ContentsIndexSearch
  • About
    • What’s new
    • Tips for using the kit
    • Feedback and support
    • Legal information (Imprint)
    • News & Updates
  • Structuring
    • General structuring principles
      • Don’t try to please everybody
      • Make it goal-centered
      • Layer information
      • Split complex information
      • Find the right amount of redundancy
    • Which media?
      • Printed manual, online help, or both?
      • Which online help format?
      • Can you embed help?
      • Should you add interactive features?
      • Should you add social features?
    • Which documents?
      • One document or multiple documents?
      • How should you name your documents?
    • Which document sections?
      • Standard sections in software user assistance
      • Standard sections in hardware user assistance
    • Which topics and headings?
      • Make topics self-contained
      • Distinguish information types
      • Find meaningful headings
      • Tips for writing headings
      • Avoid advance organizers
    • Which order of topics?
      • Keep the structure flat
      • Primary structure models
    • Which navigation tools?
      • Table of contents
      • Multiple information paths
      • Alphabetical index
      • Cross-references and links
      • Running headers and running footers
      • Page numbers
      • Part labels and section labels
      • Separator pages
      • Context sensitivity
      • Search
      • History
      • Browse sequence
      • Breadcrumb trail
      • Favorites
  • Designing
    • Layout basics
      • Design for your audience
      • Proceed top down
      • Use clear and simple design
      • Use color with care
      • Visually support skimming
      • Guide the reader’s eye
      • Align texts and objects to a design grid
      • Use the golden ratio
      • Trust your visual judgment
      • Think ahead about printing
      • Avoid amateurish formatting techniques
      • Automate line breaks and page breaks
      • Create styles semantically
      • Create styles hierarchically
    • Setting the type area
      • What page size?
      • Right and left pages?
      • One or multiple text columns?
      • Left-aligned text or justified text?
      • Hyphenation—yes or no?
      • What page margins?
      • Where to position headers, footers, and page numbers?
    • Choosing fonts and spacing
      • Which font?
      • Which font style?
      • Which font size and font spacing?
      • What line length?
      • What line spacing?
    • Recommended screen layouts
      • Table of contents area layout
      • Index area layout
      • Search area layout
      • Topic area layout
    • Recommended page layouts
      • Title page layout
      • Legal information page layout
      • Table of contents page layout
      • Separator page layout
      • Body page layout
      • Index page layout
      • Back cover page and spine layout
    • Recommended table designs
      • Static tables design
      • Dynamic tables design
    • Recommended paragraph styles
      • Heading paragraph styles
      • Subheading paragraph styles
      • Body text paragraph style
      • Procedure paragraph styles
      • List paragraph styles
      • Note and warning paragraph styles
    • Recommended character styles
      • Product name character style
      • Element character style
      • Parameter character style
      • Term character style
      • Emphasis character style
      • Strong character style
      • User input character style
      • Code character style
      • Link character styles
  • Writing
    • Writing in general
      • Keep it simple and stupid
      • Always start with the main point
      • Talk to the reader
      • Be specific
      • Be concise
      • Be consistent
      • Be parallel
      • Be positive
      • Use the present tense
      • Use the active voice
      • Don’t make judgments
      • Don’t say “please”
    • Writing topics
      • Writing “Concept” topics
      • Writing “Task” topics
      • Writing “Reference” topics
    • Writing sections
      • Don’t mix subjects
      • Add labels (subheadings)
      • Writing procedures
      • Writing lists
      • Writing tables
      • Writing warnings
      • Writing notes
      • Writing tips
      • Writing examples
      • Writing cross-references and links
    • Writing sentences
      • Make short sentences
      • Put the main thing into the main clause
      • Avoid parentheses and nested sentences
      • Feel free to start sentences simply
      • Feel free to end sentences simply
      • Watch the order of words
      • Watch the position of modifiers
      • Feel free to repeat a word
