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+# Sections
+
+Each section in Activity Stream displays data from a corresponding section feed
+in a standardised `Section` UI component. Each section feed is responsible for
+listening to events and updating the section options such as the title, icon,
+and rows (the cards for the section to display).
+
+The `Section` UI component displays the rows provided by the section feed. If no
+rows are available it displays an empty state consisting of an icon and a
+message. Optionally, the section may have a info option menu that is displayed
+when users hover over the info icon.
+
+On load, `SectionsManager` and `SectionsFeed` in `SectionsManager.jsm` add the
+sections configured in the `BUILT_IN_SECTIONS` map to the state. These sections
+are initially disabled, so aren't visible. The section's feed may use the
+methods provided by the `SectionsManager` to enable its section and update its
+properties.
+
+The section configuration in `BUILT_IN_SECTIONS` consists of a generator
+function keyed by the pref name for the section feed. The generator function
+takes an `options` argument as the only parameter, which is passed the object
+stored as serialised JSON in the pref `{feed_pref_name}.options`, or the empty
+object if this doesn't exist. The generator returns a section configuration
+object which may have the following properties:
+
+```{eval-rst}
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| Property | Type | Description |
++====================+=====================+===================================================================================================================+
+| id | String | Non-optional unique id. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| title | Localisation object | Has property `id`, the string localisation id, and optionally a `values` object to fill in placeholders. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| icon | String | Icon id. New icons should be added in icons.scss. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| maxRows | Integer | Maximum number of rows of cards to display. Should be >= 1. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| contextMenuOptions | Array of strings | The menu options to provide in the card context menus. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| shouldHidePref | Boolean | If true, will the section preference in the preferences pane will not be shown. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| pref | Object | Configures the section preference to show in the preferences pane. Has properties `titleString` and `descString`. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+| emptyState | Object | Configures the empty state of the section. Has properties `message` and `icon`. |
++--------------------+---------------------+-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------+
+```
+
+## Section feeds
+
+Each section feed should be controlled by the pref `feeds.section.{section_id}`.
+
+### Enabling the section
+
+The section feed must listen for the events `INIT` (dispatched when Activity
+Stream is initialised) and `FEED_INIT` (dispatched when a feed is re-enabled
+having been turned off, with the feed id as the `data`). On these events it must
+call `SectionsManager.enableSection(id)`. Care should be taken that this happens
+only once `SectionsManager` has also initialised; the feed can use the method
+`SectionsManager.onceInitialized()`.
+
+### Disabling the section
+
+The section feed must have an `uninit` method. This is called when the section
+feed is disabled by turning the section's pref off. In `uninit` the feed must
+call `SectionsManager.disableSection(id)`. This will remove the section's UI
+component from every existing Activity Stream page.
+
+### Updating the section rows
+
+The section feed can call `SectionsManager.updateSection(id, options)` to update
+section options. The `rows` array property of `options` stores the cards of
+sites to display. Each card object may have the following properties:
+
+```js
+{
+ type, // One of the types in Card/types.js, e.g. "Trending"
+ title, // Title string
+ description, // Description string
+ image, // Image url
+ url // Site url
+}
+```