A matter of style
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As a technical writer in a company that didn't have one before, I had to come with our company "style". I referenced a lot of the Chicago Manual of Style and Microsoft Manual of Style v3. The latter more so because we are a Certified Microsoft Gold Partner shop. I go with the colon. And our programmers follow the same suit. The reason: there should be a visual separation between a label and it's value. A colon by definition is a division, or a separation, indicating there is more to follow.
S.Nowlin ----------------------- I'm a Techwriter Monkey -- handy, just less useful than the Bathroom Monkey.
Awesome. I knew about the UI guidelines but didn't know about the style manual. Good reference for these situations
only two letters away from being an asset
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Awesome. I knew about the UI guidelines but didn't know about the style manual. Good reference for these situations
only two letters away from being an asset
The style manuals, and there are several out there, have been life savers as far as justifying a visual style standard, or a grammatical standard, that I've implemented. I still get vetoed, but at least when, 6 mos or a year from now, someone says "Why did we make that change?", or "Why are we doing this, it's stupid." I can point to my documented recommendation and say "It wasn't me!" :cool:
S.Nowlin ----------------------- I'm a Techwriter Monkey -- handy, just less useful than the Bathroom Monkey.
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So whats the consensus around here? When creating an app do you place a colon after your labels or not? i.e. Customer Name: [label] or Customer Name [label] I've always used a colon but have recently been told by our CIO to not use them. I think it just makes everything bleed together and looks terrible.
only two letters away from being an asset
There was a recent article on the web that said the most readable style was to put the label above the data entry box. If I can find the reference I will add it. Is the CIO the boss? If so, just leave out the colons & don't worry about it. Life's too short to try & convince him of the correctness or lack thereof of style. For all you know you are both working for a NO COLON freak who would have you fired for using them. Personally I don't like colons - but then I am my own boss & I (usually) get to decide!
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jgasm wrote:
sorry?
Requires knowledge of english slang. It's a play on words regarding human anatomy. The intenstinal tract contains a "colon" so ... how can you "go" (euphemism for venting bodily wastes) if you don't use a colon Judy
C:[ENTER]###
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So whats the consensus around here? When creating an app do you place a colon after your labels or not? i.e. Customer Name: [label] or Customer Name [label] I've always used a colon but have recently been told by our CIO to not use them. I think it just makes everything bleed together and looks terrible.
only two letters away from being an asset
I do. Just... makes sense.