.. _building-docs-multiple-versions:

# Building multiple versions of the documentation

There is a menu in the lower left of the webpage that lets readers switch between different versions of the documentation. Populating this menu involves a few steps.

First, look at the `version_list` line in `docs/conf.py`. Edit that list as needed so it contains the name of each version you want.

Next, you will need to build the documentation once for each version. To build a version called `latest`, you would first check out the corresponding version of the docs, then do:

```shell
cd doc
./build_docs -r $HOME/path/to/build-dir -d -v latest
```

This will build the documentation in `$HOME/path/to/build-dir/versions/latest`. Open `$HOME/path/to/build-dir/versions/latest/html/index.html` to see the result.

You can also leave off the `-v latest`, in which case the current Git branch name will be used as the version name. Note, though, that in this case you will need to manually create the `$HOME/path/to/build-dir/versions/branch-name/` directory if it doesn't already exist.