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Writing style

Writing style¶

This section describes general writing style guidelines that documentation contributors should follow to ensure consistency throughout all technical publications.

  • General writing guidelines
    • Copyright and licensing
    • Use standard English
    • Write in active voice
    • Use the present simple tense
    • Write in second person
    • Use appropriate mood
    • Keep sentences short
    • Avoid ambiguous titles
    • Be clear and concise
    • Write objectively
    • Describe the most common use case first
    • Do not humanize inanimate objects
    • Write positively
    • Avoid prepositions at the end of sentences
    • Do not overuse this, that, these, and it
    • Do not split infinitives
    • Avoid personification
    • Do not use contractions
    • Eliminate needless politeness
    • Use consistent terminology
    • Use spelling and grammar checking tools
  • Word choice
  • Punctuation
  • Headings
    • General guidelines
    • Section titles
    • Subsection titles
    • Topic titles
    • Figure and table titles
  • Lists
    • Punctuation in lists
  • URLs
  • Numbers and units of measure
  • OpenStack service and project names
  • Release names
  • Standard UI terminology
    • Command-line interface guidelines
    • Graphical and web user interfaces guidelines
  • Code conventions
this page last updated: 2021-01-06 11:07:45
Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License

Except where otherwise noted, this document is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License. See all OpenStack Legal Documents.

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