# A Mermaid User-Guide for Beginners Creating diagrams and charts using mermaid code is simple. >The live editor is enough for most general uses of mermaid **Absolute beginners are recommended to view the Video [Tutorials](./Tutorials.md) on the Live Editor, to gain a better understanding of mermaid.** ## Four ways of using mermaid: 1. Using the mermaid [Live Editor](https://mermaid-js.github.io/mermaid-live-editor/). - Learning the [Syntax](./n00b-syntaxReference) would be helpful. 2. Using [mermaid plugins](./integrations.md) with programs you are familiar with. 3. Hosting mermaid on a webpage, with an absolute link. 4. Downloading mermaid and hosting it on your Web Page. **Note: It is our recommendation that you review all approaches, and choose the one that is best for your project.** >More in depth information can be found on [Usage](./usage.md). ## 1. Using [The Live Editor](https://mermaidjs.github.io/mermaid-live-editor). ![Flowchart](./img/Live-Editor-Usage.png) In the `Code` section one can write or edit raw mermaid code, and instantly `Preview` the rendered result on the panel beside it. ![Flowchart](./img/DiagramDefinition.png) **Saving a Diagram:** You may choose any of the methods below, to save it ![Flowchart](./img/Live-Editor-Choices.png) **Configuration** *The Mermaid configuration* is for configuring the appearance and behavior of mermaid diagrams. An easy introduction to mermaid configuration is found in the [Advanced usage](./n00b-advanced.md) section. A complete configuration reference cataloguing default values is found on the [mermaidAPI](Setup.md) page. ![Flowchart](./img/Configuration.png) ## 2. Using Mermaid Plugins: Using plug-ins you can generate mermaid diagrams from within popular applications, the same way that you would use the Live Editor. Here's a list of [Mermaid Plugins](./integrations.md). **This is covered in greater detail in the [Usage section](usage.md)** ## 3. Mermaid with Inline JavaScript This method can be used with any common web server. Apache, IIS, nginx, node express [...], you pick your favourite. You will need a text editting tool like Notepad++, to generate an html file. It is then deployed by a web browser (such as Firefox, Chrome, Safari, but not Internet Explorer). Just create an HTML file locally and open it using a desired browser. ### Written in the html `` section of the web page. When writing the html file, we give the web browser three instructions inside the html code: a. A reference for fetching the online mermaid renderer, which is written in Javascript. b. The mermaid code for the diagram we want to create. c. The `mermaid.initialize()` call to start the rendering process. ## Requirements for mermaidAPI to render a diagram: **a. A reference to the external CDN in a ` ``` **b. The embedded mermaid diagram definition inside a `
`:** ```html Here is a mermaid diagram:
graph TD A[Client] --> B[Load Balancer] B --> C[Server01] B --> D[Server02]
``` **Notes**: every mermaid chart/graph/diagram definition, has to have separate `
` tags. **c. The `mermaid.initialize()` call.** `mermaid.initialize()` calls take all the definitions contained in `
` tags it can find in the html body and render. Example: ```html ``` **Notes**: Mermaid rendering is initalized with `mermaid.initialize()`.You can place `mermaid.initialize()` inside of `mermaid.min.js` for brevity. However, doing the opposite lets you control when it starts looking for `
`tags inside the web page with `mermaid.initialize()`, such as when you think that noy all `
` tags may not have been loaded when `mermaid.min.js` runs. `startOnLoad` is one of the parameters that can be defined by `mermaid.initialize()` | Parameter | Description | Type | Values | | --------- | --------------- | ------ | ---------------------------------------------------- | |startOnLoad| Toggle for Rendering upon loading | Boolean | true, false | **Here is a full working example of the mermaidAPI being called through the CDN:** ```html Here is one mermaid diagram:
graph TD A[Client] --> B[Load Balancer] B --> C[Server1] B --> D[Server2]
And here is another:
graph TD A[Client] -->|tcp_123| B(Load Balancer) B -->|tcp_456| C[Server1] B -->|tcp_456| D[Server2]
``` **Another Option:** In this example mermaid.js is referenced in `src` as a separate JavaScript file, in an example Path. ```html
graph LR A --- B B-->C[fa:fa-ban forbidden] B-->D(fa:fa-spinner);
graph TD A[Client] --> B[Load Balancer] B --> C[Server1] B --> D[Server2]
``` --- ## 4. Adding Mermaid as a dependency. 1. install node v10 or 12, which would have npm 2. download yarn using npm by entering the command below: npm install -g yarn 3. After yarn installs, enter the following command: yarn add mermaid 4. To add Mermaid as a Dev Dependency yarn add --dev mermaid **Comments from Knut Sveidqvist, creator of mermaid:** - In early versions of mermaid, the `