Consistency/it

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Formulazione & Punteggiatura
Queste sono le nostre linee guida riguardanti la stesura della documentazione del Manuale di Audacity. Per favore aggiungi concetti o commenta se ritieni che via sia necessità di modificare alcune delle indicazioni qui presenti.

Esempi di scrittura adatti alla lingua Italiana:
 * Evitare le abbreviazioni per frasi di uso comune - "ad esempio", non "ad es."; "e simili", non "ecc."
 * Audacity quando inteso come nome del nostro editor, deve essere scritto con iniziale maiuscola - "Audacity", non "audacity".

This seems closest to general usage and makes it the most distinct from surrounding text without confusing due to the period (though strictly, that is more correct).
 * Clicca versus Premere versus Seleziona versus Scegli: "Clicca", e non "premi", si usa verso elementi che fanno parte dell'interfaccia grafica; "Scegliere", e non "cliccare" una voce da un menu o una lista; "Premere"' si usa per i tasti della tastiera.
 * i Formati dei Files devono essere scritti completamente in maiuscolo, senza essere preceduti dal punto (.), quindi:
 * "MP3", e non "Mp3", "mp3" or ".mp3"
 * Frazioni sono da scriversi con testo e un trattino che ne evidenzia la connessione, per essere più chiari possibile: "due-terzi" e non "2/3" o "due terzi".
 * Tratti di connessione:  "''' Se decidi di separare clausole all'interno dell'enunciato, usa un singolo trattino seguito da uno spazio. Usa sempre i trattini per rendere più chiari concetti che potrebbero non esserlo
 * Internet:  "e-mail" e non "email"; "web site" e non "website"
 * Tastiera e Shortcuts Ci si dovrebbe riferire ai comandi della tastiera con il termine "scorciatoie". Usare il maiuscolo e "+" (e non "-"), per separare i tasti che devono essere premuti (generalmente, questo dovrebbe favorire la comprensione del lettore), quindi "CTRL + 1" e non "CTRL-1" o "ctrl-1". Il comando dovrebbe essere incluso all'interno di tags   come descritto a Spans and Divs.
 * Menu paths are formatted inside  tags ( or  ) and navigation arrows should be indicated by " > ", not "->".
 * Numeri Non hanno spazi o virgole ("44100 Hz", e non "44,100 Hz " o "44 100 Hz"). Riguardo ai numeri oltre il milione (molto rari) sceglieremo di stabilirne un metodo di scrittura unificato se ve ne sarà bisogno. Generalmente, numeri minori a 10 sono scritti con testo ("cinque tracce" e non "5 tracce", "questo succede due volte" e non "questo succede 2 volte"). Un'eccezione a questo si presenta se il numero è unità di misura - ovvero "0.5 secondi" risulta più chiaro di "mezzo secondo", e "4 bits" rispetto a "quattro bits".
 * Citazioni sono contenute tra doppie virgolette " ", e non tra singole virgolette ' '.
 * Terminologia di Software/hardware: vi sono molte opinioni di corretta dicitura ed espressione ma dobbiamo cercare di uniformarci a quelle forme ritenute "standard"


 * Unità: "dB" e non "db", "secondi" e "millisecondi" e non "s" e "ms". "inch" or "pollici", not '' o ". "mm" is accettabile per i millimetri. Deve sempre esistere uno spazio tra il valore e la sua unità di misura (ad esempio, "10 dB" e non "10dB").

Elementi dell'interfaccia grafica (GUI)

 * "mouse pointer", not "mouse cursor"
 * "plug-ins", not "plugins" or "Plug-Ins"
 * "selection region", not "selection area" because menus refer to "regions"
 * "Timeline", not "ruler" or "horizontal ruler" or "time ruler"
 * "Time Shift Tool", not "Move Tool"
 * "Track Drop-Down Menu", not "Track Pop-Down Menu" (items "drop" down or "pop" up)
 * "Toolbar", not "Tool Bar"

Glossary
Technical words or phrases should be linked to in the glossary rather than explained in situ as a one-off. Glossary links are surrounded by five (5) sets of single-quotes, which makes them bold italic. Please keep them non-capitalised (unless at the start of a sentence). They are probably best avoided in summary "quick text" (which should avoid the need for them where possible) but should be used the first time the word or phrase is used in detailed text.

