Clone the repo into your desired folder, cd into it, and install the dependencies.
git clone https://github.com/discordjs/guide.git
cd guide
npm installYou can use npm run dev to open up a local version of the site at http://localhost:8080. If you need to use a different port, run it as npm run dev -- --port=1234.
Remember to always lint your edits/additions before making a commit to ensure everything's lined up and consistent with the rest of the guide. We use ESLint and have a package.json script for linting both JS files and JS code blocks inside Markdown files.
npm run lintThere might come a time where a snippet will contain a parsing error, and ESLint won't be able to lint it properly. For example:
const sent = await message.channel.send('Hi!');
console.log(sent.content)ESLint would error with Parsing error: Unexpected token message instead of letting you know that you're missing a semicolon. In this case, it's because of the use of await outside of an async function. In situations like this, after you've fixed any obvious errors, you can add an <!-- eslint-skip --> comment above the code block to have it ignored entirely by ESLint when running the lint script.
To add a new page to the guide, create a file-name.md file inside the folder of your choice. If you want to link to /dir/some-tutorial.html, you would create a some-tutorial.md file inside a dir folder. VuePress will pick up on it and set up the routing appropriately.
With that being said, you will still need to add the link to the sidebar manually. Go to the /guide/.vuepress/sidebar.js file and insert a new item with the path to your newly created page.
Because we want to keep everything as consistent and clean as possible, here are some guidelines we strongly recommend you try to follow when making a contribution.
Improper grammar, strange wording, and incorrect spelling are all things that may lead to confusion when a user reads a guide page. It's important to attempt to keep the content clear and consistent. Re-read what you've written and place yourself in the shoes of someone else for a moment to see if you can fully understand everything without any confusion.
Don't worry if you aren't super confident with your grammar/spelling/wording skills; all pull requests get thoroughly reviewed, and comments are left in areas that need to be fixed or could be done better/differently.
When explaining parts of a guide, it's recommended to use "you" instead of "we" in most situations. For example:
- To check our Node version, we can run `node -v`.
+ To check your Node version, you can run `node -v`.
- To delete a message, we can do: `message.delete();`
+ To delete a message, you can do: `message.delete();`
- Our final code should look like this: ...
+ Your final code should look like this: ...
- Before we can actually do this, we need to update our configuration file.
+ Before you can actually do this, you need to update your configuration file.When referring to yourself, use "we" (as in "the writers of this guide") instead of "I". For example:
- If you don't already have this package installed, I would highly recommend doing so.
+ If you don't already have this package installed, we would highly recommend doing so.
# Valid alternative:
+ If you don't already have this package installed, it's highly recommended that you do so.
- In this section, I'll be covering how to do that really cool thing everyone's asking about.
+ In this section, we'll be covering how to do that really cool thing everyone's asking about.Try to avoid gendered and otherwise non-inclusive language. Examples are:
- Whitelist -> Allowlist
- Blacklist -> Denylist
- Master/Slave -> Leader/follower, primary/replica, primary/secondary, primary/standby
- Gendered pronouns (e.g. he/him/his) -> They, them, their
- Gendered terms (e.g. guys) -> Folks, people
- Sanity check -> Quick check, confidence check, coherence check
- Dummy value -> Placeholder, sample value
Tied in with the section above, try to keep things as neatly formatted as possible. If a paragraph gets long, split it up into multiple paragraphs so that it adds some spacing and is easier on the eyes.
If you have a tip to share with the reader, you can format them in a specific way so that it looks appealing and noticeable. The same goes for warning and "danger" messages.
In this section, we'll be doing some stuff!
::: tip
You can do this stuff even faster if you do this cool thing listed in this tip!
:::
::: warning
Make sure you're on version 2.0.0 or above before trying this.
:::
::: danger
Be careful; this action is irreversible!
:::
Even though this generally does not affect the actual output, you should space out your entities with a single blank line between them; it keeps the source code clean and easier to read. For example:
## Section title
Here's an example of how you'd do that really cool thing:
```js
const { data } = request;
console.log(data);
```
And here's a sentence that would explain how that works, maybe.
::: tip
Here's where we'd tell you something even cooler than the really cool thing you just learned.
:::
::: warning
This is where we'd warn you about the possible issues that arise when using this method.
:::Section headers and sidebar links should generally be short and right to the point. In terms of casing, it should be cased as if it were a regular sentence.
# Assuming the page is titled "Embeds"
- ## How To Make Inline Fields In An Embed
+ ## Inline fields
# Assuming the page is titled "Webhooks"
- ## Setting An Avatar On Your Webhook Client
+ ## Setting an avatarWhen making references to pieces of code (e.g. variables, properties, etc.), place those references inside backticks. For example:
After accessing the `.icon` property off of the `data` object, you can send that as a file to Discord.
---
If you want to change your bot's username, you can use the `ClientUser#setUsername` method.References to class names should be capitalized, but remain outside of backticks. For example:
Since `guild.members` returns a Collection, you can iterate over it with `.forEach()` or a `for...of` loop.
