<div dir="ltr"><br><div>Both of the guides offer good writing tips and have useful information about how to document APIs. Does anyone have strong feelings about one guide or the other?</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 1:08 PM Cameron Shorter <<a href="mailto:cameron.shorter@gmail.com">cameron.shorter@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
  
    
  
  <div bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
    <p>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.<br>
    </p>
    <p>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".</p>
    <p>Once we have moved toward "rough consensus" we can then re-raise
      the motion.</p>
    <p>For my part, I don't have an opinion yet; my opinion will be
      formed based upon this discussion.<br>
    </p>
    <div class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857moz-cite-prefix">On 8/8/19 5:06 am, Jennifer Rondeau
      wrote:<br>
    </div>
    <blockquote type="cite">
      
      <div dir="ltr">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?
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>The former, I'm somewhat +1 to MS, somewhat -1 to the
          Google guide. Happy to explain if needed.</div>
        <div><br>
        </div>
        <div>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).</div>
      </div>
      <br>
      <div class="gmail_quote">
        <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Aug 7, 2019 at 2:47 PM
          Clarence Cromwell <<a href="mailto:clarencewcromwell@gmail.com" target="_blank">clarencewcromwell@gmail.com</a>>
          wrote:<br>
        </div>
        <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
          <div dir="auto">That might be a worthy alternative. Is this a
            motion, and if so, what dictionary would go with it?<br>
            <br>
            <div id="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857gmail-m_-3413773148948906288AppleMailSignature" dir="ltr">Sent from my iPhone</div>
            <div dir="ltr"><br>
              On Aug 7, 2019, at 11:43 AM, Stephanie Blotner <<a href="mailto:sblotner59@gmail.com" target="_blank">sblotner59@gmail.com</a>>
              wrote:<br>
              <br>
            </div>
            <blockquote type="cite">
              <div dir="ltr">
                <div dir="ltr">What about the <a href="https://developers.google.com/style/" target="_blank">Google
                    Developer Documentation Style Guide</a>? </div>
                <br>
                <div class="gmail_quote">
                  <div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Aug 7, 2019
                    at 9:20 AM Clarence Cromwell <<a href="mailto:clarencewcromwell@gmail.com" target="_blank">clarencewcromwell@gmail.com</a>>
                    wrote:<br>
                  </div>
                  <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
                    <div dir="ltr">I move that we adopt the <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/style-guide/welcome/" target="_blank">Microsoft
                        Style Guide</a> and the <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/" target="_blank">Merriam-Webster
                      </a>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.
                      <div><br>
                      </div>
                      <div>(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.)<br>
                        <div><br>
                        </div>
                        <div>Reasoning: </div>
                        <div>
                          <ul>
                            <li>We need to all work from a single
                              standard. </li>
                            <li>These guides are available for free
                              online. </li>
                            <li>The Microsoft Guide is specific to
                              technical writing, and is widely accepted
                              in the industry.</li>
                          </ul>
                          <div>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. </div>
                        </div>
                      </div>
                    </div>
                    _______________________________________________<br>
                    SeasonOfDocs mailing list<br>
                    <a href="mailto:SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
                    <a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs</a><br>
                  </blockquote>
                </div>
                <br clear="all">
                <div><br>
                </div>
                -- <br>
                <div dir="ltr" class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857gmail-m_-3413773148948906288gmail_signature">
                  <div dir="ltr">
                    <div>Stephanie Blotner</div>
                    <div><br>
                    </div>
                  </div>
                </div>
              </div>
            </blockquote>
          </div>
          _______________________________________________<br>
          SeasonOfDocs mailing list<br>
          <a href="mailto:SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
          <a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs</a><br>
        </blockquote>
      </div>
      <br>
      <fieldset class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857mimeAttachmentHeader"></fieldset>
      <pre class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857moz-quote-pre">_______________________________________________
SeasonOfDocs mailing list
<a class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857moz-txt-link-abbreviated" href="mailto:SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org</a>
<a class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs</a>
</pre>
    </blockquote>
    <pre class="gmail-m_-8434028684073174857moz-signature" cols="72">-- 
Cameron Shorter
Technology Demystifier
Open Technologies and Geospatial Consultant

M +61 (0) 419 142 254</pre>
  </div>

_______________________________________________<br>
SeasonOfDocs mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org" target="_blank">SeasonOfDocs@lists.osgeo.org</a><br>
<a href="https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/seasonofdocs</a><br>
</blockquote></div>