The top 200 "best and fancy" things you can do with Material for MkDocs and Read the Docs

[jbampton]

MkDocs with the Material theme is a powerhouse for technical documentation, especially when combined with the hosting automation of Read the Docs. With the recent release of Material for MkDocs 9.7 (Insiders for everyone), nearly all high-end features are now available to all users.

To help you build the ultimate documentation site, I’ve categorized the top 200 "best and fancy" things you can do into logical tiers.

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🎨 Theme & UI Customization (Top 40)

The visual "wow" factor often comes from fine-tuning the Material Design principles.

• 1. Light/Dark Mode Toggle: Enable the sun/moon icon for user-preferred themes.

• 2. System Preference Sync: Automatically match the user's OS theme.

• 3. Primary Color Palettes: Choose from 20+ preset colors like indigo or deep purple.

• 4. Accent Colors: Define secondary colors for links and active states.

• 5. Custom Google Fonts: Swap default fonts for Merriweather or Roboto.

• 6. Code Block Fonts: Use Fira Code with ligatures for beautiful code.

• 7. Dynamic Favicons: Set icons that change based on light/dark mode.

• 8. Site Logo Styling: Host your .svg logo and scale it perfectly in the header.

• 9. Sticky Header: Keep the navigation bar at the top during scroll.

• 10. Auto-Hiding Header: Hide the header when scrolling down, show on scroll up.

• 11. Navigation Tabs: Move the sidebar to the top for a "website" feel.

• 12. Sticky Sidebar: Keep the Table of Contents visible as users read.

• 13. Navigation Pruning: Collapse deep trees to keep the sidebar clean.

• 14. Expand All/Collapse All: Add controls for complex navigation trees.

• 15. Breadcrumbs: Show the user's path (e.g., Home > API > Authentication).

• 16. Section Index Pages: Make folder names clickable as landing pages.

• 17. Custom Footer: Add copyright, social icons, and "Made with MkDocs."

• 18. Social Links: Link to GitHub, Twitter, Discord, and LinkedIn with icons.

• 19. Announcement Bar: Add a site-wide banner for new releases or alerts.

• 20. Background Images: Apply subtle patterns or gradients to the background.

• 21. Custom CSS Overrides: Create an extra.css to tweak padding or borders.

• 22. Custom JavaScript: Inject extra.js for analytics or custom widgets.

• 23. Back to Top Button: A floating button for long pages.

• 24. Page Status Labels: Mark pages as New, Updated, or Deprecated.

• 25. Custom Icons: Use your own SVG icons in Markdown.

• 26. Hover Effects: Add animations to links and buttons.

• 27. Glassmorphism: Use semi-transparent, blurred backgrounds for headers.

• 28. Shadow Depth: Customize the elevation of cards and buttons.

• 29. Responsive Tables: Enable horizontal scroll for wide data sets.

• 30. Print Styling: Ensure your docs look perfect when saved as PDF.

• 31. Hero Sections: Create a splashy landing page with the overrides folder.

• 32. Pagination Labels: Customize "Next" and "Previous" buttons.

• 33. Keyboard Shortcuts: Enable f for search or s for source.

• 34. Smooth Scrolling: Animate the jump to anchors.

• 35. Privacy Plugin: Self-host Google Fonts to be GDPR compliant.

• 36. Language Switching: Add a dropdown for translated versions.

• 37. Title Formatting: Use italics or bold in the sidebar via the typeset plugin.

• 38. Scroll Indicator: Add a progress bar at the top of the page.

• 39. Custom 404 Page: Build a helpful "Page Not Found" with a search bar.

• 40. Icon Rotation: Animate icons in the navigation when clicked.

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📝 Advanced Content & Markdown (Top 40)

Make your actual documentation interactive and easy to parse.

• 41. Admonitions (Callouts): Use !!! note or ??? warning for styled boxes.

• 42. Collapsible Admonitions: Hide long logs or spoilers inside a ??? block.

• 43. Content Tabs: Group related code (e.g., Python vs. JS) in one spot.

• 44. Code Annotations: Add clickable "plus" icons on specific code lines for details.

• 45. Line Numbers: Enable line numbering in code blocks.

• 46. Line Highlighting: Highlight specific lines to guide the reader's eye.

• 47. Copy-to-Clipboard: Add a button to every code block.

• 48. Code Block Titles: Give snippets names like main.py.

• 49. Mermaid.js Diagrams: Render flowcharts, gantt charts, and UML via text.

• 50. MathJax/KaTeX: Render complex LaTeX math equations.

• 51. Footnotes: Add scholarly citations or extra context.

• 52. Task Lists: Create interactive - [ ] checklists.

• 53. Data Tables: Use standard Markdown tables with advanced alignment.

• 54. Table Sorting: Add JS to make your tables sortable by column.

• 55. Definition Lists: Style term-and-definition pairs clearly.

• 56. Abbreviations: Show tooltips when hovering over specific terms.

• 57. Critic Markup: Show edits, deletions, and additions in the text.

• 58. SmartSymbols: Automatically turn (c) into ©.

• 59. Emojis: Use :smile: or Material's 10,000+ custom icons.

