# Getting Started

***
This guide will have you up and running generating your own Retype website in just a few minutes.
***

## What is Retype?

Retype is a website generator that turns your Markdown `.md` files into a beautiful and functional documentation website. No coding required. Just write in [Markdown](/guides/markdown.md) and Retype handles the rest.

Retype is perfect for:
- [x] Project documentation
- [x] Knowledge bases
- [x] API docs
- [x] Personal blogs or notes
- [x] Team wikis
- [x] Self-publishing content

---

## Step 1: Installation

The first thing to complete is [installing](installation.md) Retype.

Once you have Retype installed, you can verify using the following command to output the Retype version number:

```
retype --version
```

If the above is not working, then Retype is not installed. 

---

## Step 2: Start Retype

Still using the command line, navigate to any folder with Markdown files:

```bash
cd your-project-folder
```

If you do not have Markdown files in that directory, create a new file such as the following `readme.md`:

:::code source="../samples/_includes/basic-page.md" :::

Then run the command `retype start`:

```bash
retype start
```

That's it! Retype will automatically:

1. Find your Markdown files
1. Build your website
1. Open it in your browser
1. Watch for changes and reload the browser automatically

---

## Next Steps: Add more content

Retype supports standard [Markdown](markdown.md) plus powerful extensions. Experiment with adding the following markdown to your page.

### Basic Markdown

```md
# Welcome!

This is a paragraph.

Both [internal](README.md) and [external](https://example.com) links work.

![Your logo](logo.png)

Another paragraph with **bold**, _italic_, ~~strikethrough~~, and `code` samples.

---

## Lists

- First item
- Second item
- Third item

1. First item
2. Second item
3. Third item

> "Cool! This is a quotation."

!!!
Need to draw attention to something? Use an Callout.
!!!
```

### Components and Settings

Now with a basic introduction to Markdown options, explore the following Retype features:

[Components](/components/components.md)
: Rich content blocks like [tables](/components/table.md) [callouts](/components/callout.md), [tabs](/components/tab.md), and [much more](/components/components.md).

[Project](/configuration/project.md) settings
: Project level configuration for your website

[Page](/configuration/page.md) settings
: Page level configuration options

## Hosting

To generate the static website files, run the following command:

```bash
retype build
```

By default, the files will be copied to a new `.retype` folder within your project, although this is configurable with the [`output`](/configuration/project.md#output) setting.

The build should only take a few moments to complete. If you have your own web server, you can FTP or copy the files from the `.retype` directory to the web server. 

You can also host your new website using [GitHub Pages](/hosting/github-pages.md), [Cloudflare](/hosting/cloudflare.md), [GitLab Pages](/hosting/gitlab-pages.md), [Docker](/hosting/docker.md), [Netlify](/hosting/netlify.md), or absolutely any other web hosting service. 

## Support

Do you have a technical support question, find a defect, or would like to make a feature request? Please create an [issue](https://github.com/retypeapp/retype/issues) to get the conversation started.

Do you have a general inquiry? Please feel free to contact us at hello@retype.com.

We :heart: your feedback.