Start faster, stay updated, and navigate cleaner docs for ScalarDB and ScalarDL | by Josh Wong | Scalar Engineering | Jun, 2026 | MediumSitemapOpen in appSign up<br>Sign in

Medium Logo

Get app<br>Write

Search

Sign up<br>Sign in

Scalar Engineering

Scalar Engineering blog introduces various topics about the Scalar products.

Start faster, stay updated, and navigate cleaner docs for ScalarDB and ScalarDL

Josh Wong

3 min read·<br>Jun 24, 2026

Listen

Share

Good documentation isn’t just about content — it’s also about how easily readers can find what they need, stay informed, and take action. Over the past several months, we’ve added several improvements to the ScalarDB and ScalarDL docs sites aimed at doing exactly that. This post walks through those updates.<br>“Try now” button. Quick access to trial license keys from anywhere on the docs sites.<br>“NEW” badges. Visual indicators for recently added or updated documentation.<br>In-site notifications. Stay informed about releases and important updates.<br>Onboarding content. Curated introductory materials for new users (Japanese only).<br>Archive site for older versions. Cleaner docs with historical versions preserved separately.<br>“Try now” button<br>We added a “Try now” button to the navbars of both docs sites that links directly to the trial license key page. Rather than hunting through the docs to find it, readers now have a visible shortcut to the page from anywhere on the site.<br>The trial license key page provides pre-configured license keys for ScalarDB Enterprise Standard/Premium and ScalarDB Analytics, along with instructions for adding them to the appropriate configuration file to start evaluating those products. The button is styled to stand out in both light and dark mode, and the label is localized for Japanese readers as well.<br>“NEW” badges for recently added content<br>To help readers quickly spot newly added or recently updated documentation, we added visual badges throughout both docs sites. Pages tagged as new display a green “NEW” badge in the sidebar navigation, making it easy to discover fresh content at a glance. These badges also appear on the home page’s “Recent features” cards for additional visibility.<br>Press enter or click to view image in full size

“NEW” badge in the sidebar navigation and next to the page titleIn-site notifications<br>Staying on top of ScalarDB and ScalarDL updates — new releases, end-of-support announcements, and similar news — is easier with the new notification bell in the navbar of both docs sites.<br>Selecting the bell opens a dropdown that shows the latest announcements. Notifications are language-aware, so English and Japanese readers see content in their respective language. When you dismiss a notification, that preference is stored in your browser’s local storage, so it stays marked as read on your next visit — unless you clear your local storage.<br>Onboarding content (Japanese only)<br>For Japanese readers who are new to ScalarDB or ScalarDL, we’ve added dedicated onboarding pages to both docs sites. Each page links to a curated set of introductory materials designed to help you quickly understand how ScalarDB or ScalarDL works and what it can do — without having to work through the full documentation upfront.<br>The content is intentionally concise: It covers the key concepts and important points you need to get oriented so that you can then dive into the detailed documentation with a clearer picture of what you’re looking at.<br>For more information, check out the onboarding pages:<br>ScalarDB onboarding content<br>ScalarDL onboarding content<br>Archive site for older versions<br>To keep the ScalarDB and ScalarDL docs sites focused on versions that are currently supported, we created a dedicated archive site for older documentation versions: docs-archive.scalar-labs.com.<br>This change reduces noise in the main docs sites and makes it easier for readers to find up-to-date information without landing on unsupported documentation. It also improves maintainability by reducing build times and simplifying updates to actively maintained docs.<br>Press enter or click to view image in full size

Dedicated archive site for older versions of documentationWrap-up<br>These updates are part of our ongoing effort to make the Scalar docs sites more useful, not just more complete. We’ll keep iterating on the experience as we get feedback and discover new ways to improve.<br>To learn more about ScalarDB and ScalarDL, please take a look at our other posts on the Scalar Engineering Blog and at the ScalarDB documentation and ScalarDL documentation.<br>If you are considering using ScalarDB or ScalarDL, please contact us.

Developer Experience

Documentation

Static Site Generator

Usability

User Onboarding

Published in Scalar Engineering<br>30 followers<br>·Last published 3 days ago

Scalar Engineering blog introduces various topics about the Scalar products.

Written by Josh Wong<br>5 followers<br>·21 following

Senior technical writer & content strategist at Scalar...