Skip to content
A computer with an internet connection. An email address and access to its inbox.
Using a web browser, go to , create an account, and sign in. For steps to create an account, see .Go to . In the top-right corner, click the green Use this template button. Then click Create a new repository.On the Create a new repository page, set the following:Repository name: A name that allows you to easily identify your repository’s contents, such as my_help_centre.Description: A brief description, such as Learning to build a help centre.Choose visibility: Click Public, then select Private. This ensures the inner workings of your help centre can only be seen by you.Click Create repository.
Using a web browser, go to the GitHub repository created in In the top-left corner, click the Code tab.In the list of files, click the pages folder. This folder stores the written contents of your help centre.Click index.mdx. This is the front page of your help centre.In the top-right corner, click Edit this file. This opens a text editor in which you can add, edit, or delete content as you would in a word processor such as Microsoft Word.Delete the existing content, and replace it with the content below:To save these changes, click the green Commit changes... button in the top-right corner.Once the text in the Commit message box has been generated automatically, click Commit changes.
Create a Vercel account. To do this:When prompted to choose a plan type, click Hobby — as it’s free and the functionality of Pro isn’t required.Enter your name and click Continue.Click Continue with GitHub and sign in with your GitHub account.In Vercel, click Add new in the top-right corner. Then click Project.Under Import Git Repository, click Import next to the repository you created in .In the Project name field, enter a name that’s easy to identify — such as my_help_centre.To publish your help centre online, click Deploy.
Under Projects, click the name of the project — as set in Under Domains, click the link. The link is a web address that ends with vercel.app.
change the colours, fonts, and spacing of your help centre. add more pages and formatting, such as bold, italics, and headers. allow users to access your help centre using a web address of your choice.
Launching a help centre using docs as code
Want to publish your help docs online? Here's how you get started
Getting started with your online help centre
What you will do
In this guide, you’ll launch a simple, functional online help centre. A help centre is a website that provides users with the information they need to learn how to use a product or solve problems.
To launch your help centre, you’ll use an approach called documentation as code (”doc as code”) — in which writers edit and publish documentation using the same workflows developers use to build software.
Docs as code doesn’t change how you write — you’ll still create and publish text files and you don't need to understand code. You're simply using tools that make your content easier to track, maintain, and share.
What you need before getting started
To deploy a help centre, you need:
How to launch an online help centre
Steps
You’ll deploy a help centre in the following steps:
Step 1: Setting up an online folder to store your help centre
First, you need a repository to store your help centre. Think of a repository as an online folder that securely stores files. Later, you’ll return to your repository to edit your help centre.
Let’s use GitHub, as it’s a free and secure repository.
To set up a GitHub repository:
In GitHub, files that comprise your help centre are listed, confirming the repository has been created.
Your help centre's files listed in your GitHub repository.
Step 2: Adding content to your help centre
With your repository set up, you’ll replace the contents of your help centre’s front page. This can be done in GitHub by editing a file called index.mdx.
An .mdx file is a text file that uses markdown to add style elements such as bold and italics. For example, **Hello** in the .mdx file would be presented as Hello in your help centre.
To edit the contents of the front page:
# This is a H1 header
## This is a H2 header
### This is a H3 header
This is a sentence.
Text editor in GitHub with updated content.
GitHub displays a preview of how your updated content will look once it's published in your help centre
Preview of your updated content in GitHub.
Step 3: Publishing your help centre to the web
Vercel is a service that allows you to publish your help centre online. Vercel is free, and you can use your GitHub account to sign up.
Warning: Ensure your help centre does not contain any sensitive or confidential, as your help centre is available to anyone with internet access upon completing this section.
To publish your help centre to the web:
A page saying Congratulations! appears to confirm that your help centre has been published and is available to anyone with internet access.
Vercel confirmation page.
Step 4: Visiting your help centre online
With your help centre now available online, you can find its web address in Vercel.
To find the web address for your help centre:
Your help centre opens in a tab in your web browser.
Your published online help centre.
Next steps
With your help centre up and running, you can now:
Want to print your doc?
This is not the way.
This is not the way.
Try clicking the ··· in the right corner or using a keyboard shortcut (
CtrlP
) instead.