Doc Layout
You might say
Lay this out like documentation: navigation on the left, the article in the middle, and this page's outline on the right.
Combine section navigation, article content, and an on-page outlineA documentation layout often uses a left navigation for pages, a readable center column for the article, and a right outline for headings. Keep each column's job distinct and collapse secondary navigation on small screens.
When to use it
- Technical documentation
- Help center
- Design system
- Long structured knowledge base
When NOT to use it
- Give all three columns equal visual weight
- Make the article column too wide to read
- Show an outline that does not follow the headings
- Keep side columns fixed on a narrow screen
Anatomy
Table of contentsTextOutline
Organize chapter and page entries for a site or document collection
The main content area of the page needs to be prioritized to ensure readable width.
List the sections of the current page and mark the reading position
Variants
Full
The default form of widescreen technical documents
No Outline
In medium width, the outline is collapsed first to reserve space for the main text.
Mobile
The narrow screen puts the table of contents into a drawer and uses a single column for the main text.
Typical use cases
API docs
Help center
Component library
Knowledge base
Further reading