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Conventions for denoting typed commands, etc., in docs?
Subject:Conventions for denoting typed commands, etc., in docs? From:Gwen Barnes <gwen -dot- barnes -at- MUSTANG -dot- COM> Date:Tue, 24 Oct 1995 00:21:46 GMT
-> I'm writing my first piece of simple computer documentation, and I got to
-> thinking that there must be some fairly conventional ways to denote a
-> typed command or a button or a screen title, etc., in documentation, but
-> using bold letters, or all caps, or italics.
Traci, I use a monospaced font such as Courier or Letter Gothic, and
draw attention to it in the "Typographic Conventions" section in the
preamble to the manual. Anything the user is expected to type literally
is printed on a separate line in typewriter font.
I also use a "keycaps" font that has letters that look like little keys,
to denote explicit keypresses (for instance [F1] or [Esc].)
Most printed computer manuals have a section in the front on font usage,
and you'll see less of a variety of approaches than you might initially
expect. This would indicate to me that this particular wheel has been
definitively invented -- feel free to go with the crowd on this one.
