Re: Style Guide... /These aren't doc. style guides.

[chuckm -at- MDHOST -dot- CSE -dot- TEK -dot- COM]

Stephen Schiller asked:

> What style guides are people using for their documentation? The style
> guides I've often seen recommended on this list are GUI style guides,
> not documentation style guides.

> {deletia}

> Any comments or recommendations anyone? Please send comments/flames to me
> personally?


We have our own style guide, but one source we used is:

XEROX PUBLISHING STANDARDS, A Manual of Style and Design,
Xerox Corporation, Watson-Guptill Publications, 1988
ISBN 0-8230-5964-2


Contents (from the back cover):

1. Publishing Process
   Document planning
   Research and design
   Writing and editing/preparing graphics
   Production
   Distribution
   Updating and storage

2. Document Organization
   Generic document strucure
   Document access and cross-referencing
   Front matter
   Subject matter
   Back matter
   Legal considerations
   Revision documents

3. Writing and Style
   The meaning of style
   Content factors
   Bias-free writing
   Multilingual communication
   Readability
   Paragraph construction
   Sentence structure
   Technique and form
   Word choice and usage
   Grammar
   Spelling
   Punctuation
   Capitalization
   Abbreviations
   Numerals
   Editing and proofreading symbols

4. Visual Design
   Design rationale
   Page specifications
   Column layouts
   Typeface
   Text
   Graphics and tables
   Headers and footers
   Heading options
   Placing and spacing elements on the page
   Special pages
   Tabs
   Binding
   Cover

This is an excellent book and I highly recommend it.

Chuck