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This document is the style guide for the Ubuntu Documentation Team. The Ubuntu Documentation Style Guide is built with the participation of the members of the Ubuntu Documentation Team, and represents the current accepted practice for documents produced and maintained by the Documentation Team. The guide is still missing a couple of items (marked TODO).

Acknowledgments

This document is in the Public Domain.

This document is a collaborative effort of the Ubuntu Documentation Team. The primary contributors are:

• Jeff Schering
• Jerome Gotangco
• David Ottina

Overview of the Style Guide

A style guide is a reference used by writers and editors. It is an outline of the policies and standards that writers and editors are expected to follow.

The Ubuntu Documentation Team needs its own style guide because Ubuntu is unique. Ubuntu is Linux + GNU + Debian + (GNOME, KDE, and XFCE) + the Ubuntu philosophy. No style guide covers the entire spectrum of Ubuntu components.

This style guide attempts to achieve the following:

• Help writers communicate clearly.
• Create a consistent style across all documents.
• Create a consistent use of terminology across all documents.
• Highlight common problems in the use of the English language and to provide solutions.
• Help documentation authors write for an international audience, including how to write for translation.

• Help writers and editors select the appropriate DocBook markup.

This style guide contains three main types of information:

1. Material that is unique to Ubuntu documentation.
2. Material that may be helpful to writers, but is not covered in other guides.
3. Material that is covered in other guides, but is either summarized or repeated here for convenience.

Style Guide Applicability and Precedence

The Ubuntu style guide is applicable to all documents produced by or for the Ubuntu Documentation Team. It covers all documents in the Documentation Team's repository. The Documentation Team also takes care of the documentation wiki, to which the style guide also applies.

If you encounter a topic or situation that is not covered by this style guide, refer to the GNOME Documentation Style Guide. If your document deals exclusively with KDE, refer to the KDE Style Guide.

If none of the above guides offer a solution to your problem, you will have to make your own decision. See the section Reference Materials for links to other style guides and documentation handbooks.

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