X-Git-Url: http://shamusworld.gotdns.org/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=STYLE_GUIDE;h=be65d6381b365ee4a7596826b116489ec9315d1d;hb=d2f3daa498bef39dc0602dfc7b0ee12cb13b40ab;hp=7568a1f6fe5ede6cc1f33d411c42991410653222;hpb=bcd15d4ba5093d128f5ab6c0526272148a766ca0;p=ardour-manual-diverged diff --git a/STYLE_GUIDE b/STYLE_GUIDE index 7568a1f..be65d63 100644 --- a/STYLE_GUIDE +++ b/STYLE_GUIDE @@ -76,6 +76,10 @@ normal text flow, or asides. Currently rendered in a gray box. use for potentially dangerous situations involving data loss, malfunction, or sound quality issues. Currently rendered in a red box. +.mac, .lin, .win: +use as additional classes to mark a section as relevant for these operating +systems only. + Check _manual/01_welcome-to-ardour/02_about-ardour-documentation.html, it serves as a style and markup guide. @@ -98,6 +102,11 @@ level below its predecessor. Do not abuse headings to style a head line. Every snippet of text should be enclosed in a block level element. The default choice is

, the plain paragraph. + +Cross-reference links in the manual are reasonably stable, since they are +independent of the ordering number (which gets removed from the URL) and the +pretty page title (the URL is created from the file name). So unless a file +is renamed or moved to another sub-directory, links should be ok. 4.1 Inline markups ------------------ @@ -105,14 +114,15 @@ default choice is

, the plain paragraph. encloses a newly introduced term that is being explained. Use for the first occurrence of the main concept of every manual page, or the first occurrence -of a new concept after a sub-heading if necessary. +of a new concept after a sub-heading if necessary. Renders in bold face. Keep in mind that tags might be used to generate an index of keywords - don't pollute it too much. is used to explain an abbreviation such as LADSPA. Browsers will usually pop up the -definition when the user hovers over the word. +definition when the user hovers over the word. Renders as dotted underlined +in most browsers. On each page, use only for the first occurrence of every abbreviation. Avoid a redundant explanation in the text - the expansion can easily be extracted via CSS for printing. @@ -166,10 +176,11 @@ elements. ------------------------------------ -Any keys or key combinations, mouse buttons, or controllers should be marked -with this element. +Any keys or key combinations, mouse buttons or controllers, menu items or +textual user input should be marked with this element. It is used here in +the widest possible sense, qualified by classes. E.g.: -"Press F to fit all tracks to the height of the Editor window." +"Press f to fit all tracks to the height of the Editor window." "Move Fader 1 on your MIDI controller to bind it. " Since modifier keys are not cross-platform and Ardour makes a point of @@ -177,13 +188,27 @@ abstracting them, do not hard-code "Alt", "Cmd" and friends, use class="modN" instead. So if you want the user to press Ctrl-N on Linux, that's actually N. It will render as "Ctrl+N" for you, and as "Cmd+N" for +class="mod1">N. It will render as "Ctrl N" for you, and as "Cmd N" for your Mac-using friend. Nice, uh? For anything you want the user to type, use as a block-level element. See above for other classes to denote menu items, selections, mouse events and controller actions. +Keys and mouse key names should always be entered lowercase, even though the +stylesheet might capitalize them. + +CSS Classes used with are: +.modN +.mouse: mouse buttons +.cmd: a command line +.lin, .win, .mac: add nice prompts to that command line +.input: inline text to be entered by the user +.menu: path to an Ardour menu or other GUI item +.option: path to an option, with (X) at the end. +.optoff: path to an option, with ( ) at the end. +.button, .fader, .knob: external controllers (OSC or MIDI). + is only used for program code, or the content of configuration files etc. Do not abuse to style keys or user input, use instead. @@ -200,7 +225,9 @@ types or presses. The image tag must contain a 'src="/images/yourimage.png"' element and a descriptive 'alt="A short textual description of the image content"' element. - +Images are usually placed as block-level elements, i.e. outside of a +paragraph, unless they are no higher than one row and make sense in the text +flow. 5. Other conventions ==================== @@ -226,10 +253,12 @@ element. * The Ardour manual is written in Americal English spelling. * Use SI units with standard abbreviations. Give imperial units only as additional information, if at all. +* Do not use contractions like "you'll", always write full forms. +* Do not over-use "You", write about the program, not the user. -5.3 Headline Capitalization ---------------------------- +5.3 Chapter Headline Capitalization +------------------------------------ Capitalization follows https://developer.gnome.org/hig-book/3.6/design-text-labels.html.en#layout-capitalization @@ -240,4 +269,40 @@ https://developer.gnome.org/hig-book/3.6/design-text-labels.html.en#layout-capit Conjunctions: and, but, for, not, so, yet ... Prepositions of three or fewer letters: at, for, by, in, to ... * Keep headlines short and concise. +* secondary headlines in articles are not capitalized +* Do not capitalize concepts in the text body, with the possible exceptions + of _the_ Editor and _the_ Mixer. + + +5.4 Janitorial tasks/review +--------------------------- +If you encounter something that is unclear or patent nonsense, but you are +not bold or knowledgeable to fix it, express your doubts with an

editorial note

, so that readers will be warned and fellow +editors know where there's work to do. + +5.5 Writing style suggestions +----------------------------- + +* "Click OK" and similar explanations of the utterly obvious should be +avoided. Keep the writing concise and to the point. Explain as much as +possible, with as few words as possible. +* Do not fear repetitions, this is not artistic prose. Repeat important +keywords, rather than burden the user with synonyms made up on the spot. +* Do not create headings for different ways of doing the same thing (Via +the context menu,...Via hotkeys). Headings separate new +concepts. To not add gratuitous sub-headings if there is very little +content per heading and you do not expect the article to grow. +* If pages grow long, consider splitting them into sub-chapters at their +headings. +* Nobody needs "the next paragraph is about the following" paragraphs. + +5.6. Encoding +------------- + +* Pages should be encoded in UTF-8, with Unix-style newlines if possible +(although that's not critical). Avoid using verbatim special symbols, use +HTML character entities instead, for example for cursor arrows: → +← ↑ ↓. Diacriticals on vowels and other special letters are +probably ok by now, so don't bother with é and friends, just type é.