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

[Stephanie Blotner]

Thanks, Cameron! I did not understand the difference between a "motion" and
something up for discussion, so apologies for that misuse of nomenclature.

I don't feel strongly about using a style guide or which one to use, just
putting the idea of Google Developer Documentation Style Guide out there
for consideration.

On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 1:08 PM Cameron Shorter <cameron.shorter at gmail.com>
wrote:

> 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> 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>
>> 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> 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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>
> _______________________________________________
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>
> --
> Cameron Shorter
> Technology Demystifier
> Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant
>
> M +61 (0) 419 142 254
>
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-- 
Stephanie Blotner
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