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Documentation style guide

This style guide applies to all documentation created for Grafana products.

For information about how to write technical documentation, we suggest reviewing the content of the Google Technical Writing courses.

The Divio documentation system site and the Vue writing principles are also good resources.

Contributing

The Documentation style guide is a living document. Add to it whenever a style decision is made or a question is answered regarding style, grammar, or word choice.

Published guides

For all items not covered in this guide, refer to the Microsoft Style Guide and the Chicago Manual of Style.

Spelling

The codespell tool is run for every change to catch common misspellings.

Inclusive language

This section provides guidelines on how to avoid using charged language in documentation.

Allowing and blocking

Don't use "whitelist" or "blacklist" when referring to allowing or blocking content or traffic.

  • When used as a noun, use "allowlist" or "blocklist".
  • When used as a verb, use "allow" or "block"

Example: To allow outgoing traffic, add the IP to the allowlist.

Leader and follower

Don't use "master" or "slave" to describe relationships between nodes or processes.

  • Use "leader", "main" or "primary," instead of "master."
  • Use "follower" or "secondary," instead of "slave."

Exceptions

When referring to a configuration or settings used by third-party libraries och technologies outside the Grafana project, prefer the original name to avoid confusion.

For example, use "master" when referring to the default Git branch.

Grafana-specific style

The following sections provide general guidelines on topics specific to Grafana documentation. Note that for the most part, these are guidelines, not rigid rules. If you have questions, ask in the #docs channel of Grafana Slack.

General

  • Use active voice. Avoid passive voice.
    • Passive: The heatmap visualization is displayed.
    • Active: Grafana displays the heatmap visualization.
  • Write in the imperative second person. Examples: You can write a query. Click the panel. Close the window.
  • Write in present tense.
    • Not: The panel will open.
    • Use: The panel opens. Grafana opens the panel.
  • Do not use an ampersand (&) as an abbreviation for "and."
    • Exceptions: If an ampersand is used in the Grafana UI, then match the UI.
  • Avoid using internal slang and jargon in technical documentation.
  • Do not use two spaces after a period. Only add one space after each sentence. Do not add a space at the end of the paragraph.
  • Sentence length should be 25 words or less. If your thought is longer than 25 words, consider breaking up the sentence or changing the format to a list.
  • Paragraphs should be three sentences or fewer. Break up long paragraphs.

File naming conventions

  • Files that are displayed in the help system should have names that are all lowercase, no spaces. Use hyphens instead of spaces. Example: glossary.md
  • Documentation file names should match the title. Note: This only applies to new files at this time. Do not change the names of older files unless directed to do so.
  • Internal reference file names should be all uppercase except the file extension. Example: CONTRIBUTING.md

Headings

  • Write headings in sentence case, not title case.
    • This is sentence case
    • This Is Title Case
  • Task topic headings start with a verb.
    • Write a query. Create a dashboard.
  • Concept and reference topic headings should be nouns or gerunds. Examples: Contributing to docs, Visualizations, Style guide
  • Avoid following one heading with another heading.
  • Avoid skipping heading levels. For example, an h1 should be followed by an h2 rather than an h3.
  • Avoid having just one lower-level heading. For example, h1, h2, h2, h3, h3, h2 is a good order. Do not go h1, h2, h3, h2, h3, h2.
  • Don't include parenthetical words like (Important!) in headings.

Images

  • Preferred format is .png
  • File extension should be all lowercase.
  • Preferred DPI is 72.
  • Assume all graphics will be exclusively viewed on the web.
  • Maximum image size is 3840px X 2160px.
  • Screenshots should be readable, but not too large.

