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MkDocs QR Plugin

Achievements

  • Render a QR code from code instead of uploading an image.

Description

Technologies used

  • Python
  • Markdown

Responsibilities

  • Product owner
  • Developer

I developed this module to make it easier to include QR codes in MkDocs documentation. While QR codes significantly improve UX—allowing users to quickly download apps to their phones—they are a pain to maintain if the links change. With this module, you no longer have to swap out image files. Instead, you define the QR code in a code block, making updates as simple as changing a line of text.

This code:

```barcode 
title: for the image
data: http://www.data-to.encode
reference: Not implemented
height: 400
width: 400
```

Generates this QR

for the image

Learned

  1. How to create custom modules for MKDocs
  2. Deploying to PyPi. All my previous modules were hosted privately.

Components

  • Module

    • Developed in Python
    • Removes the need to keep images with QR codes in the documentation.
    • Gitlab
    • PyPi

Render

Main advantages

Improvements with this approach:

  1. Versioning control friendly. Since we are no longer uploading binary files.
  2. Always maintain the same format, sizing and padding of the QR code.