| .. _basic: |
| Basic Writing Style Guidelines |
| ############################## |
| |
| These guidelines apply to every type of document, in-code comment, |
| commit message or note. You can find more details of the concepts listed here in the |
| :ref:`detailed`. |
| |
| * Limit line length to 100 characters. This is due to the limitations |
| of the review system. |
| |
| * Remove trailing white space from your documents. |
| |
| * Short sentences and paragraphs. Keep sentence length down to about |
| 20 words. |
| |
| * Include only one main idea in a sentence. |
| |
| * Limit the number of clauses you use to no more than two. |
| |
| * Limit the number of sentences per paragraph to about six. |
| |
| * Use strong verbs. |
| |
| * Use action verbs. |
| |
| * Avoid weak verbs like be, have, make, and do. |
| |
| * Use short direct commands and avoid niceties such as the word |
| "please". |
| |
| * Use the present tense wherever possible and avoid past and future |
| tense verbs. |
| |
| * Use Active voice. Write, "Someone does something"; don't write, |
| "Something is done by someone" or "Something is done." |
| |
| * Use "we" for recommendations. Write "We recommend..." as opposed to |
| "It is recommended...." |
| |
| * Use "you" rather than "the user" in your instructions. |
| |
| * Use short common English words whenever possible. |
| |
| * Limit noun phrases to three terms. |
| |
| * Use parallelism in headings, sentences, and lists. |
| |
| * Put conditional phrases first in cautions and warnings. For example: |
| "If you do X, then Y will occur." |
| |
| * Limit headings to three levels. Avoid heading levels beyond H3. If |
| you have fourth, fifth, or sixth level headings, rewrite the |
| information in these sections as tables or create a new section for |
| them. |
| |
| * To reduce ambiguity, use articles such as 'a', 'an', and 'the' |
| whenever possible. |
| |
| * Do abbreviate codenames by using a substitution. For example: |
| \|codename\| is defined in the |
| :file:`forto-collab/doc/substitutions.rst` to be replaced by "Zephyr |
| Operating System". |
| |
| * Place figures and tables immediately after related text. |
| |
| * Place code immediately after the words "for example:" in a new line. |
| |
| * Use the appropriate cross-reference format to refer to figures, code |
| and tables specifically: Use "Figure X," instead of "The figure above |
| or below" whenever possible. |
| |
| * Avoid inserting any table or figure without having at least one |
| direct cross-reference to it in the body text. |