Plain-English Explanation: React Native Website

This repository holds the source code and content for the React Native official website and documentation. Think of it as the complete blueprint for everything you see at facebook.github.io/react-native — the guides, API references, tutorials, and blog posts that teach people how to use React Native.

The site is built using a tool called Docusaurus, which takes plain text documentation files (written in Markdown, a simple format) and automatically converts them into a polished, searchable website. The repository is organized into two main folders: one holds all the documentation content (like "Getting Started" guides and API references), and the other contains the website's configuration and custom pages (like the homepage and showcase of apps built with React Native). When you run the code locally, you can see exactly how the site will look and make changes in real time.

People contribute to this repository for two main reasons. Documentation writers and community members edit the content files in the "docs" folder when they want to improve guides, fix typos, or add new tutorials. Web developers and maintainers edit the website configuration and layout files when they need to change how the site looks, reorganize navigation, or add new features to the site itself. For example, someone might add a new guide about accessibility, or redesign the homepage to highlight new features in the latest React Native release.

One interesting aspect of how this project works is that it maintains multiple versions of the documentation simultaneously. When React Native releases a new version, the site automatically archives the old docs so users can still read documentation that matches the version they're using. This means changes to the current documentation don't overwrite older versions — each release gets its own frozen copy of the docs.