# Requesting a change
Material for MkDocs is a powerful tool for creating beautiful and functional
project documentation. With more than 20,000 users, we understand that our
project serves a wide range of use cases, which is why we have created the
following guide.
---
Put yourself in our shoes – with a project of this size, it can be challenging
to maintain existing functionality while constantly adding new features at the
same time. We highly value every idea or contribution from our community, and
we kindly ask you to take the time to read the following guidelines before
submitting your change request in our public [issue tracker]. This will help us
better understand the proposed change and how it will benefit the community.
This guide is our best effort to explain the criteria and reasoning behind our
decisions when evaluating change requests and considering them for
implementation.
[issue tracker]: https://github.com/squidfunk/mkdocs-material/issues
## Before creating an issue
Before you invest your time to fill out and submit a change request, we kindly
ask you to do some preliminary work by answering some questions to determine if
your idea is a good fit for Material for MkDocs and matches the project's
[philosophy] and tone.
__Please find answers to the following questions before creating an issue.__
[philosophy]: ../philosophy.md
### It's not a bug, it's a feature
Change requests are intended to suggest minor adjustments, ideas for new
features, or to influence the project's direction and vision. It is important
to note that change requests are not intended for reporting bugs, as they're
missing essential information for debugging.
If you want to report a bug, please refer to our [bug reporting guide] instead.
[bug reporting guide]: reporting-a-bug.md
### Source of inspiration
If you have seen your idea implemented in another static site generator or
theme, make sure to collect enough information on its implementation before
submitting, as this allows us to evaluate potential fit more quickly. Explain
what you like and dislike about the implementation.
### Benefit for the community
Our [discussion board] is the best place to connect with our community. When
evaluating new ideas, it's essential to seek input from other users and consider
alternative viewpoints. This approach helps to implement new features in a way
that benefits a large number of users.
[:octicons-comment-discussion-16: Start a discussion][Start a discussion]{ .md-button .md-button--primary }
[discussion board]: https://github.com/squidfunk/mkdocs-material/discussions
[Start a discussion]: https://github.com/squidfunk/mkdocs-material/discussions
## Issue template
Now that you have taken the time to do the necessary preliminary work and ensure
that your idea meets our requirements, you are invited to create a change
request. The following guide will walk you through all the necessary steps to
help you submit a comprehensive and useful issue:
- [Title]
- [Context] optional
- [Description]
- [Related links]
- [Use cases]
- [Visuals] optional
- [Checklist]
[Title]: #title
[Context]: #context
[Description]: #description
[Related links]: #related-links
[Use cases]: #use-cases
[Visuals]: #visuals
[Checklist]: #checklist
### Title
A good title is short and descriptive. It should be a one-sentence executive
summary of the idea, so the potential impact and benefit for the community can
be inferred from the title.
| | Example |
| -------- | -------- |
| :material-check:{ style="color: #4DB6AC" } __Clear__ | Index custom front matter in search
| :material-close:{ style="color: #EF5350" } __Wordy__ | Add a feature where authors can define custom front matter to be indexed in search
| :material-close:{ style="color: #EF5350" } __Unclear__ | Improve search
| :material-close:{ style="color: #EF5350" } __Generic__ | Please help
### Context optional { #context }
Before describing your idea, you can provide additional context for us to
understand what you are trying to achieve. Explain the circumstances
in which you're using Material for MkDocs, and what you _think_ might be
relevant. Don't write about the change request here.
> __Why this might be helpful__: some ideas might only benefit specific
> settings, environments, or edge cases, for example, when your documentation
> contains thousands of documents. With a little context, change requests
> can be prioritized more accurately.
### Description
Next, provide a detailed and clear description of your idea. Explain why your
idea is relevant to Material for MkDocs and must be implemented here, and not
in one of its dependencies:[^1]
[^1]:
Sometimes, users suggest ideas on our [issue tracker] that concern one of
our upstream dependencies, including [MkDocs], [Python Markdown],
[Python Markdown Extensions] or third-party plugins. It's a good idea to
think about whether your idea is beneficial to other themes, upstreaming
change requests for a bigger impact.
- __Explain the what, not the why__ – don't explain
[the benefits of your idea][Use cases] here, we're getting there.
Focus on describing the proposed change request as precisely as possible.
- __Keep it short and concise__ – be brief and to the point when describing
your idea, there is no need to over-describe it. Maintainers and future
users will be grateful for having to read less.
- __One idea at a time__ – if you have multiple ideas that don't belong
together, please open separate change requests for each of those ideas.
---
:material-run-fast: __Stretch goal__ – if you have a customization or another
way to add the proposed change, you can help other users by sharing it here
before we maintainers can add it to our code base.
> __Why we need this__: To understand and evaluate your proposed change, we
> need to have a clear understanding of your idea. By providing a detailed and
> precise description, you can help save you and us time spent discussing
> further clarification of your idea in the comments.
[MkDocs]: https://www.mkdocs.org
[Python Markdown]: https://python-markdown.github.io/extensions/
[Python Markdown Extensions]: https://facelessuser.github.io/pymdown-extensions/
[theme.name]: https://www.mkdocs.org/user-guide/configuration/#theme
### Related links
Please provide any relevant links to issues, discussions, or documentation
sections related to your change request. If you (or someone else) already
discussed this idea with the community on our discussion board, please include
the link to the discussion as well.
> __Why we need this__: Related links help us gain a comprehensive
> understanding of your change request by providing additional context.
> Additionally, linking to previous issues and discussions allows us
> to quickly evaluate the feedback and input already provided by the community.
### Use cases
Explain how your change request would work from an author's and user's
perspective – what's the expected impact, and why does it benefit not only you
but other users? How many of them? Furthermore, would it potentially break
existing functionality?
> __Why we need this__: Understanding the use cases and benefits of an idea is
> crucial in evaluating its potential impact and usefulness for the project and
> its users. This information helps us to understand the expected value of the
> idea and how it aligns with the goals of the project.
### Visuals optional { #visuals }
We now have a clear and detailed description of your idea, including information
on its potential use cases and relevant links for context. If you have any
visuals, such as sketches, screenshots, mockups, or external assets, you may
present them in this section.
__You can drag and drop the files here or include links to external assets.__
Additionally, if you have seen this change, feature, or improvement used in
other static site generators or themes, please provide an example by showcasing
it and describing how it was implemented and incorporated.
> __Why we need this__: Illustrations and visuals can help us maintainers
> better understand and envision your idea. Screenshots, sketches, or mockups
> can create an additional level of detail and clarity that text alone may not
> be able to convey. Also, seeing how your idea has been implemented in other
> projects can help us understand its potential impact and feasibility in
> Material for MkDocs, which helps us maintainers evaluate and triage
> change requests.
### Checklist
Thanks for following the change request guide and creating a high-quality
change request. This section ensures that you have read this guide and have
worked to the best of your knowledge to provide us with every piece of
information to review your idea for Material for MkDocs.
__We'll take it from here.__