Style guides allow a technical author to create the framework for acceptable writing style for a company. Producing a style guide in most cases should be a satisfying and rewarding task for both an author and the technical publications department. By working on a style guide, the author has the opportunity to not only explore how leading firms in the industry define technical terms, play importance on traditional rules of language, but to define good writing style for the company. Once the writing style is defined, the publication department must adhere to it, and preferrably, all teams in the company that produce documentation.
The “Microsoft Manual of Style” and “Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry” (Sun Microsystems) are two books that I have refered to in the development of inhouse style. Many other style guides exist for technical authors in other industries, most notably, the IEEE has some very comprehensive style guides.
But what about a style guide that provides the user with a quick read and gives basic pointers on developing web-based documentation such as wikis? For a very quick style reference, Mozilla have some stylistic suggestions here.
The style guide shows for example how to lay out warning boxes and note styles.
Additionally, the writing style used in more casual and submissive. It contrasts with style guides geared to more mission-critical documents that may contain instructions in the imperative tense, or consist of numbering for each level of heading. The audience in mind is one who may have a little more time at their disposal, and that a mistake in the documentation does not spell the end of the world.
Undoubtebly other style guides similar in design to Mozilla exist on the web to ensure that the writer can ease his/her way in to writing documentation. Programs (and documentation) are readily available in the social networking space. Likewise, a style guide could play the role of “making friends” with the reader.
Wingspan 