User Documentation Style Guide (team planning notes)

Angela White Johanna Carll Jessica Crouch (Unlicensed) Sarit Hand

The following is a list of items to take into consideration while building out a Style Guide. Feel free to add notes or make comments on any of it.

1. Layout

   1. Start each page with a narrative?

   2. Followed by step by step instructions in list format?

   3. End with use case scenarios? Should we have? If so, how many variations?

   4. Info boxes

2. Linking to glossary

   1. What needs an entry in the glossary?

   2. How to return from the glossary

3. How to use abbreviations.

4. Font

   1. style

   2. Font size

5. Paragraph format

   1. Line spacing

   2. Indenting vs hanging

   3. Bullets vs numbering

6. Formatting headings: Page title, section titles

7. Formatting screen shots

   1. Where to place

      1. Before or after a section?

      2. Immediately following the descriptive text? i.e. if we do step by step instructions would we want a screen shot for each step?

   2. Use borderlines around the image to make it more visible

   3. How much to crop out (if you crop out too much, the image loses context.)

   4. Using arrows to point to specific items on the image?

      1. Style

      2. Size

      3. color

8. Video tutorials

   1. Embedded on page or link to?

   2. Should there be a video demo per page to illustrate the text?

   3. Time limit?

9. Pagination and when to create a new page

10. Navigating through the pages