# 🧨 So... About GitHub Wikis: My First and Probably Last Rodeo

I’ll be honest — before this project, I’d never touched GitHub’s wiki system. It seemed straightforward enough: a neat place to stash docs right next to your code, version-controlled and super editable. What could go wrong? (Spoiler: 🌀 a lot.)

## 🤹‍♀️ The Git Submodule Circus

First up, the whole thing runs as a git submodule. Which sounds cool — until it breaks. I ran into a mess where Copilot and the wiki just didn’t get along. One minute I had 10 shiny new files staged, the next? They vanished into the void. Why? Because I accidentally left Agent Mode on and Copilot thought it’d be helpful to “fix” it all for me. It wasn’t. 🙃

## 🧭 Custom Sidebar Chaos

Then came the sidebar saga. GitHub supposedly lets you define your own sidebar with folders and structure and all that fun stuff — except it doesn't. Not consistently, anyway. I kept getting 404s or raw markdown instead of a nice rendered view. Eventually I gave up and reverted to the default auto-generated list.

> 🦄 If you want to see a version where custom sidebars actually work, check out this stellar repo: [GitHub Wiki Design and Implementation](https://github.com/practicalseries/GitHub-Wiki-Design-and-Implementation/wiki). Seriously, props to them. I tried everything. It just wasn’t worth the fight.

## 🗂️ Folder Structure? Never Heard of Her

Perhaps the wildest part? The wiki completely ignores your folder structure. Everything ends up in a flat list, and the auto-sidebar even adds every single heading from your markdown files as individual links. I ended up flattening the whole thing just to make it readable — great for users, awful for maintenance.

## 🧱 There’s a Better Way

It's much simpler to just use a plain docs/ folder + GitHub Pages + any static site generator (✨ Docusaurus, MkDocs, take your pick). GitHub Wikis feel like a legacy feature from the early 2000s — barely maintained and frankly outshined in every way by GitHub Pages.

So if you’re starting fresh:

- 🔁 Skip the wiki.
- 🌐 Use GitHub Pages instead.
- 🛠️ Build with what you like.
- 💅 Make it beautiful.

## 🪄 ...Because of course That Wasn't the End of It

So, I went to push the final version of these pages — easy, right? Nope. The git submodule decided to throw a wrench in the automation I’d been setting up. When the push failed, it couldn’t even roll back the git cache to where it started.

At that point, I made the executive decision:
**🧹 This wiki now lives in its own repo.**

I’m not fixing it. It’s chaotic. It’s mine. And honestly? I’m over it.

> 🦄 I’m keeping the current wiki pages up for reference. They’re already written here, so why not? But this will eventually get moved to GitHub Pages (where it should have started) when I get around to it. You've been warned.