Public documentation
Public product documentation is the user-facing docs for your product: onboarding, setup, reference, and troubleshooting. This page explains what a strong public documentation site includes and where a hosted setup makes sense.
Hosted.md is built for solo founders and small teams with one flat price per site, no deployment, no maintenance, and optional Git integration.
Public docs snapshot
What users expect from a public documentation site.
Public product documentation is documentation for customers and users that anyone can access without signing in. It usually covers getting started, setup flows, feature usage, API details, and known issues.
In practice, product documentation for users should answer real tasks quickly. If people cannot find setup steps or reference details, support volume grows and onboarding slows down. The guides hub is a good next step if you are still shaping the content itself.
Good public docs reduce friction on both sides. Users move forward without waiting for support, and teams spend less time answering the same questions.
The goal is simple: help users find answers quickly, without turning docs into another support queue.
Most public docs succeed or fail on the basics. Keep the structure focused, then improve depth where users need it.
Clear getting started path
A first page that helps new users get to a successful outcome quickly.
Task-based guides
Short guides for real workflows, not long narrative pages with unclear next steps.
Reference where needed
Concise API or technical reference content for users who need exact details.
Search and navigation
Consistent navigation and built-in search so answers are easy to locate.
Troubleshooting pages
Known issues and fixes for the problems support sees most often.
Regular updates
Docs updated when product behavior changes, not in occasional large batches.
Hosted public documentation works well when your team wants to publish reliably without taking on another deployment and maintenance surface.
Common pain with self-managed docs
Hosted setup with Hosted.md
If you are weighing up hosting approaches, the SaaS documentation hosting page goes deeper on the tradeoffs. For broader category context, see the product documentation platform page as well.
Hosted.md is focused on public docs workflows for smaller teams. It is not trying to cover every documentation category.
Use this quick comparison when deciding between hosted public docs and heavier documentation setups.
| Decision area | Hosted.md | Heavier documentation stacks |
|---|---|---|
| Primary use case | Public product docs and user-facing docs | Broader internal and enterprise documentation programs |
| Operational work | No deployment or maintenance on your side | Can involve more setup and ongoing process ownership |
| Pricing model | One flat price per site | Often tiered or seat-based models |
| Feature direction | Focused hosted public documentation | May include private docs and enterprise collaboration layers |
If you are comparing tools directly, review the alternatives page.
It is documentation for customers and users that is publicly accessible. Typical content includes getting started pages, task guides, reference material, and troubleshooting.
Clear navigation, useful search, short task-based pages, and content that stays updated with product changes are the essentials.
No. Hosted.md is focused on public documentation workflows, not private docs, enterprise permissions, or heavy internal collaboration systems.
No. Git integration is optional. Teams can connect a repository or manage content directly in Hosted.md.
Yes. You can start on a hosted.md subdomain during trial, then connect a custom domain once you move forward.
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