Capitalization

  • Grafana, Loki, and Prometheus are always capitalized unless part of a code block.
  • API names are always Title Case, followed by "API"—for example, "Dashboard Permissions API"
  • Git is always capitalized, unless part of a code block.
  • Abbreviations are always capitalized (such as API, HTTP, ID, JSON, SQL, or URL) unless they are part of a code block.
  • Menu and submenu titles always use sentence case: capitalize the first word, and lowercase the rest.
    • "Dashboards" when referring to the submenu title.
    • "Keyboard shortcuts" when referring to the submenu topic.
  • Generic and plural versions are always lowercase.
    • Lowercase "dashboard" when referring to a dashboard generally.
    • Lowercase "dashboards" when referring to multiple dashboards.
  • Exceptions: If a term is lowercased in the Grafana UI, then match the UI.

Links and references

When referencing another document, use "Refer to" rather than alternatives such as "See" or "Check out."

Always give the reader some idea of what to expect in the reference. Avoid blind references, such as, "Refer to this file."

When possible, use the exact title of the page or section you are linking to as the link text.

Example Refer to the Documentation style guide for information about word usage and capitalization guidelines.

Notes, tips, cautions, and warnings

Grafana documentation uses notes, tips, cautions, and warnings. Notes are the most common. The format for all of them is indented, bold, sentence case:

> **Note:**

Notes

Notes provide additional information that the user should be extra aware of. For example:

Note: This page describes a feature for Grafana 7.0 beta.

Tips

Tips describe alternate or more efficient ways of doing things. Rarely used.

Cautions

Cautions warn the user that they should proceed with caution. Use cautions to emphasize the potential downside of a course of action.

Caution: If you turn off authentication requirements, then anyone can access your Grafana instance. This poses a considerable security risk.

Warnings

Warnings tell the user not to do something. For example:

Warning: Grafana does not back up your dashboards. If you delete a dashboard, then you might not be able to recover it.

Command line examples

  • Do not assume everyone is using Linux. Make sure instructions include enough information for Windows and Mac users to successfully complete procedures.

  • Do not add $ before commands. Make it easy for users to copy and paste commands.

    • Wrong: $ sudo yum install grafana
    • Right: sudo yum install grafana

  • Include sudo before commands that require sudo to work.

For terminal examples and Grafana configuration, use a bash code block:

sudo yum install grafana

For HTTP request/response, use an http code block:

GET /api/dashboards/id/1/permissions HTTP/1.1
Accept: application/json
Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Bearer eyJrIjoiT0tTcG1pUlY2RnVKZTFVaDFsNFZXdE9ZWmNrMkZYbk

Word usage

Grafana products has some words, abbreviations, and terms particular to the Grafana discourse community.

checkout, check out

Two words if used as a verb, one word if used as a noun.

Examples

  • Check out these new features!
  • Proceed to checkout.

data source

Two words, not one

Exceptions:

  • "datasource" used as an identifier
  • "datasource" in a URL
  • Use "data source" instead of "datasource" unless used as an identifier, in code, or as part of a URL.
  • Spell out "repository" and avoid the shorter "repo."
  • Use "Unix" as the preferred spelling (as opposed to "UNIX", or "unix") when referring to the family of operating systems.

display (verb)

Display is a transitive verb, which means it always needs a direct object.

  • Correct, active voice: Grafana displays your list of active alarms.
  • Correct, but passive voice: Your list of active alarms is displayed.
  • Incorrect: The list of active alarms displays.

drawer

Do not use. This is developer jargon that refers to a UI panel. Refer to the panel or feature by its proper name.

intro, introduction

"Introduction" is the preferred word. Use "intro" if there are space constraints (like on the side menu) or you are specifically trying for a less formal, more conversational tone.

metadata

One word, not two.

open source, open-source

Do not hyphenate when used as an adjective unless the lack of hyphen would cause confusion. For example: Open source software design is the most open open-source system I can imagine.

Do not hyphenate when it is used as a noun. For example: Open source is the best way to develop software.

setup, set up

Two words if used as a verb, one word if used as a noun.

node_exporter, windows_exporter

When referencing the Prometheus data source exporters, always use "node_exporter" and "windows_exporter" when referring to those tools.

Correct: node_exporter, windows_exporter Incorrect: Node Exporter, node exporter, Windows Exporter, Windows exporter, windows exporter

Examples

  • Set up the workspace.
  • Initial setup might take five minutes.