X-Git-Url: http://shamusworld.gotdns.org/cgi-bin/gitweb.cgi?a=blobdiff_plain;f=STYLE_GUIDE;h=f9d4ce2786f85b9c4cbc72471974e76a2a5114cf;hb=0fed26b3130003f7444857c0c0247c631be9db8b;hp=866e86f0a167ff2860ffa3f15f0aefb27c84e0cb;hpb=fdbd351eb81927e87b7abed13bbbc8dc3df9e314;p=ardour-manual diff --git a/STYLE_GUIDE b/STYLE_GUIDE index 866e86f..f9d4ce2 100644 --- a/STYLE_GUIDE +++ b/STYLE_GUIDE @@ -31,7 +31,8 @@ and then add } to apps.css. If you add a new class with semantic meaning, document it below, under -"Custom classes". +"Custom classes", and be sure to explain it to the reader at +_manual/01_welcome-to-ardour/02_about-ardour-documentation.html. 2. Format and Validation @@ -75,6 +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. @@ -97,6 +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 ------------------ @@ -104,14 +114,19 @@ 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, and it can easily be -extracted via CSS for printing. -Use only for the first occurrence of every new abbreviation. +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. +Use only in the text body, not in headings. is used to emphasize a word. Commonly rendered as italics. @@ -161,10 +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 @@ -172,10 +188,26 @@ 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 @@ -193,10 +225,16 @@ 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 +==================== -5. Typography -============= +5.1 Typography +-------------- * Avoid any typographical quotation marks to highlight terms or express any kind of subtle inflection, use semantic markup instead. @@ -206,5 +244,63 @@ element. the long em-dash. * For ranges of values, use the en-dash: Monday – Friday, 0 – 11. +* Use a non-breaking space (" ") between a number and its unit. + +5.2 Language +------------ + +* 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. + + +5.3 Chapter Headline Capitalization +------------------------------------ +Capitalization follows +https://developer.gnome.org/hig-book/3.6/design-text-labels.html.en#layout-capitalization +: + +* Capitalize all words in the headline, with the following exceptions: + Articles: a, an, the. + 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.