How to read proper formatted documentation for bookmark+ package?

Question

I am trying to learn about the bookmark+ package. I installed the package from M-x list-packages and I am using Emacs 25.1.

It looks like a great package, the only difficulty I have so far, is that the formatting of the documentation for the mode is not directly user friendly. Or maybe I am just used to view documentation in another format? Anyway, it seems to be formatted such that it can be read by a program (presumably a document viewer of some sort). At line 115 of the documentation, it says:

;; If you have library `linkd.el' and Emacs 22 or later, load
;;  `linkd.el' and turn on `linkd-mode' now.  It lets you easily
;;  navigate around the sections of this doc.  Linkd mode will
;;  highlight this Index, as well as the cross-references and section
;;  headings throughout this file.  You can get `linkd.el' here:
;;  http://dto.freeshell.org/notebook/Linkd.html.

However accessing the link http://dto.freeshell.org/notebook/Linkd.html gives me 500 Internal Server Error.

I wondered if there are other ways to view this documentation with "better" formatting? Perhaps from within Emacs itself?

I have tried:

• M-x describe-mode
• M-x info
• M-x info-emacs-manual
• M-x view-emacs-FAQ

but no success so far.

Note:

There is another documentation page (with better formatting):

https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BookmarkPlus

but it is a little bit different from the other documentation, so I suspect it is not up-to-date.

Answer 1

1. You can view the doc on the Web, here: https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BookmarkPlus. It is essentially the same doc as what is in bookmark+-doc.el, and it is just as up-to-date. It also shows screenshots.

2. It says this in the first section of bookmark+-doc.el:

   If you have library linkd.el and Emacs 22 or later, load linkd.el and turn on linkd-mode now. It lets you easily navigate around the sections of this doc. Linkd mode will highlight this Index, as well as the cross-references and section headings throughout this file. You can get linkd.el here: http://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/download/linkd.el.

   (The URL there was out-of-date. I updated it just now to the correct URL. It previously said http://dto.freeshell.org/notebook/Linkd.html, which is no longer valid.)

   You can also use linkd with each of the other Bookmark+ files. It lets you quickly skip to the various sections of the source code.

3. There is also this doc about the doc, near the beginning of the doc (;-) in bookmark+-doc.el):

   ;;     - General Bookmark+ documentation.
   ;;
   ;;       . Anywhere in Emacs, `M-x bmkp-bmenu-mode-status-help' shows
   ;;         detailed information about the current state of the
   ;;         bookmark list.  Click button `Doc in Commentary' or button
   ;;         `Doc on the Web' to access the complete documentation.
   ;;
   ;;         (Use button `Customize' to customize all Bookmark+
   ;;         faces and options.)
   ;;
   ;;       . In the bookmark list, `?' and `C-h m' are the same as `M-x
   ;;         bmkp-bmenu-mode-status-help'.  (`C-h m' in the bookmark
   ;;         list does not show you info about minor modes.  If you want
   ;;         that, use `M-x describe-mode'.)
   ;;
   ;;       . In the `bookmark-plus' group customization buffer (`M-x
   ;;         customize-group bookmark-plus'), click button `Commentary'.
   ;;
   ;;       . From the Emacs-Wiki Web site,
   ;;         http://www.emacswiki.org/BookmarkPlus.
   

4. From #3 you can see that you can get to the Commentary section of bookmark+-doc.el by clicking Commentary in either the help from buffer *Bookmark List* or the Customize buffer for group bookmark-plus (M-x customize-group bookmark-plus). The Commentary is shown in buffer (*Commentary, bookmark+*), which is in finder-mode.