[SeasonOfDocs] Motion: adopt a style guide

[Clarence Cromwell]

My motion was for a style guide to apply strictly to our content, including the website and templates. 

We can consider carefully what to recommend to users of the templates — and maybe we would recommend that they take a look at the WTD site.

But we need a consistent style for content that is going out the door soon.

Stephanie B. can tell us whether her motion was intended to imply all the same things.



Sent from my iPhone

> On Aug 7, 2019, at 12:06 PM, Jennifer Rondeau <jennifer.rondeau at gmail.com> 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? 
>>> 
>>>> 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 and the Merriam-Webster 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. 
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> SeasonOfDocs mailing list
>>>> SeasonOfDocs at lists.osgeo.org
>>>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs
>>> 
>>> 
>>> -- 
>>> Stephanie Blotner
>>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> SeasonOfDocs mailing list
>> SeasonOfDocs at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.osgeo.org/pipermail/seasonofdocs/attachments/20190807/751ff4ed/attachment.html>