensitive by default, but setting caseSens to true makes it case-sensitive. If attr is passed, will compare attr from each item.
The real git url part should finish with `.git`, the filename to import is extracted after the `.git` till the fragment of the url.
The `commit-ish` can be any tag, sha, or branch which can be supplied as an argument to `git checkout`. The default is `master`.
### Inheritance
Template inheritance is a way to make it easy to reuse templates. When writing a template, you can define "blocks" that child templates can override. The inheritance chain can be as long as you like.
`block` defines a section on the template and identifies it with a name. Base templates can specify blocks and child templates can override them with new content.
```
{% extends "./mypage.md" %}
{% block pageContent %}
# This is my page content
{% endblock %}
```
In the file `mypage.md`, you should specify the blocks that can be extended:
The following is a reference of the available data during book's parsing and theme generation.
### Global Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `book` | Book-wide information + configuration settings from `book.json`. See below for details. |
| `gitbook` | GitBook specific information |
| `page` | Current page specific information |
| `file` | File associated with the current page specific information |
| `readme` | Information about the Readme |
| `glossary` | Information about the Glossary |
| `summary` | Information about the table of contents |
| `languages` | List of languages for multi-lingual books |
| `output` | Information about the output generator |
| `config` | Dump of the `book.json` |
### Book Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `book.language` | Current language for a multilingual book |
| `book.[value]` | All other values under `variables` in the `book.json` are accessible here |
For example, with this `book.json`:
```json
{
variables:{
hello:"everyone"
}
}
```
... the following text `{{ book.hello }}` will expand to `everyone`.
### GitBook Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `gitbook.time` | The current time (when you run the `gitbook` command). |
| `gitbook.version` | Version of GitBook used to generate the book |
### File Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `file.path` | The path to the raw page |
| `file.mtime` | Modified Time. Last time the file was modified |
| `file.type` | The name of the parser used to compile this file (ex: `markdown`, `asciidoc`, etc) |
#### Page Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `page.title` | Title of the page |
| `page.previous` | Previous page in the Table of Contents (can be `null`) |
| `page.next` | Next page in the Table of Contents (can be `null`) |
| `page.dir` | Text direction, based on configuration or detected from content (`rtl` or `ltr`) |
#### Table of Contents Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `summary.parts` | List of sections in the Table of Contents |
The whole table of contents (`SUMMARY.md`) can be accessed:
`summary.parts[0].articles[0].title` will return the title of the first article.
#### Multi-lingual book Variable
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `languages.list` | List of languages for this book |
Languages are defined by `{ id: 'en', title: 'English' }`.
### Output Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `output.name` | Name of the output generator, possible values are `website`, `json`, `ebook` |
| `output.format` | When `output.name == "ebook"`, `format` defines the ebook format that will be generated, possible values are `pdf`, `epub` or `mobi` |
### Readme Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `readme.path` | Path to the Readme in the book |
### Glossary Variables
| Variable | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `glossary.path` | Path to the Glossary in the book |
Since version 3.0.0, GitBook can be easily themed. Books use the [theme-default](https://github.com/GitbookIO/theme-default) theme by default.
> **Caution**: Custom theming can block some plugins from working correctly.
### Structure of a theme
A theme is a plugin containing templates and assets. Overriding any individual template is optional, since themes always extend the default theme.
| Folder | Description |
| -------- | ----------- |
| `_layouts` | Main folder containing all the templates |
| `_layouts/website/page.html` | Template for a normal page |
| `_layouts/ebook/page.html` | Template for a normal page during ebook generation (PDF, ePub, Mobi) |
### Extend/Customize theme in a book
Authors can extend the templates of a theme directly from their book's source (without creating an external theme). Templates will be resolved in the `_layouts` folder of the book first, then in the installed plugins/themes.
### Extend instead of Forking
When you want to make your theme changes available to multiple books, instead of forking the default theme, you can extend it using the [templating syntax](../templating/README.md):
```html
{% extends template.self %}
{% block body %}
{{ super() }}
... This will be added to the "body" block
{% endblock %}
```
Take a look at the [API](https://github.com/GitbookIO/theme-api) theme for a more complete example.
### Publish a theme
Themes are published as plugins ([see related docs](../plugins/README.md)) with a `theme-` prefix. For example the theme `awesome` will be loaded from the `theme-awesome` plugin, and then from the `gitbook-plugin-theme-awesome` NPM package.
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