[SeasonOfDocs] Not a Motion Yet: adopt a style guide

[Cameron Shorter]

I've change title to "Not a Motion yet". I can see that we have a 
difference of opinions, which is fine. I think this is an important 
topic for a tech writing project, and I would love to see robust and 
wide discussion about it for at least a week, possibly more.

This community is full of tech writers I have a lot of respect for, and 
I'm keen to hear from each of you - even if it is just to say "I don't 
care".

Once we have moved toward "rough consensus" we can then re-raise the motion.

For my part, I don't have an opinion yet; my opinion will be formed 
based upon this discussion.

On 8/8/19 5:06 am, Jennifer Rondeau wrote:
> Point of clarification: is this a style guide for the project to 
> follow as it develops content, or a style guide to recommend to 
> projects that might use tGDP?
>
> The former, I'm somewhat +1 to MS, somewhat -1 to the Google guide. 
> Happy to explain if needed.
>
> The latter, I'm -1 on any style guide. The appropriate guidance is the 
> kind of thing that the WTD guide already provides (lots of options, 
> with explanations of what they are and why they might be appropriate 
> for particular contexts/requirements/audiences/projects).
>
> On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 2:47 PM Clarence Cromwell 
> <clarencewcromwell at gmail.com <mailto:clarencewcromwell at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>     That might be a worthy alternative. Is this a motion, and if so,
>     what dictionary would go with it?
>
>     Sent from my iPhone
>
>     On Aug 7, 2019, at 11:43 AM, Stephanie Blotner
>     <sblotner59 at gmail.com <mailto:sblotner59 at gmail.com>> wrote:
>
>>     What about the Google Developer Documentation Style Guide
>>     <https://developers.google.com/style/>?
>>
>>     On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 9:20 AM Clarence Cromwell
>>     <clarencewcromwell at gmail.com
>>     <mailto:clarencewcromwell at gmail.com>> wrote:
>>
>>         I move that we adopt the Microsoft Style Guide
>>         <https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/style-guide/welcome/> and
>>         the Merriam-Webster
>>         <https://www.merriam-webster.com/>dictionary for The Good
>>         Docs project, and that we apply them to whatever writing is
>>         generated by the project (our web site and our official
>>         templates) but that we don't demand that anyone use a guide
>>         for contributing a collection of templates, as they are
>>         source material.
>>
>>         (I would emphasize that we only have to apply the style guide
>>         to material before we publish it, so that doesn't even
>>         require that people learn it before contributing; anyone who
>>         doesn't have the time, could allow an editor to clean up
>>         contributions according to the style guide.)
>>
>>         Reasoning:
>>
>>           * We need to all work from a single standard.
>>           * These guides are available for free online.
>>           * The Microsoft Guide is specific to technical writing, and
>>             is widely accepted in the industry.
>>
>>         If there are strong feelings about using a different guide, I
>>         would suggest a counter-motion naming a specific set of
>>         books, so that people can vote for one or the other, and then
>>         we can get on with business.
>>         _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
>>
>>     -- 
>>     Stephanie Blotner
>>
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-- 
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier
Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant

M +61 (0) 419 142 254

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