So, what's next for ReadMe in 2018? Here's some of the topics we're planning on tackling this year!
Dynamic documentation
This year, your API docs are going to become a lot more interactive! Rather than making your users sift through the same passive paragraphs of text to find what they need, we want to help build documentation that knows about your users and your API, and can surface the correct information.
Your first time using an API, you probably want to see marketing material and getting started guides. However if it’s your 20th time back at the docs, you’re probably looking for something specific. We want to make it simple to tailor documentation to each individual user, from code snippets with API keys to showing actual API usage right in the docs.
The more we know about API usage, the more proactive the docs can be. Let’s say you’re using an API and it stops working. Oh no! If you go to the docs, you probably are looking to figure out what’s wrong. Maybe the whole API is experiencing downtime. In that case, you should be greeted with a message telling you it’s not your fault. Or, maybe you’re sending bad data, your credit card has expired, or your API key was changed. In that case, you don’t want to dig through troubleshooting documentation: you want to know the problem, and how to fix it.
Metrics
Our mantra for 2018 is metrics. We want to help you better understand how people are using your docs and API, and your users to have a better understanding of how they’re using your API.
First up is documentation metrics. We already let you include a bunch of analytics services (Google Analytics, Heap, Intercom, etc.), but there are a lot of insights you can’t get from external integrations. We want to help answer questions like:
- What jobs and companies do your customers have?
- What are they searching for?
- What are your lowest-quality pages?
- Where are people getting lost?
- What languages do your developers program in?
Next up, we want to help you understand how your API is actually being used by customers.
- How long does it take people to make their first API call?
- How many of your users drop off after a week or two?
- What percentage of API requests fail?
- Who are your biggest users?
- How many people use that endpoint you’re looking to deprecate?
Want this? If you fill out our quick survey, we’ll email you as we launch metrics!
Enterprise Features
Larger companies have more complex requirements, so we want to meet them! In early Q2, we’re releasing our enterprise dashboard. Here’s some of the features we’ll be launching with:
- Combine multiple projects: Different APIs and documentation can be grouped into one, each with their own authentication. So, you can have a public API and a locked-down partner API under the same roof.
- User SSO management: Let your employees log in via Okta, LDAP, or whatever SSO you use. In the dashboard, you’ll be able to see who has logged in, and manage what they have access to.
- Partner access: If your API is only meant for a few external users (maybe because of a partnership or beta program), you’ll be able to control access to specific people.
- Audit logs: Keep track of who on your team made different changes.
Want this? Submit our enterprise form, and we’ll reach out and get you set up! Some of these features already exist, sans UI, and are ready for you to try out.
ReadMe Build
In late 2017, we launched ReadMe Build, a simple way to build awesome APIs. We have a lot of improvements planned for it. One of the biggest is making it great as a workflow tool, so you can route your outputs anywhere (email, text, Slack, etc).
You should try out ReadMe Build! It's as easy as:
Sound cool? Try out ReadMe Build!
Enhancements
In 2018, we have a long list of features and enhancements we plan on releasing that don’t fit into the major buckets above.
- New API Explorer: We’ve rewritten our reference guides page in React, so they load almost instantly (read more about it)
- Variables in docs: Show different users things like API keys or other variables
- Support forum: We have a bunch of features planned for support forums, such as tagging and better moderation
- Refreshed design: We’re going to clean up the marketing pages a bit!
- Interactive Getting Started Guide: A way to build step-by-step Getting Started guides for onboarding customers
- Full API: We’re going to launch an API for editing pages, so you can automate content or sync from GitHub
Something here catch your eye? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
