Page Comparison

When in doubt, and if not covered below, consult the Google Developer Style Guide

Structure

• Article content should begin with a short summary describing what the page is about.

• Use second person pronouns (you/your/yours) when instructing users, rather than third person.

• When in doubt, consult the Google Developer style Guide

Formatting

• Synapse entity types , what the reader will learn, or what the reader should be able to do after reading the article.

Formatting

• Avoid excessive capitalization in your writing, as the repeated emphasis makes the text less readable for most audiences and interrupts the text flow.

• In descriptive text, Synapse entities or features are referred to as proper common nouns and not capitalized. e.g. File, Project. When writing instructions, Synapse buttons or other elements of the UI are emphasized as bold. e

  • Good: “A folder can contain multiple files”.

  • Good: “A wiki is a virtual notebook where you can keep track of information about a project”.

  • Avoid: “You can use Sharing Settings to control who can see a File, Table, View, or Project.”

• When writing instructions that specifically refer to specific elements of the UI, such as Synapse buttons, tabs, menus, or pages, emphasize these terms in bold and capitalize to match how they appear in the UI. E.g. “Click the File Tools menu”.

• Code formatting:

  • Use this to refer to specific synIDs, file names, file extensions, class names, actual code, or user inputs. Do not use this to refer to elements of the UI, as it is too the extra emphasis can be distracting.

    • Good: “To store Docker images, use the docker push command.”

    • Avoid: “To store Docker images, use the docker push command.”

Capitalization

In section headings, use title case. That is, capitalize every word in the title except for minor words and prepositions. Always capitalize the first word of a section heading.

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Voice

• Use second person pronouns (you/your/yours) when instructing users, rather than third person.

• Aim for a voice and tone that is respectful, friendly, and conversational. Our docs should be approachable and not too formal.

• Aim for sentences that are simple, short, and not overly wordy. Remember that not everyone who reads our docs is a native English speaker.

• Aim for inclusive language at all times. See the inclusive language section of the Google Developer Style Guide for tips.

Capitalization

• In section headings, use title case. That is, capitalize

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• every word in the title

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• except for minor words and prepositions.

Terminology

• Synapse ID should be abbreviated as synID, not synId.

• Terms to avoid in technical writing:

  • Please - wordy and usually unnecessary in instructions

  • Easy/easily - it might be easy for you, but not to someone else

  • Simple/simply - it might be simple for you, but not for someone else

  • Latin abbreviations (etc, e.g., or i.e) - these reduce readability of an article, especially for non-native English speakers

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