Example:

This is a logarithmic scale.

Which gives:

This is a logarithmic scale.

-

Glossary link information:

DISPLAY TEXT

"Glossary" designates the Glossary page, and is also used as the hover text. #link must not contain spaces and is case sensitive. Currently all links are in lower case and do not contain colons. Use underscores for spaces. Thus the link for Hz is #hz, AIFF is #aiff, MP3 is #mp3, and Dynamic range is #dynamic_range.

Note that some link names are not straight forward. Notably, logarithmic is #log, dB is #decibel, Ogg Vorbis is #ogg, and Audio CDs is #audio_cd. If you have any question, view the source of the Glossary page and search for '<td id="xyz'.

Headers
The page title will render as a first order heading, so place the primary headers in your text inside second order tags (two equals signs) thus:

== Primary heading ==

Use incremental headings in the structure, so that second level headings in your text are third order headers:

=== Secondary heading ===

then third level headings are inside fourth order headers and so on.

Capitalization of headers: If the header describes an interface item, be sure to respect the capitalization of that item as it appears in the interface. Otherwise, capitalize only the first word (except that any proper names should be capitalized wherever they occur).

Note: Stick to one line of space before each of the different order headings. On the main Wiki we find two empty lines before h2 works well, but the best solution is to change the css to give a little more space above h2.

Non-headered headings
These are not enclosed in == headers and may or may not be preceded by a bullet. These headings must be in bold, must end with a colon, and the first word of the following text should be capitalized viz:

Device: Selects the Device for playback.

Again, always capitalize the first word of the heading, and respect the capitalization of a menu item as is.

Page families
Pages may fall into families according to their purpose and pages within a family should share the same style of layout. Layout to use for some families is still being discussed.

Decisions made:


 * individual Preferences tabs:
 * enclose the name of each static box or panel section inside second order headers (==)
 * then use a bulleted list for items within the static box or panel section. The first text in each list item should be the name of the item within the box or section, followed by a colon, both in bold. The first word of the succeeding text should be capitalized. For example:


 * Axis: Determines if a linear or logarithmic scale is used.


 * individual Menu pages:
 * Each menu item is enclosed in second order tags e.g. ==Remove Audio==
 * Submenus are enclosed in third order tags e.g. ===Split Delete===
 * The Edit Menu is a special case requiring a custom index due to its length and complexity.


 * Historical note: The idea of starting each menu page with an image of the menu and "quick text" decribing each menu item beside the menu image (using a table) has been abandoned. It proved very difficult to write text that explains enough, without becoming merely a summary duplication of the main text, and without becoming too long in the long menus like File Menu. The wasted white space to left of the quick text was another problem.


 * Toolbars Overview.
 * See the examples at: Edit Toolbar, Tools Toolbar and Transport Toolbar - and the comments thereon.

Note on use of templates versus spans and divs
Before May 2012 all text highlighting and "info boxes" were created using spans and divs respectively.

Since then templates are required for the advice and alert boxes. Intro and note boxes can be created with divs or templates at the editor's discretion. Editornote boxes must be created using divs.

Editors can continue to use either a template or a span for text highlighting. However, templates are required for the "on-screen button" highlighting that includes an image of the button element (checkbox, radio button or dropdown menu triangle).

Templates require less typing. Editors are encouraged to use templates in new text.

The intro box
... or
 * For use at the top of many pages to highlight an introductory paragraph that summarizes the following contents. Generally the intro should not exceed five or six lines, and would not be needed unless the main text was several paragraphs long. Use the div below if what you are highlighting is not at the top of the page.

The note box
... or
 * The main use is as a "tip" or "hint" - extra non-essential pieces of information which may be of particular interest only to a subset of users, or to someone who already knows 90% of what has been written and is just skimming.
 * Another valid use (but only with considerable discretion and say, only once per three or four scrolls) is to highlight information, merely to break up the text a bit. Consider an image in preference to break the text up, as that may actually save some text.

