Why GitBook?

Search…
Why GitBook?
Requirements:
Easy maintenance
Git/file system support
In theory, easy migration to different platforms
Doesn't require me to have internet access
I can easily do a grep or ack locally to find information.
Markdown support
​
Easy styling
Pros:
Nice UI
Decent free Basic plan
Includes one free private book
No need to always use command line
Custom domains
Google Analytics support
​Syncs with GitHub​
Bi-directional support
I can make hooks into GitBook via GitHub hooks, see gitbook-summary​
Renaming pages appears to maintain old URLs
Only if it is not moved to a different folder
Works decently on my 11” iPad Pro 2018
Browsing is fine on quarter, half or full screen
Can’t use Safari’s split screen mode for editing
Require’s using full screen, sad
Works 1146px width (UWQD Display: 3440 / 3)
Cons:
Organizing a lot of pages is difficult, even if nested
At 59 pages, it was already difficult to reorganize
I may have to organize things on the filesystem/markdown
I could potentially move to a second GitBook, but I like everything organized in one for now
Long pages can be very confusing
Better to break out the content into different pages
Increases the problem of organizing a lot of pages
Content is not really "static"
No sitemap.xml
Feature Request https://gitbook.canny.io/feature-requests/p/sitemap​
Dislikes:
Doesn't use same header shortcuts as Google Docs
Limitations:
See GitBook and GitHub Limitations​
Single theme
I don't really mind it. It's a decent but most importantly, usable theme.
Logs to git commit history could be nicer
No offline read/write support
Workaround is to download the repository
Moving pages doesn't redirect to new URL
For renaming pages in the same directory structure, the old url still works
For moving pages into a different directory, the old url will not work
I tried to compile a version using their gitbook-cli tool but it failed on notes/javascript/fetch.md
​https://www.npmjs.com/package/gitbook​
Facts:
GitBook stores assets/images under .gitbook/assets​
Assets retain their filename
Other static site generators: https://www.staticgen.com​
Previously using Phenomic. cons: Fully manual.
Other notable GitBooks:
​Nikita Voloboev​
Other
​GitBook keyboard shortcuts​
Available Content Features
B​esides the standard Markdown features.
Task List
Incomplete Task
Completed Task
Hints
Info
Warning
Danger
Success
Tabs
First Tab
Second Tab
Tabs
​
Alternatives
Notion
​https://www.notion.so/aizatto/Public-Notes-fbcb9e6b66784c5c96b8e2a5613927b9​
Tree structure doesn't work so well for content which can exist in multiple branches.
I put everything in a single table and use tags.
Pros:
WYSIWYG
Cons:
Exporting isn't easy
No history
No automatic export
​
Resources
Getting into Tech
Last modified 1yr ago
Copy link
On this page
Available Content Features
Task List
Hints
Tabs
Alternatives
Notion
Available Content Features

Task List

Hints

Tabs

Alternatives

Notion

​
