WordPress For Side Project Documentation

Small WordPress projects and side projects benefit from documentation, but the investment should match the project's importance.

The minimum documentation that provides value without overinvesting.

The README pattern

A single README document covers: what the project is, how to set it up, how to use it, where to get help.

For side projects, the README may be the entire documentation.

The setup instructions

Step-by-step setup. Even simple projects benefit from documented setup because future-you forgets the specifics.

Include: required software versions, configuration values, common gotchas.

The architecture sketch

For projects with any complexity, a brief architecture sketch helps future maintainers (often future-you).

What are the main components? How do they fit together? Why was this approach chosen?

The known issues

Document known issues and workarounds. Future encounters with the same issue can reference the documentation.

The documentation prevents re-solving the same problems.

The decision log

For non-obvious decisions, document why. "Used X library instead of Y because of Z."

The reasons get forgotten quickly. The documentation preserves them.

The maintenance pattern

Update documentation when the project changes. Stale documentation is worse than no documentation.

The discipline: update docs as part of any change to the project.

The honest framing

Side project documentation is small effort that pays off when you return to the project months or years later. The investment is moderate; the future-you gratitude is substantial.

For projects where you might revisit them, basic documentation is worth the modest effort.