---
Since the `.delete()` method returns a Promise, you need to `await` it when inside a `try`/`catch` block.When you want to highlight a piece of code to display either an addition or a difference, use the js {1-5,6-10} syntax. For example (ignoring the \s):
Here's our base code:
```js {2,6}
client.once(Events.ClientReady, readyClient => {
console.log(`Ready! Logged in as ${readyClient.user.tag}`);
});
client.on(Events.MessageCreate, message => {
console.log(message.content);
});
\```
To add this feature, use this code:
```js {2,6-8}
client.once(Events.ClientReady, readyClient => {
console.log(`Ready! Logged in as ${readyClient.user.tag}`);
});
client.on(Events.MessageCreate, message => {
if (message.content === '!ping') {
message.channel.send('Pong.');
}
});
\```
This is VuePress' code block line highlighting feature. It's encouraged to use and preferred over diff code blocks.
Do note the space between js and {}. This is necessary to not interfere with eslint-plugin-markdown, which would ignore the code block.
If you want to include an image in a page, the image you add should be saved to the repo itself instead of using external services. If you want to link to other sections of the guide, be sure to use relative paths instead of full URLs to the live site. For example:
- Here's what the final result would look like:
-
- 
-
- If you want to read more about this, you can check out the page on [that other cool stuff](https://discordjs.guide/#/some-really-cool-stuff).
+ Here's what the final result would look like:
+
+ 
+
+ If you want to read more about this, you can check out the page on [that other cool stuff](/some-really-cool-stuff).Do note the ./images/* syntax used. The ./ part refers to the file's corresponding image directory, which holds all the images used for that directory. When it comes to images, this syntax should always be used.
If you're writing a page that teaches the reader how to build something step-by-step, make sure to include the final piece of code in a file inside the /code-samples directory. The folder destination inside the /code-samples folder should match the destination inside the /guide folder. For example: guide/foo/bar.md -> code-samples/foo/bar/index.js.
<!-- Inside /guide/foo/bar.md -->
## Resulting code
<!-- Will link to /code-samples/foo/bar/ -->
<ResultingCode /><ResultingCode /> is a helper component to generate a sentence and link to the proper directory on GitHub for that specific page. Should you need to overwrite the path, you can do so:
<!-- Inside /guide/baz/README.md -->
## Resulting code
<!-- Will result in `/code-samples/baz/` -->
<ResultingCode />
<!-- Will result in `/code-samples/baz/getting-started/` -->
<ResultingCode path="baz/getting-started" />We use @discord-message-components/vue to display "fake" Discord messages on pages. The reason for this is to make it easy for you to create, easy for anyone in the future to edit, and avoid having to take screenshots and using too many images on a page at once. Here's a preview of the components:
The syntax to make this display is quite simple as well:
<DiscordMessages>
<DiscordMessage profile="user">
!ping
</DiscordMessage>
<DiscordMessage profile="bot">
<DiscordMention :highlight="true" profile="user" />, pong! Took 250ms
</DiscordMessage>
<DiscordMessage author="Another User" avatar="green">
Pung!
</DiscordMessage>
</DiscordMessages>These components are made with Vue, but if you aren't familiar with Vue, don't worry about it. Just understand that you'll usually only need the profile="user"/profile="bot" attribute for the <DiscordMessage> component. All <DiscordMessage> components must be children of a single <DiscordMessages> component for it to display properly.
Do note the casing in <DiscordMessages> syntax instead of <discord-messages>. This is due to how VuePress renders markdown and HTML inside markdown files. It doesn't recognize <discord-messages> as an HTML element, therefore rendering anything indented inside it as a regular code block.
These components feature messages, mentions, embeds, interactions, and more. You can read more about how to use them by checking out @discord-message-components/vue.
On pages where links to the discord.js documentation are used, you can use the <DocsLink> component. Since the discord.js documentation is split into different categories and branches, the component allows you to supply the necessary info accordingly. The only required prop is path.
Discord.js docs, latest configured stable branch, `class/Client`:
<DocsLink path="class/Client" />
<DocsLink path="class/Client">`Client`</DocsLink>
<!-- [`Client`](https://discord.js.org/#/docs/discord.js/14.x.y/class/Client) -->
Events, methods, and static properties:
<DocsLink path="class/Client?scrollTo=e-ready" />
<DocsLink path="class/Intents?scrollTo=s-FLAGS" />
<DocsLink path="class/Interaction?scrollTo=isCommand" type="method" />
<!-- [`Client#event:ready`](https://discord.js.org/#/docs/discord.js/14.x.y/class/Client) -->
<!-- [`Intents.FLAGS`](https://discord.js.org/#/docs/discord.js/14.x.y/class/Intents?scrollTo=s-FLAGS) -->
<!-- [`Interaction#isCommand()`](https://discord.js.org/#/docs/discord.js/14.x.y/class/Interaction?scrollTo=isCommand) -->
Discord.js docs, v12 branch, `class/Client`:
<DocsLink section="discord.js" branch="v12" path="class/Client" />
<!-- [`Client`](https://discord.js.org/#/docs/discord.js/v12/class/Client) -->
Collection docs, stable branch (no `branch` prop set), `Collection:Class#partition`:
<DocsLink section="collection" path="Collection:Class#partition" type="method" />
<!-- [`Collection#partition()`](https://discordjs.dev/docs/packages/collection/stable/Collection:Class#partition) -->If the section prop is set to discord.js (or omitted) and the branch prop is omitted, the branch prop will default to the latest configured stable release, or main for any other section.
To make your life with these custom elements a little bit easier we created some project scoped VSC snippets. If you are using Visual Studio Code as your editor of choice you can access these by typing the key word and pressing CTRL + Space on your keyboard in the entire guide project. Please note, that the elements can become quite complex and we can not write examples for every small use case. Check the explanations above whenever you are unsure.