--- /dev/null
+---
+title: About Ardour's documentation
+---
+
+<h2>Conventions Used In This Manual</h2>
+
+<p>
+ This section covers some of the typographical and language conventions used in this manual.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Keyboards and Modifiers</h3>
+
+<p>
+ <dfn>Keyboard bindings</dfn> are shown like this: <kbd>s</kbd> or <kbd class="mod1">x</kbd>.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ <kbd class="mod1">x</kbd> means "press the <kbd class="mod1"> </kbd> key, keep it pressed and then also press the <kbd>x</kbd> key.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ You may also see key combinations such as <kbd class="mod12">e</kbd>, which mean that you should hold down the <kbd class="mod1"> </kbd> key <em>and</em> the <kbd class="mod2"> </kbd> key, and then, while keeping them both down, press the <kbd>e</kbd> key.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ Note that different platforms have different conventions for which modifier key (Control or Command) to use as the primary or most common modifier. When viewing this manual from a machine identifying itself as running OS X, you will see <kbd>Cmd </kbd> where appropriate (for instance in the first example above). On other machines you will see <kbd>Ctrl </kbd> instead.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Mouse Buttons</h3>
+
+<p>
+ We refer to <a href="/setting-up-your-system/the-mouse">mouse buttons</a> as <kbd class="mouse">Left</kbd>, <kbd class="mouse">Middle</kbd> and <kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>. Ardour can use additional buttons, but they have no default behaviour in the program.
+</p>
+
+<h4>Mouse click modifiers</h4>
+
+<p>
+ Many editing functions are performed by clicking the mouse while holding a modifier key, for example <kbd class="mouse mod1">Left</kbd>.
+</p>
+
+<h4>Mouse wheel</h4>
+
+<p>
+ Some GUI elements can optionally be controlled with the mouse wheel when the pointer is hovering over them. The notation for mouse wheel action is <kbd class="mouse">⇑</kbd> <kbd class="mouse">⇐</kbd> <kbd class="mouse">⇓</kbd> <kbd class="mouse">⇒</kbd>.
+</p>
+
+<h4>Context-click</h4>
+
+<p>
+ The term <dfn>context-click</dfn> is used to indicate that you should (typically) <kbd class="mouse">Right</kbd>-click on a particular element of the graphical user interface. Although right-click is the common, default way to do this, there are other ways to accomplish the same thing—this term refers to any of them, and the result is always that a menu specific to the item you clicked on will be displayed.
+</p>
+
+<h4>"The Pointer"</h4>
+
+<p>
+ When the manual refers to the "pointer", it means the on-screen representation of the mouse position or the location of a touch action if you are using a touch interface.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Other user input</h3>
+
+<p>
+ Ardour supports hardware controllers, such as banks of <kbd class="fader">faders</kbd>, <kbd class="knob">knobs</kbd>, or <kbd class="button">buttons</kbd>.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Menu Items</h3>
+
+<p>
+ Menu items are indicated like this:<br />
+ <kbd class="menu">Top > Next > Deeper</kbd>.<br />
+ Each ">"-separated item indicates one level of a nested (sub-)menu.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Preference/Dialog Options</h3>
+
+<p>
+ Choices in various dialogs, notably the Preferences and Properties dialog, are
+ indicated like this:<br />
+ <kbd class="option">Edit > Preferences > Audio > Some
+ Option</kbd>.<br />
+ Each successive item indicates either a (sub-) menu or a tabbed dialog
+ navigation. The final item is the one to choose or select.
+</p>
+
+<p>
+ If you are requested to deselect an option, you will see something like
+ this:<br />
+ <kbd class="optoff">Edit > Preferences > Audio > Some other
+ Option</kbd>.<br />
+</p>
+
+<h3>User Input</h3>
+
+<p>
+ Some dialogs or features may require you to type in some <kbd class="input">data such as this</kbd>. In rare cases, you will be required to perform certain operations at the command line of your operating system:
+</p>
+
+<kbd class="cmd lin">cat /proc/cpuinfo</kbd>
+<kbd class="cmd mac">sleep 3600</kbd>
+<kbd class="cmd win">ping www.google.com</kbd>
+
+<h3>Program Output</h3>
+
+<p>
+ Important messages from Ardour or other programs will be displayed <samp>like this</samp>.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Notes</h3>
+
+<p class="note">
+ Important notes about things that might not otherwise be obvious are shown in this format.
+</p>
+
+<h3>Warnings</h3>
+
+<p class="warning">
+ Hairy issues that might cause things to go wrong, lose data, impair sound quality, or eat your proverbial goldfish, are displayed in this way.
+</p>
+
+