Style Guide

Attitude

When possible, direct pages at readers they are intended to serve. Get in close. Writers should be ready to explain for whom the page is written, referring to our personas.

Bylines

All pages will be bylined with the original authors and any updaters. Include byline at top of page, on line under title, then a pipe, then month and year written or updated. Set the style as byline. Include or link with email address where appropriate.

Updates and changes

Updates and changes are silent unless the old information or the fact of a change is significant to the intended readers. Updates should be dated.

Page wireframe (draft 3/8/7)

• Sidebar optional.
• Contextual links embedded in text where appropriate
• Supplementary links (see also...) placed at bottom of page
• Contact information - placed near bottom of page. (May have individual style applied.)

Page Titles

Appears both in the <title> link and in the header.

Other pages use abbreviated form

Advice from Price

Chap 5

• Let visitors skip and skim
• Use words we all know
• Filter out hyperbole
• Be direct
• If people know it, move it (p 100 for what to move)
• Use a sidebar
• Use light punctuation

Chap 6

• Create and use a meaningful title that givess advance notice and will work out of context
• Use headings to reveal relationships between the parts of the page
• Be meaningful before cute
• Turn a series into a bulleted or numbered list