README Template for Digital Tools

Guía de Publicación de Herramientas Digitales is a documentation template from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) that standardizes the README file for digital tools, providing a bilingual structure in English and Spanish aligned with the bank's publishing guidelines.

What is the Guía de Publicación de Herramientas Digitales template?

The template is a Markdown-based README scaffold that takes a digital tool's basic information and produces a formatted support and usage document. It was created by the IDB, with feedback channel [email protected], and follows the standards in the bank's Guide for Publishing Digital Tools. The template runs on any Markdown renderer, such as GitHub or GitLab, and requires no build tools or additional dependencies.

Key Features

• Bilingual content — The template includes both English and Spanish versions of the copyright and acknowledgment sections, allowing teams to publish documentation that reaches a broader audience.
• IDB standards alignment — The structure reflects the Inter-American Development Bank's Guide for Publishing Digital Tools, so tools documented with it meet a recognized public-sector governance standard.
• Pre-written legal boilerplate — It provides the exact copyrighted text for software (Authorized Use) and documentation (CC-BY 4.0 license), reducing the work needed to add licenses.
• Support and usage focus — The template dedicates a section to support and usage documentation, making it explicit that a README should explain how to operate the tool.
• Open feedback loop — The IDB invites comments through issues or [email protected], meaning the template's structure is intended to evolve with user input.
• Markdown format — Because the template is plain Markdown, it can be copied into any repository and rendered by GitHub automatically, with no configuration.

Who is it for?

• Tool developers — use the template to write a README that clearly states legal terms and usage guidance for their open-source project.
• IDB-supported project teams — adopt the template to comply with the bank's publication requirements when releasing digital tools.
• Technical writers — leverage the bilingual structure to draft documentation that serves both English- and Spanish-speaking users.
• Open-source maintainers — standardize their project's README to improve consistency across multiple repositories.

What can you do with the template?

• Create a compliant README — Fill in the template's sections to produce a README that includes acknowledgments, copyright, and support documentation for a digital tool.
• Publish bilingual documentation — Use the English and Spanish blocks to provide legally accurate translations of the copyright and license statements without additional translation work.
• Establish a feedback channel — Direct users to the repository's issue tracker or the IDB contact address, following the template's own example of inviting comments.

FAQ

Is the Guía de Publicación de Herramientas Digitales template free to use?

The documentation content is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 license, which allows sharing and adaptation with attribution. The software portions carry an Authorized Use statement from the IDB, not a typical open-source license.

What is the template based on?

The template is based on the standards compiled from the Inter-American Development Bank's Guide for Publishing Digital Tools. The IDB states there is no single standard for README documentation, so this template gathers important characteristics for support and usage.

Who maintains the template?

The Inter-American Development Bank maintains the template, and they accept feedback via GitHub issues or by email at [email protected]. This is stated directly in the template's introduction.

Does the template require a specific platform?

No. Because the template is Markdown, it renders on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and any other platform that supports Markdown files. No build step or special theme is required to use the README itself.