• 60. Buttons: Create call-to-action buttons using [Text](link){ .md-button }.

• 61. Grids: Use the layout grid to create multi-column "card" layouts.

• 62. Cards: Turn sections into interactive cards with images and links.

• 63. Images with Captions: Use figure tags for professional image labels.

• 64. Lightboxes: Use glightbox to zoom into images when clicked.

• 65. Video Embedding: Embed YouTube/Vimeo or local .mp4 files.

• 66. Audio Player: Embed podcasts or audio guides directly.

• 67. PDF Embedding: Display a PDF viewer inside your page.

• 68. Iframe Integration: Embed live demos (like a Swagger UI or CodePen).

• 69. Mentions: Use @username styling for contributors.

• 70. Progress Bars: Show visual progress for tutorials.

• 71. Variable Substitution: Use mkdocs-macros to reuse snippets across pages.

• 72. Include External Files: Pull in code from a real file using snippets.

• 73. Diff Highlighting: Show git-style code diffs in blocks.

• 74. Nested Tabs: Put tabs inside admonitions for deep organization.

• 75. Tooltip Popovers: Use tippy.js for advanced hover info.

• 76. Automatic Anchor Links: Generate "Share" icons next to every header.

• 77. Glossary Support: Link terms automatically to a central glossary.

• 78. Version Warning: Show a banner if a user is viewing old documentation.

• 79. Edit this Page: Link directly to the GitHub/GitLab source file.

• 80. Feedback Widget: Add "Was this page helpful?" buttons at the bottom.

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🛠️ Read the Docs & Python Integration (Top 40)

Leverage the power of Python and the RTD hosting platform.

• 81. Version Dropdown: Use RTD's "flyout" to switch between stable, latest, and v1.0.

• 82. Auto-Generated API Docs: Use mkdocstrings to pull docs from Python code.

• 83. Type Hint Integration: Automatically show types in your API reference.

• 84. Cross-Project Linking: Link to other RTD projects (Intersphinx style).

• 85. GitHub Actions Build: Build your site on every push and sync to RTD.

• 86. Environment Variables: Use !ENV in your YAML to hide secrets.

• 87. Custom Domains: Point docs.yourproject.com to Read the Docs.

• 88. SSL/HTTPS: Automatically handled by Read the Docs.

• 89. Pull Request Previews: RTD builds a temporary site for every PR.

• 90. Canonical URLs: Ensure SEO juice goes to the right version.

• 91. Search Integration: Use RTD's advanced server-side search.

• 92. Search Boost: Prioritize specific pages in search results.

• 93. Search Suggestions: Show live results as the user types.

• 94. Offline Search: Let users search the site without an internet connection.

• 95. Analytics: Plug in Google Analytics, Plausible, or Matomo.

• 96. Sitemap Generation: Automatically build sitemap.xml for Google.

• 97. Robots.txt: Control how search engines crawl your site.

• 98. Social Cards: Automatically generate "Open Graph" images for Twitter/LinkedIn.

• 99. Blog Plugin: Turn a folder into a full-featured blog.

• 100. RSS Feed: Provide a feed for your documentation blog.

• 101. Tagging System: Add tags to pages for better discovery.

• 102. Post Pagination: Handle hundreds of blog posts effortlessly.

• 103. Multiple Authors: Show author avatars and bios on blog posts.

• 104. Reading Time: Show "5 min read" on every page.

• 105. Last Updated: Show the last Git commit date for every page.

• 106. Git Contributors: Show who worked on a specific page.

• 107. Minification: Compress HTML/CSS/JS for faster loading.

• 108. Image Optimization: Auto-resize and compress images during build.

• 109. Redirects: Manage moved pages without breaking links.

• 110. Validation: Check for broken links during the build process.

• 111. Strict Mode: Fail the build if there are any warnings.

• 112. Meta Tags: Set custom SEO descriptions for every page.

• 113. Language Detection: Auto-detect user language for translations.

• 114. PDF Export: Generate a "Download as PDF" button.

• 115. EPUB Export: For reading documentation on e-readers.

• 116. Live Reload: Use mkdocs serve for instant browser updates.

• 117. CORS Headers: Allow your docs to be fetched by other apps.

• 118. Dependency Management: Use requirements.txt for consistent builds.

• 119. Docker Support: Build and run your docs inside a container.

• 120. Security Headers: Add CSP and HSTS headers via RTD config.

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🚀 Advanced Hacks & "Insiders" Features (Top 40)

These represent the peak of "fancy" documentation as of 2026.

