Getting Started with BookStack

BookStack is an information management platform designed to help teams organize, store, and share knowledge. Whether you're building internal documentation, a company wiki, or a personal knowledge base, BookStack provides a structured way to keep everything accessible.

The Homepage

When you first open BookStack, you'll see the homepage dashboard. This view shows:

• Recent Books [1] — A list of books that have been recently created or updated, giving you quick access to active content.
• Recently Updated Pages — Individual pages across all books that have been modified recently.
• Recent Activity — A feed showing who made changes, what they changed, and when.

The top navigation bar contains the Search field [2], along with links to Shelves [3] and Books [4] — the two primary ways to browse content.

Navigating the Interface

BookStack organizes content in a hierarchical structure:

1. Shelves — Top-level containers that group related books together
2. Books — Collections of chapters and pages around a specific topic
3. Chapters — Optional groupings within a book
4. Pages — Individual documents containing your actual content

Use the Toggle Details button [5] to expand or collapse descriptions on list views. The Dark Mode toggle [6] switches the interface between light and dark themes.

Your First Steps

To start using BookStack effectively:

1. Browse existing content through the Shelves or Books navigation links
2. Use the search bar to find specific topics across all content
3. Create a new book to begin organizing your own documentation
4. Add pages within that book to write your content

The search function supports full-text search across all books, chapters, and pages, making it possible to locate information without knowing exactly where it's stored.