Platform.sh documentation: new guides, new look

Platform.sh takes documentation seriously.

Software is, after all, only as good as its resources and how well they help you use it. We strive to make great software, and we want our public documentation to live up to that same standard.

When a new feature is developed, we want you to know how to use it as soon as it’s released. Come across a problem the documentation isn’t helping you solve? We’ll find out why, and make updates that clarify the solution for you and for anyone else who might encounter it later on.

Not sure how to start using Platform.sh?

Well, we’ve added some new resources to the docs to help you with just that. Along with a great updated look, new and seasoned users alike can access step-by-step Getting Started guides that will fast-track your projects into production applications.

Get started on Platform.sh with our new step-by-step guides

The documentation should make working with Platform.sh for the first time as simple as possible, whether you’re migrating an application from another hoster or you're completely new to web development with a PaaS provider.

That’s why we created these Getting Started guides. Each guide will help you get accustomed to some of the most common actions you’ll perform while developing on Platform.sh; in turn, we hope that they help build some intuition about what needs to be done when you move on to bigger projects.

Because we want new and seasoned users to get the most out of Platform.sh, the guides have been designed to branch out from both of these starting points.

New users: get started with a template project

As soon as you create a free trial account on Platform.sh, you can deploy one of our maintained template projects from the development console.

The Start with a template guide will take you through these steps until you have a live site that you can start developing immediately from your local repository using the Platform.sh CLI.

Migrating users: import and configure your code to run on Platform.sh

Hosting your application on Platform.sh requires proper configuration, and this is usually the stage users find the most difficult to get used to.

In the Import your own code guide, we take you through the steps to configure your routes, services, and your application correctly; connect to your services, and deploy on Platform.sh in minutes.

Developing on Platform.sh and next steps

Now that you’ve got a project on Platform.sh, you're ready to develop new features for it. The next section of tutorials will help you do just that, no matter your starting point.

• Local development. Now that your project is on Platform.sh, developing new features shouldn’t involve pushing your code each time you want to test that feature, even when your application depends on connecting to a database. Platform.sh gives you the flexibility to choose from multiple local development options, including local service installations (untethered), container-based development tools like Lando and Docksal, as well as opening an SSH tunnel to your services directly (tethered). In this guide, we take you through the steps of setting up this tethered environment: connect to your services remotely and build your application on a local web server, fast.
• Development environments. One of the main features that sets Platform.sh apart is our development environments. Each branch you create in your Git repository can be fully deployed, complete with an exact copy of your services and their data in production. This guide is meant to familiarize you with this feature, recommend best practices for using development environments, and provides an overview of creating and restoring backups so you always merge with confidence (even when you deploy on Fridays).
• Going live. With all your features in place, you can take your application live by setting up your plan for production and configuring domains through this tutorial.

Screencasts and CLI recordings

Each of the guides above are stuffed with video examples that support their content. We’ve included terminal recordings to show off the commands you need and the output you can expect when developing with the Platform.sh CLI. There’s also new screencasts that showcase how easily you can create and modify projects in the management console.

So fresh and so clean: docs get a facelift

Recently we updated the design of both our main website and our UI with the release of our shiny new management console.

We thought that the public documentation deserved some style love to match.

Visit the docs, and check out the new look!

What's next

Getting started on Platform.sh should be simple, and with our new guides, you can get your applications production-ready in no time. But this is only the beginning; we’ll continue to add additional guides and example recordings periodically to keep our public documentation the dependable resource you deserve.

Stay tuned, get out there, and get started!