The advice box

 * Use in exceptional circumstances to highlight some text with yellow background and a warning icon that describes something that requires care or attention. It is more important than a note but less dire than an alert. For example, use it in a case like this:

The alert box

 * Use in exceptional circumstances to highlight some text with pink background that describes something that is dangerous or should never be done. For example, use it in a case like this:

The editornote box
... or Editor'sName 31Jan12: a note Name 1Feb12: a new note topic
 * The only use is as a means of conversing between editors. It is only visible to logged in editors. Editors are encouraged to include their name and the date in bold for any such note:
 * Another Editor's name 1Feb12: reply indented to display to which message the reply correlates.
 * Editor'sName 31Jan12: a reply to the previous reply

The menu highlight
... or For use to highlight a sequence of menus, buttons or similar with orange background. For example, use it in a case like this:
 * to produce.

This is only for use for a navigation sequence. A single button, menu or GUI element (e.g. a Preview button when you reach the intended dialogue) should not be formatted with this span. Normally (at least in first use in a page), a menu sequence will link to the appropriate endpoint anchor in the Manual. In this case, we only make the anchor take a link, so that the user only has one link to click on to reach the anchor, but still realises that two clicks are needed in the menus. Example:
 * Any menu selection is considered a "sequence" as it requires two clicks to make the menu selection.
 * An instruction to check the state of a menu item should not be formatted with this highlight. For example:
 * Choose the "Transport" menu and make sure that "Sound Activated Recording (on/off)" is not checked.
 * On screen buttons should be formatted with the button template and its variants (see below).
 * which is written as:
 * File > Check Dependencies... '''
 * or alternatively as:

Special menu highlight for use in advice boxes: menuadvice

Special menu highlight for use in alert boxes: menualert


 * Bill 12May12: I have a query about navigating to, for example, a preference pane and then a selection therein. For example, do we write:
 * Choose ...or do we write Choose, then select the Recording tab ...

I do not like the former as it suggests that "Recording" is a sub-menu of "Preferences".
 * Similarly for: Choose ... versus Choose  then the Sound Panel ...
 * Gale 13May12: I think "Edit > Preferences" is probably out because of Mac. If we were to use it and accept it' s wrong for Mac, then is my choice. On the whole I think the better answer could be "Go to the  then choose the  section". I have become a bit disenchanted with using "tab" for the section of Preferences, though I think it's better than "pane" or "page". We need to change the editorote div colour so we can see menu spans.
 * Bill 13May12:
 * I agree that "Go to the then choose the  section" is preferable. I usually write "section" instead of "tab", since they are not, strictly speaking, tabs.
 * We can change the editornote colour, or we can use menuadvice just for visibility in editornotes.

The shortcut highlight
... or
 * For use to highlight a keyboard or mouse shortcut with purple-gray background and bold italicized text. For example, use it in a case like this:  CTRL + A or  to produce CTRL + A.

 Use shortcut spans or templates also for the SHIFT component of a SHIFT-modified click or arrow press, for example:  hold SHIFT and click in the track  hold SHIFT while using or .  Use shortcut spans for unmodified keys when they quality as a shortcut  press the C key to hear the audio 2 second before and 1 second after the selection  press SPACE to start playback </ul>  In general, any shortcut listed on Keyboard Shortcut Reference should be highlighted with this span or template, as should a modifier used with the mouse in Mouse Preferences.  Do not use shortcut spans or templates for pressing a key on its own when it is not part of a shortcut. In these cases, use the kbrd span or template (see below). See the examples at Metadata Editor.</ul></ul>

The kbrd highlight
... or
 * For use to highlight a key press which is not part of a shortcut. For example, use it in a case like this:  Return or  to produce Return.
 * See the above shortcut span and template description for instances where that span/template should be used instead of the kbrd span/template

The button templates
... or }
 * For use to highlight an on-screen button with plain text on a light gray background with a medium gray border. For example, use it in a case like this: Click the Export... button or Click the  button to produce Click the  button


 * Use of other button templates
 * The following button templates can be used to highlight on-screen radio buttons, checkboxes and drop-down menus:


 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * Note the usage of the DropdownMenu template: the actual selection made in the drop-down menu is highlighted, not the title of the menu.
 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * Note the usage of the DropdownMenu template: the actual selection made in the drop-down menu is highlighted, not the title of the menu.
 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * Note the usage of the DropdownMenu template: the actual selection made in the drop-down menu is highlighted, not the title of the menu.
 * From the File Type drop-down menu, choose
 * Note the usage of the DropdownMenu template: the actual selection made in the drop-down menu is highlighted, not the title of the menu.

