Add introduction page and rework index text

about/index.rst

@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ About
    :maxdepth: 1
    :name: toc-about
 
+   introduction
    faq
 
 .. history

about/introduction.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,95 @@
+.. _doc_about_intro:
+
+Introduction
+============
+
+::
+
+    func _ready():
+        get_node("Label").set_text("Hello world!")
+
+Welcome to the official documentation of Godot Engine, the free and open source
+community-driven 2D and 3D game engine! Behind this mouthful, you will find a
+powerful but user-friendly tool that you can use to develop any kind of game,
+for any platform and with no usage restriction whatsoever.
+
+This page aims at giving a broad presentation of the engine and of the contents
+of this documentation, so that you know where to start if you are a beginner or
+where to look if you need info on a specific feature.
+
+About Godot Engine
+------------------
+
+A game engine is a complex tool, and it is therefore difficult to present Godot
+in a few words. Here's however our PR presentation, which you are free to reuse
+if you need a quick writeup about Godot Engine.
+
+    Godot Engine is a feature-packed, cross-platform game engine to create 2D
+    and 3D games from a unified interface. It provides a comprehensive set of
+    common tools, so that users can focus on making games without having to
+    reinvent the wheel. Games can be exported in one click to a number of
+    platforms, including the major desktop platforms (Linux, Mac OSX, Windows)
+    as well as mobile (Android, iOS) and web-based (HTML5) platforms.
+
+    Godot is completely free and open source under the very permissive MIT
+    license. No strings attached, no royalties, nothing. Users' games are
+    theirs, down to the last line of engine code. Godot's development is fully
+    independent and community-driven, empowering users to help shape their
+    engine to match their expectations. It is supported by the `Software
+    Freedom Conservancy <https://sfconservancy.org>`_ not-for-profit.
+
+For a more in-depth view of the engine, you are encouraged to read this
+documentation further, especially the :ref:`Step by step
+<toc-learn-step_by_step>` tutorial.
+
+About the documentation
+-----------------------
+
+This documentation is continuously written, corrected, edited and revamped by
+members of the Godot Engine community. It is edited via text files in the
+`reStructuredText <http://www.sphinx-doc.org/en/stable/rest.html>`_ markup
+language and then compiled into a static website/offline document using the
+open source `Sphinx <http://www.sphinx-doc.org>`_ and `ReadTheDocs
+<https://readthedocs.org/>`_ tools.
+
+.. note:: You can contribute to Godot's documentation by opening issue tickets
+          or sending patches via pull requests on its GitHub
+          `source repository <http://github.com/godotengine/godot-docs>`_.
+
+All the contents are under the permissive Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
+(`CC-BY 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/>`_) license, with
+attribution to "Juan Linietsky, Ariel Manzur and the Godot Engine community".
+
+Organisation of the documentation
+---------------------------------
+
+This documentation is organised in five sections with an impressively
+unbalanced distribution of contents – but the way it is split up should be
+relatively intuitive:
+
+- The :ref:`sec-general` section contains this introduction as well as
+  information about the engine, its history, its licensing, authors, etc. It
+  also contains the :ref:`doc_faq`.
+- The :ref:`sec-learn` section is the the main *raison d'être* of this
+  documentation, as it contains all the necessary information on using the
+  engine to make games. It starts with the :ref:`Step by step
+  <toc-learn-step_by_step>` tutorial which should be the entry point for all
+  new users. Its cornerstone is the :ref:`Engine features <toc-learn-features>`
+  category, which contains many feature-specific tutorials and documentation
+  which can be read as needed, in any order.
+- The :ref:`sec-devel` section is intended for advanced users and contributors
+  to the engine development, with information on compiling the engine,
+  developing C++ modules or editor plugins.
+- The :ref:`sec-community` gives information related to contributing to the
+  engine development and the life of its community, e.g. how to report bugs,
+  help with the documentation, etc. It's also the place for tutorials
+  contributed by community members before they are properly reviewed and
+  adapted to be integrated in the official list of the :ref:`sec-learn`
+  section.
+- Finally, the :ref:`sec-class-ref` is the documentation of the Godot API,
+  which is also available directly within the script editor. It is generated
+  automatically from a file in the main repository, and the generated files
+  of the documentation are therefore not meant to be modified. See
+  :ref:`doc_updating_the_class_reference` for details.
+
+Have fun reading and making games with Godot Engine!

index.rst

@@ -3,28 +3,34 @@
    You can adapt this file completely to your liking, but it should at least
    contain the root `toctree` directive.
 
-Document for Godot Engine (master branch)
-=========================================
-
-Looking for the documentation of the current **stable** version? `Have a look here
-<http://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable>`_.
-
-**Note:** Godot Engine is an open source project developed by a community of volunteers.
-It means that the documentation team can always use your feedback and help to improve our
-tutorials and class reference. So if you don't manage to understand something, or can't find
-what you are looking for in the docs, help us make the documentation better and let us know!
-Submit an issue `to the GitHub repository <https://github.com/godotengine/godot-docs/issues>`_,
-or annoy us at the #godotengine-devel IRC channel!
-
-The main documentation for the site is organized into a few sections:
-
-* :ref:`sec-general`
-* :ref:`sec-learn`
-* :ref:`sec-devel`
-* :ref:`sec-community`
-* :ref:`sec-class-ref`
-
---------------
+Godot Docs – *master* branch
+============================
+
+.. attention:: This is the documentation for the unstable (master) branch.
+               Looking for the documentation of the current **stable** branch?
+               `Have a look here <http://docs.godotengine.org/en/stable>`_.
+
+Welcome to the official documentation of Godot Engine, the free and open source
+community-driven 2D and 3D game engine! If you are new to this documentation,
+we recommend that you read the :ref:`introduction page <doc_about_intro>` to
+get an overview of what this documentation has to offer.
+
+The table of contents below and in the sidebar should let you easily access the
+documentation for your topic of interest. You can also use the search function
+in the top left corner.
+
+.. note:: Godot Engine is an open source project developed by a community of
+          volunteers. It means that the documentation team can always use your
+          feedback and help to improve the tutorials and class reference. If
+          you do not manage to understand something, or cannot find what you
+          are looking for in the docs, help us make the documentation better
+          by letting us know!
+
+          Submit an issue or pull request on the `GitHub repository
+          <https://github.com/godotengine/godot-docs/issues>`_, or discuss with
+          us on the #godotengine-devel IRC channel!
+
+The main documentation for the site is organized into the following sections:
 
 .. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1