• 121. Instant Loading: Use PJAX to navigate without refreshing the page.
• 122. Instant Prefetching: Start loading the next page when the user hovers.
• 123. Interactive Code Consoles: Embed a Python REPL in the browser (Pyodide).
• 124. Search Snippets: Show the matching text inside the search results.
• 125. Multi-Project Navigation: Merge multiple MkDocs sites into one sidebar.
• 126. Content Staging: Mark sections as "Alpha" or "Beta" visually.
• 127. Hover Tooltips for Code: Show function definitions when hovering over code.
• 128. GitGraph Diagrams: Render your Git history visually in Markdown.
• 129. Mindmaps: Use Mermaid to build interactive brainstorm maps.
• 130. Lottie Animations: Embed high-performance vector animations.
• 131. Dark/Light Image Swap: Show a different image based on the theme.
• 132. Custom Template Overrides: Rewrite any part of the theme's Jinja2.
• 133. Keyboard Navigation: Fully accessible site via arrows and tabs.
• 134. Screen Reader Optimization: Proper ARIA labels for accessibility.
• 135. Privacy Sandbox: Sandbox third-party scripts like YouTube.
• 136. Content Encryption: Password-protect specific pages (via JS/static).
• 137. Dynamic Year: Use {{ now().year }} for your copyright footer.
• 138. Automatic Table of Contents: Depth-controlled ToC for every page.
• 139. Floating ToC: A mobile-friendly table of contents menu.
• 140. Custom Scrollbars: Style the scrollbar to match your brand.
• 141. Page Subtitles: Add an extra line of context under headings.
• 142. Icon Buttons: Create icon-only buttons for social actions.
• 143. External Link Icons: Automatically add an "external" icon to out-links.
• 144. No-JS Fallback: Ensure the site works even without JavaScript.
• 145. Lazy Loading: Delay image loading to improve PageSpeed scores.
• 146. Schema.org Markup: Help Google understand your "How-to" steps.
• 147. Custom Meta Data: Use front-matter to drive custom UI logic.
• 148. Data-Driven Pages: Generate pages from a JSON/YAML file.
• 149. Automatic Changelog: Pull GitHub releases into a doc page.
• 150. Pytest Integration: Run tests on your code snippets to ensure they work.
• 151. Doctest Support: Verify examples in your docstrings automatically.
• 152. Code Flow Focus: Dim everything except the code block being discussed.
• 153. Interactive Forms: Build static contact forms (via Formspree).
• 154. Donation Buttons: Add "Buy Me a Coffee" or GitHub Sponsors.
• 155. GitHub/GitLab API: Fetch live star counts or issue stats.
• 156. Auto-Redirect to Version: Send users to the latest stable version.
• 157. Search Exclusion: Hide specific pages (like 404) from search.
• 158. Custom Search Workers: Speed up search indexing for huge sites.
• 159. Breadcrumb Icons: Add home/folder icons to breadcrumbs.
• 160. Footer Navigation: "Previous/Next" buttons with preview text.

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🛠️ Developer & Admin Workflows (Top 40)

• 161. Pre-commit Hooks: Check Markdown style before committing.
• 162. Markdown Lint: Enforce consistent formatting rules.
• 163. Broken Link Checker: A CI step that crawls the whole site.
• 164. Grammar Checking: Integrate Vale or Proselint into the build.
• 165. Custom Plugins: Write a Python script to automate page creation.
• 166. Environment Toggling: Enable "Draft" mode for local development only.
• 167. Template Inheritance: Create a "Base" theme and extend it.
• 168. Sass/SCSS: Compile custom styles within the MkDocs build.
• 169. NPM Integration: Use JS libraries via package managers.
• 170. Global Search Across Sites: Connect multiple RTD projects.
• 171. Role-Based Access: Restrict RTD visibility to specific teams.
• 172. Read the Docs API: Programmatically trigger builds.
• 173. Git Submodules: Pull in docs from other repositories.
• 174. Markdown Snippets: Share text across different repos.
• 175. Conditional Content: Show/hide text based on a build flag.
• 176. Automated Screenshots: Use Playwright to update doc images.
• 177. API Blueprint Support: Render API specs natively.
• 178. Swagger/OpenAPI Support: Embed interactive API explorers.
• 179. Async Loading: Non-blocking script loading for performance.
• 180. Cache Management: Optimize build times on Read the Docs.
• 181. Webhook Integration: Trigger Slack alerts on build success.
• 182. Custom Build OS: Use Ubuntu 24.04 on Read the Docs.
• 183. Python 3.12+ Support: Leverage the latest Python features.
• 184. Config Inheritance: Inherit settings from a shared mkdocs.yml.
• 185. Partial Overrides: Only override small parts like the logo.html.
• 186. SEO Audit: Use Lighthouse on your RTD URL.
• 187. Content Security Policy: Hardened headers for docs.
• 188. Sub-Folder Documentation: Host docs at /docs/ of your main site.
• 189. Cloudflare Integration: Add a CDN layer for global speed.
• 190. Offline Mode: Fully functioning docs on a local file system.
• 191. Zipped Site Downloads: Provide the whole site as a .zip.
• 192. Shadow Tags: Categorize pages without showing tags to users.
• 193. Project Management: Group multiple repositories under one RTD org.
• 194. User Feedback Loops: Link docs to your issue tracker.
• 195. Contributor Lists: Automatically list top GitHub contributors.
• 196. Code Highlighting Themes: Choose from monokai, github, etc.
• 197. Inline Code Styling: Highlight single backticks with custom colors.
• 198. Keyboard Navigation Shortcuts: Cmd + K for search.
• 199. Adaptive Icons: Icons that change size for mobile users.
• 200. The "Surprise Me" Button: A random page generator for discovery.