      • Use redundancies purposefully
      • Add syntactic cues
      • Be clear about what you’re referring to
      • Use “then” with care
      • Use “and” with care
      • Don’t use “and/or”
      • Don’t use “(s)”
    • Writing words
      • Use short, common words
      • Watch for “…ed”
      • Watch for “the … of” and for “of the”
      • Watch for opening “It …” and “There …”
      • Avoid abbreviations and acronyms
      • Use technical terms carefully
      • Always use the same terms
      • Use contractions
      • Avoid strings of nouns
      • Avoid stacks of modifiers
      • Avoid unnecessary qualification
      • Use strong verbs
      • Avoid gerunds that conceal a direct verb
      • Avoid phrasal verbs
      • Avoid idiomatic expressions
      • Avoid buzzwords
      • Avoid developer jargon
      • Use fair language
      • Blacklist: Overblown words
      • Blacklist: Filler words
    • FAQ: Spelling and punctuation
      • Apostrophes
      • Capitalization of headings
      • Capitalization of products and features
      • Colons
      • Commas
      • Dashes
      • Ellipses
      • Exclamation points
      • Hyphens
      • Numbers
      • Quotation marks
      • Semicolons
    • FAQ: Grammar and word choice
      • accurate / precise
      • allow / enable
      • Alphabetical order
      • among / between
      • amount / number
      • and / as well as / plus
      • assume / presume
      • because / since / as
      • big / great / large / little / small
      • can / may / might / must / should
      • check / control
      • compare to / compare with
      • comprise / compose / constitute
      • content / contents
      • continual / continuous
      • cost / price / value / worth
      • data / information
      • definite / definitive
      • different from / different than
      • discreet / discrete
      • distinct / distinctive
      • do / make / perform
      • each / every
      • effective / efficient
      • fewer / less
      • figure / graphic / image / picture
      • further / farther
      • header / heading
      • if / when / whether / whether or not
      • if / in case
      • If-clauses
      • in / in to / into
      • in / within
      • index / indexes / indices
      • it’s not / it isn’t
      • lay / lie / lie
      • less than / fewer than / under / below
      • let / leave
      • like / such as / as
      • like / as if / as though
      • more than / over / above
      • many / much / a lot of / lots of
      • many / various / different
      • on / upon
      • Possessives
      • prior / previous
      • regular / standard / default / preset
      • safety / security
      • single / singular
      • that / which
      • that / who / whom
      • this / that / these / those
      • use / utilize / employ
      • what / which
      • while / as / whereas / although
      • want / wish / desire / need
    • FAQ: Standard terms and phrases
      • Hardware
      • Software
      • Versions, updates
      • Setup
      • Start, stop
      • Assistants, documentation
      • Windows, messages
      • Controls: General rules
      • Controls: Menus, Ribbons, Toolbars
      • Controls: Tabs, Groups
      • Controls: Buttons, Command links
      • Controls: Check boxes, Options
      • Controls: Fields, Boxes, Sliders
      • Controls: Lists
      • Controls: Taskbar, Status bars
      • Mouse, touchscreen
      • Scrolling, zooming
      • Resizing, aligning
      • Deleting, cutting, pasting
      • Keys
      • Characters
      • Fonts
      • Printing
      • Disks, files
      • Internet
      • Errors
      • Signal words
  • Tool Guide
    • Help authoring tools
    • HTML authoring and conversion tools
    • XML and DITA solutions
    • DTP and classical text processing software
    • PDF creation and manipulation tools
    • Automation and postprocessing tools
    • Utilities for embedding and testing help
    • Screen capture tools
    • Image editors
    • Screencasting tools
    • Animation and multimedia tools
    • Language and terminology tools
    • Translation and localization tools
    • Creativity and productivity tools
  • Web Guide
    • User assistance, technical writing
    • User experience, information design
    • Standards, legal issues
    • Technology, tools
    • Templates, images, symbols, fonts
    • Dictionaries, grammars, style guides
    • Encyclopedias, reference works
    • Forums, online communities
    • Professional organizations
    • Conferences, trade fairs
    • Top feeds
  • Book Guide
    • Books on technical documentation in general
    • Books on plain language and style
    • Books on graphics and design