Design Update for Coderabbit Documentation

This design update focuses on improving the readability, usability, and visual hierarchy of the Coderabbit documentation website. The changes address several current usability issues, with the goal of creating a more intuitive and consistent experience for readers.

📖 Improved Readability Through Fixed Content Width

Problem:

Currently, the main body content stretches across the entire available width of the screen. This leads to poor reading ergonomics, particularly on large screens, as long line lengths reduce reading speed and comprehension.

Update:

We have constrained the main content area to a fixed maximum width and aligned it centrally on the page.
This approach is a widely accepted best practice in web typography, ensuring optimal line length for improved readability.

🧭 Enhanced Visual Hierarchy in Navigation Panels

Left Side Panel (Page Index)

Problem:

The existing page index lists documentation pages with minimal visual differentiation between parent and child pages, making the hierarchy unclear.

Update:

• Introduced relevant icons
• Improved indentation for nested pages

This provides readers with a more intuitive understanding of the documentation structure, enabling faster navigation and reduced cognitive load.

Right Side Panel (Chapters)

Problem:

Similar to the left panel, the chapters section lacked clear structure cues.

Update:

• No icons were added (to maintain simplicity)
• Applied consistent spacing and typographic hierarchy to visually distinguish chapter sections

These changes align with the design system used on the left panel for overall coherence.

🧱 Optimized Top Navigation Bar Layout

Problem:

The existing top navbar offers important functionalities (search, theme toggle, social links) but:

• It does not remain fully sticky
• Uses a “scroll-up to show” pattern, which introduces distraction and transient visibility for key functions

Given that both side panels are sticky, these functions do not require top bar placement.

Update:

To simplify interaction and maximize vertical space for reading:

• 🔍 Search bar moved to the top of the left panel, above the page index
• 🎨 Theme toggle, 💬 Discord, and 🐙 GitHub links moved to the top of the right panel, above the chapters list

These controls are now persistently accessible without occupying document reading space, supporting long-form reading use cases.

🔄 Relocating Page Metadata and Navigation Controls

Problem:

• Page last updated timestamp and next/previous page buttons are placed at the bottom of the page.
• They are often overlooked or require excessive scrolling
• Create visual imbalance and negative space

Update:

These elements have been moved to the bottom of the right side panel, below the chapters section.

Benefits:

• The right panel already contains page-specific navigation
• These elements are logically related to the content of the current page

This consolidates page-level elements, improving clarity and reducing visual clutter.

🧠 Overall Design Changes

These updates are guided by established principles of technical documentation design:

• Readability first: Optimized typography and layout for reading.
• Consistent navigation: Unified design language across both side panels.
• Contextual placement of controls: Grouped interactive elements based on relevance to page content.

By addressing usability issues and applying best practices, users can focus on what matters most: the content itself.