2023-09-14 19:09:18 +02:00
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# Built-in plugins
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Material for MkDocs started out as a theme for [MkDocs][mkdocs], but has since
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evolved into a full-fledged framework for building and maintaining documentation.
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The theme is still the core of the project, but it's now accompanied by a
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growing number of complementary built-in plugins.
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We strive to make those plugins as modular and generic as possible, so that they
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can be used in a wide variety of projects and use cases. By providing useful
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default settings, we also try to make them as easy to use as possible, so that
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you can get started quickly, tweaking their settings later on. When
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developing built-in plugins, we always adhere to the following design principles:
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- **Modularity:** Built-in plugins are designed to be modular, so that they can
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be easily combined to implement sophisticated pipelines. For example, the
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[offline], [optimize] and [privacy] plugins can be used together to build
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truly [offline-capable documentation].
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- **Interoperability:** Built-in plugins are designed to be as compatible as
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possible, so they can be used in combination with other plugins, including
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third-party plugins. We strive to make it simple to integrate with the vast
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ecosystem that has evolved around [MkDocs][mkdocs].
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- **Performance:** Built-in plugins are designed to be as fast and
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memory-efficient as possible, so that they don't unnecessarily slow down
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builds. This is particularly important for large documentation projects with
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thousands of pages.
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[mkdocs]: https://www.mkdocs.org/
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[design principles]: ../design-principles.md
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[offline-capable documentation]: ../setup/building-for-offline-usage.md
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## Categories
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### Management
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The following plugins greatly improve the authoring experience when working on
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documentation projects by providing better management capabilities, from the
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management of plugins, multiple projects, and metadata, to the creation of
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minimal reproductions for bug reports:
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<div class="grid cards" markdown>
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- :material-format-list-group: __[Built-in group plugin][group]__
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---
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The group plugin allows to group plugins into logical units to conditionally
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enable or disable them for specific environments with the use of
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[environment variables][mkdocs.env].
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---
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__Optimal management of plugins when building in different environments__
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- :material-file-tree: __[Built-in meta plugin][meta]__
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---
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The meta plugin makes it easy to manage metadata (front matter) for all
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pages in a folder, so a certain subset of pages uses specific tags or a
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custom template.
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---
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__Simpler organization, categorization and management of metadata__
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- :material-folder-open: __[Built-in projects plugin][projects]__
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---
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The projects plugin allows to split your main project into multiple distinct
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projects, build them concurrently and preview them together as one.
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---
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__Connect multiple projects together, and build them separately or as one__
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- :material-information: __[Built-in info plugin][info]__
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---
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The info plugin is a small and useful utility that helps to create
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self-contained minimal reproductions, so we maintainers can fix reported
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bugs more quickly.
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---
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__Your bug reports are of the highest quality, so we can fix them as fast as
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possible__
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</div>
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[group]: group.md
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[info]: info.md
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[meta]: meta.md
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2023-10-03 16:13:01 +02:00
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[projects]: projects.md
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2023-09-14 19:09:18 +02:00
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### Optimization
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The following plugins are designed to help you build optimized documentation,
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making it more accessible to your users through faster loading times, better
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search engine rankings, beautiful preview images on social media, and GDPR
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compliance with a few lines of configuration:
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<div class="grid cards" markdown>
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- :material-share-circle: __[Built-in social plugin][social]__
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---
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The social plugin automatically generates beautiful and customizable
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social cards for each page of your documentation, showing as previews on
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social media.
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---
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__Links to your site render beautiful social cards when shared on social
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media__
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- :material-rabbit: __[Built-in optimize plugin][optimize]__
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---
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The optimize plugin automatically identifies and optimizes all media files
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that you reference in your project by using compression and conversion
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techniques.
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---
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__Your site loads faster as smaller images are served to your users__
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- :material-shield-account: __[Built-in privacy plugin][privacy]__
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---
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The privacy plugin downloads external assets automatically for easy
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self-hosting, allowing for GDPR compliance with a single line of
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configuration.
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---
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__Your documentation can be made GDPR compliant with minimal effort__
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- :material-connection: __[Built-in offline plugin][offline]__
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---
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The offline plugin adds support for building [offline-capable documentation],
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so you can distribute the [`site` directory][mkdocs.site_dir] as a `.zip`
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file that can be downloaded.
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---
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__Your documentation can work without connectivity to the internet__
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</div>
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[offline]: offline.md
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[optimize]: optimize.md
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[privacy]: privacy.md
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[social]: social.md
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### Content
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The following plugins are designed to help you set up a blog, provide search
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functionality to your users, add tags to pages and posts, and use the same
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typesetting capabilities in specific parts of the documentation exactly as in
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the main content:
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<div class="grid cards" markdown>
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- :material-newspaper-variant-outline: __[Built-in blog plugin][blog]__
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---
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The blog plugin adds first-class support for blogging to Material for
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MkDocs, either as a sidecar to your documentation or as a standalone
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installation.
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---
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__Your blog is built with the same powerful engine as your documentation__
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- :material-magnify: __[Built-in search plugin][search]__
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---
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The search plugin adds a search bar to the header, allowing users to search
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the entire documentation, so it's easier for them to find what they're
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looking for.
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---
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__Your documentation is searchable without any external services, even
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offline__
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- :material-tag-text: __[Built-in tags plugin][tags]__
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---
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The tags plugin adds first-class support for categorizing pages with tags,
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adding the ability to group related pages to improve the discovery of
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related content.
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---
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__Your pages are categorized with tags, yielding additional context__
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- :material-format-title: __[Built-in typeset plugin][typeset]__
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---
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The typeset plugin allows to preserve the enriched presentation of titles
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and headlines within the navigation and table of contents.
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---
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__Sidebars preserve the same formatting as section titles in pages__
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</div>
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[blog]: blog.md
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[search]: search.md
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[tags]: tags.md
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[typeset]: typeset.md
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## Architecture
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### Multiple instances
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Several built-in plugins have support for multiple instances, which means that
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they can be used multiple times in the same configuration file, allowing to
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fine-tune behavior for separate sections of your project. Currently, the
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following plugins have support for multiple instances:
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<div class="mdx-columns" markdown>
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- [Built-in blog plugin][blog]
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- [Built-in group plugin][group]
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- [Built-in optimize plugin][optimize]
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- [Built-in privacy plugin][privacy]
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- [Built-in social plugin][social]
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</div>
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