Why Mallard?

Software that does not help its users is software that will lose its users. Whether you are a dedicated documentation writer or a Linux software developer who needs to write documentation, you will appreciate Mallard's elegant approach to the important task of creating good documentation that will help users just enough, just when they need help.

The Mallard language is an easy way to build topic-oriented, context-sensitive help right into your Linux software and then generate HTML pages from that same help documentation that can easily be put on the web. Mallard features a unique "back-linking" system: instead of putting links to all help topics in an overarching index page, documentation authors can add "back-links" to index pages (called "guides") directly within new help topic pages. Because of this reciprocal linking mechanism, new help topics are always neatly integrated with existing help topics. Mallard, unlike many other documentation systems, is easy, extensible, and topic-oriented.