Add a quickstart

[mayakacz]

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• Completed

Describe the feature

Hi, I just installed Vale a few hours ago for use on my project, and looking at the docs with a fresh set of eyes, I would have really appreciated a quickstart, that gets me to a minimum "Hello, world" in <5 min. I found quickly scanning docs and CLI commands a bit confusing:

• the bit about three components for Vale and a vale config file is in the Docker section of the Install docs, not obvious near the top
• just running vale tells me I need a config file and what it should be called, but doesn't point me to an example or the generator
• vale sync could suggest a next step

I would also suggest that the generator has some config checked by default, rather than having the user make selections. I don't know what the best recommendation is, but I ended up selecting Microsoft Writing Style Guide, write-good, and alex.

Here's what I would have included in a Quickstart:

---

(one line about what Vale is, and why you want to use it.) To learn more about Vale, see Introduction.

Vale requires three components: a .vale.ini config file, a StylesPath directory (specified in the config file), and a document or directory to lint. To get started, install Vale locally, add a configuration file, and then run it using the CLI.

Install Vale

macOS | Linux | Windows

$ brew install vale

For more options, see Install.

Add a Vale configuration file

Add a .vale.ini configuration file to root directory of your project. Use the generator to create a starter config file.

StylesPath = styles

MinAlertLevel = suggestion

Packages = Microsoft, write-good, alex, MDX, Hugo

[*.{md}]

BasedOnStyles = Vale, Microsoft, write-good, alex

For more complex configuration, see .vale.ini.

Initialize Vale

$ vale sync

Use Vale

Run vale on a file or folder in your project:

$ vale myfile.md

That's it! For more help, run vale --help or check out the rest of these docs.