1 files changed, 84 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/doc/lispref/tips.texi b/doc/lispref/tips.texi
index 7f22dc06ef2..2fbac9508d6 100644
--- a/doc/lispref/tips.texi
+++ b/doc/lispref/tips.texi
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ in batch mode, e.g., with a command run by @kbd{@w{M-x compile
 * Compilation Tips::          Making compiled code run fast.
 * Warning Tips::              Turning off compiler warnings.
 * Documentation Tips::        Writing readable documentation strings.
+* Documentation Group Tips::  Writing useful documentation groups.
 * Comment Tips::              Conventions for writing comments.
 * Library Headers::           Standard headers for library packages.
 @end menu
@@ -934,6 +935,89 @@ If you do not anticipate anyone editing your code with older Emacs
 versions, there is no need for this work-around.
 @end itemize
 
+@node Documentation Group Tips
+@section Tips for Documentation Groups
+@cindex documentation groups, tips
+@cindex tips for documentation groups
+
+@cindex documentation groups, compatibility
+  Documentation groups, available since Emacs 28, are useful to document
+functions of Lisp packages based on various groupings
+(@pxref{Documentation Groups}).  This section gives some tips on how you
+can define documentation groups in your Lisp package in a way such that
+users of different Emacs versions can equally well use these groups.
+
+@itemize @bullet
+@item
+To define documentation groups for your own Lisp package across
+different Emacs versions, you can use a boilerplate template along the
+lines of the following to make your package compile and load without
+errors:
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+;;; well-doc.el --- a well-documented package -*- lexical-binding: t; -*-
+
+@dots{} package header and contents @dots{}
+@end group
+
+@group
+;; Explicitly require shortdoc for Emacs 28, which does not have an
+;; autoload for macro `define-short-documentation-group'.  And for
+;; Emacs 30, so that we can redefine `shortdoc--check' later.
+(require 'shortdoc nil t)
+
+(eval-when-compile
+
+  ;; Default macro `define-short-documentation-group' for Emacs 27
+  ;; and older, which do not have the shortdoc feature at all.
+  (unless (fboundp 'define-short-documentation-group)
+    (defmacro define-short-documentation-group (&rest _)))
+
+  ;; Disable too rigid shortdoc checks for Emacs 30, which let it
+  ;; error out on newer shortdoc keywords.
+  (when (eq emacs-major-version 30)
+    (fset 'shortdoc--check #'ignore)))
+@end group
+
+@group
+(define-short-documentation-group well-doc
+  @dots{})
+
+;;; well-doc.el ends here
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
+@findex define-short-documentation-group
+If you do not intend to support some of the Emacs versions mentioned
+above, you can safely omit the corresponding forms from the template.
+If you intend to support only Emacs 31 and newer, you do not need any
+of the above and can just use @code{define-short-documentation-group}.
+
+@item
+@cindex documentation group keywords, compatibility
+Newer Emacs versions might introduce newer documentation group features
+and keywords.  However, these features or keywords will never break the
+display of a documentation group in older Emacs versions.  Suppose you
+use a hypothetical group keyword @code{:super-pretty-print}, available
+in some future Emacs version, like this in your Lisp package
+@file{well-doc.el}:
+
+@smallexample
+@group
+(define-short-documentation-group well-doc
+  (well-doc-foo
+   :eval (well-doc-foo)
+   :super-pretty-print t))
+@end group
+@end smallexample
+
+That future Emacs version will then supposedly super-pretty-print the
+example for function @code{well-doc-foo}.  Older Emacs versions will
+silently ignore keyword @code{:super-pretty-print} and show the example
+according to their regular display rules.
+@end itemize
+
 @node Comment Tips
 @section Tips on Writing Comments
 @cindex comments, Lisp convention for