External Manual

Problem/Motivation

We used to create different versions of manuals for each project (Google Docs, hard-coded pages, etc.). Since many Drupal features are the same across projects (content editing, media uploads, roles, paragraphs, menus, etc.), we end up rewriting the same instructions and texts every time. This is repetitive, time-consuming, and leads to inconsistent documentation across projects.

Steps to reproduce

- Start a new Drupal project
- Client asks for a manual/handbook
- Manually write or copy-paste documentation from previous projects
- Repeat for every new project

Proposed resolution

Create a reusable Drupal module that provides a ready-to-use manual for external users (site editors/clients). The module includes:
- A dedicated "Manual Article" content type with categories
- Pre-written default texts for standard Drupal features (content editing, media management, roles, menus, paragraphs, etc.)
- A user-friendly frontend with categorized overview, search, and sidebar navigation
- The ability to add, edit, or remove articles per project for project-specific documentation

On installation (drush en external_manual), the site immediately has a working handbook with default content.

Remaining tasks

- Research and define module structure
- Create concept/design (mockup)
- Build module (content type, taxonomy, views, templates)
- Write default texts for standard Drupal features
- Config export and testing on a fresh instance

User interface changes

- New "/manual" overview page with categorized article cards
- Category detail pages with sidebar navigation
- Article detail pages with breadcrumb and search
- New admin section for managing manual articles

API changes

None.

Data model changes

- New content type: manual_article (title, body, category reference)
- New taxonomy vocabulary: manual_category
- New views for overview and category listing