Tables of Contents
In view of the disruption these cause to layout on reference pages, and given they don't really aid accessibility, we now force hide them on all such pages by adding.

Other Tables
Footnotes

User a superscript in a table underneath (to stop the text wrapping underneath the superscript). Example:

This can also be written using the footnote template:

Settings content
Images of an Audacity window or dialog should contain Audacity default settings which can be obtained by initializing Preferences.

Placement
If images are nearly full screen width, they should be centered by piping "center" in the image link. Less wide images should be left indented by preceding the image link with a single colon. Their left edge should then line up with the first word of bulleted text.

Size
All images should fit without scrolling in a maximized web browser window at 1024x768, unless it is impossible to otherwise display them satisfactorily. Ideally, smaller images should fit without scrolling at 800x600 too. While images can be scaled by adding a pipe, for example ''' ''', this will significantly degrade the image quality. If the image won't fit the Manual without scrolling at 1024x768, consider capturing it at a different screen resolution, or scaling it in an image editor rather than browser scaling.

Hover Text
All images should carry hover text to facilitate readability by non-sighted or sight-impaired readers using screen readers. Hover text can be included by adding a pipe, for example ''' '''

Themes
Most images are of Windows 7 with basic theme unless noted otherwise, so it is preferable if new images of Windows 7 also have that theme. If a Windows 7 image is added with an "Aero" or non-default theme, point this out in the image text or hover text so that user does not think this image appears like this with Windows basic theme. Consider a ToDo-2i18n to replace the image with basic theme when possible.

Drop Shadows
Bill 13Apr11:  I think we need to have a discussion on the use of drop shadows on images. I have been adding subtle drop shadows to track images (since they are not full windows, and I think they look better). I have not been putting drop shadows on full window images, nor on toolbars, comboboxes and other interface elements. Ed has started putting drop shadows on everything, and his drop shadow effect is very dark. So my take is that, for consistency, and before more images are updated, we need a policy on this.

Steve the Fiddle +1 for the lighter gray shadows. I also notice that the angle of the shadow appears to be different. I think that the shadow mostly below the image and a little to the sides looks OK and is similar to what I actually see on dialogue screens. I'm not sure exactly which elements should have drop shadow effects, but not combo boxes and similar interface elements.

Gale: Peter said on the Manual list that he does not like Ed's drop shadows. If we had them as Ed's Preferences dialogues were, we would have to do that for every real window like an effect dialog and the effect is I think far too gross. I think a policy of subtle drop shadow only for images that do not naturally have a sharply defined edge (with some latitude given to the image provider on what he does) worked OK and we should stick with it. Also see my comment in Talk:Warnings Preferences.

Bill: Ed doesn't like Ed's drop shadows either! When I started putting drop shadows on images I was working on the Edit Menu page. The track images on that page already had drop shadows on them and I tried to replicate the effect so that my new images would fit in. I liked the look and started doing it whenever I felt it worked. So +1 to "only for images that do not naturally have a sharply defined edge (with some latitude given to the image provider on what he does)".

Image Frames
We now don't use image frames in the Manual. They suggest (sometimes wrongly) that you can get at the essential page content by just reading the frames, often merely repeat the text, and can be too long for the ALT text they generate (ALT text should be about 12 words maximum).

Lists
This applies to both ordered and unordered lists:


 * The introductory text to a list has a colon at the end of it. We don't use a period, even if it's a complete sentence.
 * The first letter of each list item is in upper case.
 * We do not add punctuation at the end of list items, except we add a period if the item is a sentence, or if it is followed by a sentence.
 * In general, try to avoid mixing sentences and non-sentences in list items.

Reference section

 * The reference section should avoid tutorial exposition; it's kept brief, and links to tutorial sections as needed. (Should be viewed intelligently, so as to avoid shunting users around too much and avoiding creation of half-page "tutorials" for the sake of it which is a significant reason for our duplication problem).