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Manual of Style for Technical Publications
Developed by Microsoft’s senior editors and content managers, this manual of style captures the up-to-date standards and best practices for delivering clear and consistent technical communications. Now in its third edition, this popular reference has been fully revised, expanded, and optimized for ease of use. You’ll find new coverage on meeting the needs of a global audience, accessibility concerns, and the latest technical terms and acronyms—along with expertly organized sections on usage, grammar, punctuation, tone, formatting, and common style problems. Whether you’re creating print documentation, online help, Web content, or other communications, you’ll get the information and examples you need to maximize the impact and precision of your message. Get clear, concise guidance to help CD A Note Regarding the CD or DVD The print version of this book ships with a CD or DVD. For those customers purchasing one of the digital formats in which this book is available, we are pleased to offer the CD/DVD content as a free download via O'Reilly Media's Digital Distribution services. To download this content, please visit O'Reilly's web site, search for the title of this book to find its catalog page, and click on the link below the cover image (Examples, Companion Content, or Practice Files). Note that while we provide as much of the media content as we are able via free download, we are sometimes limited by licensing restrictions. Please direct any questions or concerns to booktech@oreilly.com.
432 pages, Paperback
First published June 30, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 31, 2012
Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, 3rd ed. 2004.
Even if you’re not in software development or technical writing, this one would come in handy if you write the occasional “how-to” handout for staff or the public. It has recommendations for how to phrase instructions to minimize confusion, how to describe menus and buttons, etc. The second half of the book is comprised of a Usage Dictionary.
If your audience is multicultural, the Global Content section has interesting advice. For instance:
Art presents many globalization issues. [ ...] We especially careful to avoid images that are offensive in some cultures, such as holiday images and situations, whether work or social, involving men and women. Avoid hand signs; nearly every hand sign is offensive somewhere.
Contents: Documenting the user interface — Content formatting and layout — Global content — Content for software developers — Web content — Indexing and attributing — Tone and rhetoric — Accessible content — Common style problems — Grammatical elements — Punctuation — List of acronyms and abbreviations — Usage dictionary.
Even if you’re not in software development or technical writing, this one would come in handy if you write the occasional “how-to” handout for staff or the public. It has recommendations for how to phrase instructions to minimize confusion, how to describe menus and buttons, etc. The second half of the book is comprised of a Usage Dictionary.
If your audience is multicultural, the Global Content section has interesting advice. For instance:
Art presents many globalization issues. [ ...] We especially careful to avoid images that are offensive in some cultures, such as holiday images and situations, whether work or social, involving men and women. Avoid hand signs; nearly every hand sign is offensive somewhere.
Contents: Documenting the user interface — Content formatting and layout — Global content — Content for software developers — Web content — Indexing and attributing — Tone and rhetoric — Accessible content — Common style problems — Grammatical elements — Punctuation — List of acronyms and abbreviations — Usage dictionary.
March 9, 2008
I found this book to be very helpful when writing instructions for computer applications. I have the second edition and it is out-of-date, but some of the basics do not change. Definitions for each term are supplied. Recommendations are made for more precise terminology. Especially useful are the help instruction examples. When you write step-by-step instructions, you are pretty much writing a program that a human can follow; this reference helps to keep that program easy and bug-free.
December 21, 2007
Essential reference book for anyone who documents software. Has saved me time in many "discussions" about the appropriate term or spelling of a term.
July 3, 2008
Even though I really hate Microsoft... they are still pretty much the standard for style in the computer industry as long as you are referencing Windows products when writing.
July 14, 2008
This manual of style is actually a glossary. But, MS is still the largest independent software company in the world and everyone uses their software. So, why not standardize on their terminology?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews