California State University, Chico

Technical Writing
Style Guide
For Online and Paper
Technical Publications
Foreword
This guide presents CSU, Chico’s house style for technical online and paper technical
publications.

Why do we need a house style?

To help us better carry out our program’s mission: producing accurate information that helps
others to use our documents successfully. Users ranging from inexperienced end users to high-
level technicians must be able to find the information they need—and once they have found it, to
understand it. This calls for a style that is simple, direct, and uniform.

Our style is concise: free of excess verbiage and technical jargon. Our style should enable us to
speak directly to the users—to tell them just what they need and no more.

Reports and manuals should follow these style guidelines to ensure consistency across published
materials. The Technical Writing Program has always placed a high value on editorial
consistency. It is even more important now as we move to electronic publishing.

This style guide will help you make your documents and publications consistent with basic
technical writing stylistic and design conventions. Before you begin to plan your publications and
to develop a production schedule, allow the time necessary to familiarize yourself with this
document.

Keep in mind that these guidelines are meant to foster clarity—never impede it. Like any
guidelines, they require a certain degree of interpretation. So please use common sense. If, in a
particular situation, following a guideline would hide information or result in a clumsy construction,
make an exception. Then clear it with the director of the program. If you have questions, please
contact me at x5269 or by e-mail at kprice@csuchico.edu.

Kenneth R. Price
Director of Technical Writing
March, 2001

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Preface
Introduction
The California State University, Chico Technical Writing Style Guide for Online and Paper
Technical Publications is a complete guide to style for technical user information. Adherence to
the style guide helps to ensure that the technical information you produce is consistent in style,
organization, and terminology.

Use this guide as your first reference for style questions. If the information that you need is not in
this guide, then check the following sources:

Grossman, John. The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for Writers, Editors,
and Publishers. 14th Edition. U of Chicago P, 1993.
Hale, Constance. Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age. HardWired,
1996.
Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications. 2nd Edition. Redmond, WA: Microsoft
Press, 1998.
Sun Technical Publications. Read Me First! A Style Guide for the Computer Industry. New
York: Prentice-Hall, 1996.
Audience
This guide has two major audiences:
• CSU, Chico scientific and technical writing and editing students
• Third-party users of their documents
Structure of this Guide
The style guide is divided into four sections:
• Section One discusses stylistic conventions, arranged alphabetically.

• Section Two lists abbreviations and acronyms, and other terms commonly used in technical
information, arranged alphabetically.
• Section Three provides sample grids for paper documents and web pages.
• A comprehensive index.

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Section One: Stylistic Conventions
Conventions
Use the following conventions throughout your online and paper technical publications:

Convention Description

Addresses Spell out all parts of addresses except for state abbreviations.
Department English
California State University, Chico
400 West First Street
Chico, CA 95929-0560

Colons A colon is used most often to introduce a list, statement, quotation, or summary. It
is also used to introduce a clause relating to the preceding clause. (See lists.)
Jane does not study for enjoyment: It is expected of her.

Participants should bring the following items: pens, paper, pillows, and coffee.

The colon should not be used after an incomplete sentence.

The metals excluded were mercury, manganese, and magnesium.

Commas The following guidelines cover the basics of punctuating with commas.

Appositives Use a comma to set off a nonrestrictive appositive (a noun or noun phrase that
renames a noun).
Gretchen Hargis’ book, Developing Quality Technical Information, received favorable
reviews.

Commas in In a series of three or more terms with a single conjunction, use a comma after
a Series each term except the last.
grades of A, B, and C

Coordinating Use a comma before a coordinating conjunction (and, but, so, or, nor, for, yet)
Conjunctions joining two independent clauses.

These examples do not include all possible violations, but they do provide a sample of
behavior that will result in disciplinary action.

Introductory Clause or Use a comma to set off an introductory clause or phrase.

Phrase
When faculty suspect students of cheating, they may bring formal charges.

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 Parenthetical Use commas to set off parenthetical elements that retain a close logical
Elements relationship to the rest of the sentence.
The work is, on the whole, very satisfactory.

Capitalization The following guidelines cover the basics of capitalization:

• Capitalize all major words in titles and headings.
• Capitalize the first and last words of titles and headings, regardless of their
parts of speech.
• Do not capitalize the to in an infinitive phrase.
• Do not capitalize articles.
• Do not capitalize coordinating conjunctions.
• Do not capitalize prepositions of four or fewer letters.
• Capitalize prepositions, articles, and conjunctions, only if they are the first
word in the title or follow a colon.
• Capitalize only the initial word of second-level headings.
• Do not capitalize the word following an em dash, unless it is a proper noun,
even if it begins a complete sentence.
• Capitalize references to figures, tables, and chapters when they are followed
by a letter or number.
See Table II

• In lists, capitalize the first word in the list if each item is a complete sentence
or a verb phrase.
A hurricane starts when the following conditions occur:

• Water vapor evaporates from the surface of a warm tropical ocean.

• Thunderclouds form and release heat.

Interface Elements The following capitalization guidelines apply to interface elements:

• For menu names, command and command button names, and dialog box
titles, follow the interface. Otherwise, use title caps.
• Do not capitalize interface elements used generically, such as menu, toolbar,
scroll bar, and icon.
• Always consult your particular project style sheet for terms that may be
case-sensitive or traditionally all uppercase or lowercase.

Dashes In text, (–) signifies an en dash, and (—) signifies an em dash.

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 • Use an en dash to indicate a range of numbers.
• You may use two hyphens indicate an em dash.
The length does not change—even if the line spacing changes.

The chapter runs from pages 22–41.

Gender Use the plural forms of pronouns to avoid sexist language. In examples, alternate
between males and females.

Hyphenation Observe these rules when hyphenating modifiers:

• Hyphenate two or more words that precede and modify a noun as a unit if
confusion might result.
Correct
high-level language lower-left corner
read-only memory line-by-line scrolling

• Hyphenate two words that precede and modify a noun as a unit if one of the
words is a past or present participle.
Correct
copy-protected disk free-moving graphics

• Hyphenate two words that precede and modify a noun as a unit if the two
modifiers are a number or single letter and a noun or participle.
Correct
8-point font eight-sided polygon
16-bit bus 80-column text card

• Use an en dash (–) instead of a hyphen in a compound adjective in which at

least one of the elements is an open compound (such as Windows NT) or
when two or more of the elements are made up of hyphenated compounds.
Correct
Windows 98–compatible products

Some products have dialog box–type options for frequently used operations.

• Do not use a hyphen in key combinations. Use a plus sign instead, as in

“ALT+0.”
See Also Dashes, Numbers

Post/pre In general, do not hyphenate words with post or pre prefixes.

postsecondary prerequisite

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Lists Use numbers or letters in lists only when indicating a sequence to the items. When
items of a list are numbered or lettered, follow each number or letter with a
period. Otherwise, if the items in a vertical list need to be set off, use bullets.
• Use parentheses to enclose numbers marking a division within running text.
You will qualify for admission to the program if you are (1) a high school graduate,
(2) meet test requirements, and (3) have completed the college preparatory subject
requirements.

Parallelism Make lists parallel by using the same sentence construction for each item.
You will create a small table in FrameMaker by following these steps:

1. Open Tables.fm in the Lesson folder.

2. Choose Save As.

3. Enter the filename Tables1.fm.

4. Click Save.

Colons In running text, colons are often used to introduce a list, but should not be used to
separate a verb from its object. This rule also applies to vertical lists.
Required courses include the following: ENGL 130, ENGL 230, and ENGL 235.

Required courses include ENGL 130, ENGL 230, and ENGL 235.

Not: Alternative transportation in Chico includes:

• Bicycling

• Public Transit

• Walking

But: Alternative transportation in Chico includes the following::

• Bicycling

• Public Transit

• Walking

Numbers Observe these guidelines when using numbers.

Numerals Use numerals in the following situations:

• In counting ten or more items.
18 disk drives 514 bonds

• In sentences containing two or more numbers when the first number is ten or
more.
Last month, the shipping and receiving department processed 431 orders with a work
force of only 7 people.

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 • In units of time, measurement, or money. Although days, weeks, and years
are technically units of time, use words for designations up to nine.
We anticipate a 10 percent increase in the unit over the next three years.

The meeting was scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

• Combined with words for very large numbers. Use a number followed by the
word.
2 gigabytes an $8 million budget

• Combined with words if two numerals appear together. In this case, spell out
the lower number and use numerals for the higher number.
12 two-foot sections of pipe eight 30-pound boxes of detergent

Word Equivalents Use the word equivalent for numerals in the following cases:
• In counting up to nine items.
four books nine surveys

• In ordering items up to the ninth.

ninth screen shot Seventh Avenue

• To begin a sentence.
Three tables provide details.

• But if the numeral is more than two words, reorder the sentence.
Not: Two hundred forty-seven surveys were returned by customers.

But: Customers returned 247 surveys.

• To indicate approximations.
During the nineties,

• But not when the approximation is used as a modifier.

Almost 20 officers over 200 responses

• To indicate fractions, unless the fraction is used as a modifier.

One-half of the total distance 2 ½ yards of fabric

• When possible, change the fraction into a decimal.

Not: 3/12 acres

But: 3.5 acres

• Combined with words if two numerals appear together. In this case, spell out
the lower number and use numerals for the higher number.
12 two-foot sections of pipe eight 30-pound boxes of detergent

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Plurals If you are not sure how to form the plural of a word, check the American
Heritage Dictionary.
• Form the plural of an acronym by adding an s with no apostrophe.
APIs CPUs

• Form the plural of a single letter by adding an apostrophe and an s. The letter
itself, but not the s, is italic.
x’s

• Form the plural of a number by adding an s with no apostrophe.

10s

Singular/Plural Criterion, parenthesis, phenomenon, medium, and memorandum are singular.

Words
• Criteria, parentheses, phenomena, media, and memorandums are plural
words.
• Collective nouns such as committee, faculty, and staff name a group. If the
group functions as a unit, treat the noun as singular; if the members of the
group function individually, treat the noun as plural. The committee, at its last
meeting . . .
The committee put their signatures on the document.

Quotation Observe these guidelines for quotation marks:

Marks • Use quotation marks to indicate a citation or direct quotation. Place commas
and periods inside the closing quotation mark; colons and semicolons outside.
• The placement of a question mark depends on the meaning: Does it apply to
the part quoted or to the whole sentence?
• Question marks that are part of a title go inside quotation marks.
The University Catalog says this about our satellite technology: “In 1983, the
university installed a 10-meter Scientific Atlanta earth station on campus.”
“I can't attend,” she said.

Was she called “President”?

He asked, “Is it time to go?”

Read Chapter 2, “Where from Here?”

Spacing Space once after periods and colons.

Telephone Enclose the area code in parentheses. Space between the right parenthesis and
Numbers the number. Then follow the exchange with a hyphen.
(530) 898-5269

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Titles The following guidelines cover the basics of titles.

Italics Set the following titles in italics (or underlined if italics are not available:
• Titles and subtitles of published books, pamphlets, proceedings and
collections, periodicals, and newspapers and sections of newspapers
published separately
• Titles of collections of poetry or long poems
• Titles of plays
• Titles of motion pictures
• Titles of operas and other long musical compositions
• Titles of paintings, drawings, statues, and other works of art

Roman Type and Set the following works in roman (plain/regular) type and enclose in quotation
Quotation Marks marks:
• Titles of articles and features in periodicals and newspapers, chapter titles,
titles of short stories, essays, and individual sections in books
• Titles of manuscripts in collections and lectures and papers read at meetings
• Titles of songs and short compositions
• Titles of television and radio programs, unless it is a series; then italicize the
program title and put the episode title in quotation marks.

URLs and When possible, use parentheses to enclose a URL, a colon to introduce it, or
E-mail italics to highlight it. Do not add punctuation to an Internet address.
Addresses If an address will not fit on one line, break the address after a forward slash or
before a period. Do not hyphenate.

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Section Two: Terms,
Abbreviations, and Acronyms

Terms
and/or
Avoid this shortcut. Instead of writing “You may file change of major forms on Monday
and/or Tuesday,” write “on Monday or Tuesday.”
course work
Always two words.
California State University, Chico
Use the full formal name in first references. CSU, Chico may be used on second and
subsequent references. Chico State is acceptable in inform al contexts, newsletters, and
internal publications.
disabled
The term disabled is preferable to handicapped. The phrase people with disabilities is
preferable to the disabled.
etc.
Etc. is frequently added to the end of a series to mask an imprecise or incomplete thought.
Omit from formal writing.
i.e. or e.g.
These terms are often confused:
i.e., id est, means “that is”

e.g., exempli gratia, means “for example”

Avoid both words.

Internet
Internet is a proper noun that is always capitalized.
it's/its
It’s is a contraction meaning it is. Its is a possessive pronoun (hers, his, its).
It’s a requirement that each department have its own chair.

non-
In general, non takes no hyphen when used as a prefix (nonprofit, nonresident), except when
the base word is a proper noun (non-Western) or begins with an n (non-native).

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online
One word, no hyphen in all uses.
less/fewer
Use fewer when referring to items that can be counted; use less when referring to quantity,
value, degree, or amount.
Fewer students failed the entrance exam.

Chico got less rain this year.

media and medium

Use media for both singular and plural forms with the singular verb form.
If your media consists of only one volume, mount that volume and proceed to step 2.

If your media consists of two or more volumes, mount those volumes and proceed to step 3.

The media is packaged in protective material.

menus
Use the following guidelines when discussing menus:
• Use the verb choose, rather than select, when picking an operation from a menu.
• Use initial letters for the name of a menu.
• Write the term menu in all lower-case letters.
money
Monetary values are country-specific. Use the following guidelines when discussing monetary
values:
• Avoid reference to monetary values of products or services in user documents.
• If you use monetary values in examples, include a comment in the source file indicating
the purpose of the example.
• If the document is localized, the translator can design an appropriate example using local
currency or values.
seasons
Use lowercase, even when referring to an issue of a publication (capitalize only if the season
is part of the official title, as in The Fall Update).
the fall 2000 issue of Intercom

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Abbreviations and Acronyms
General Use
Use abbreviations (the shortened form of the word) and acronyms (words formed by the
initial letters of a phrase) sparingly.
Note: Technically, an abbreviation is a shortened form of a word, and acronym is a
pronounceable word, and an initialism is an abbreviation formed from the initial letters of
words in a phrase, pronounced as individual letters.
Scuba IBM

In this guide, an acronym is used to refer to an initialism.

• Spell out the complete term the first time an abbreviation or acronym appears in the text,
reference topic, or help topic. Then show the abbreviation or acronym in parentheses.
• In subsequent reference, you can use just the abbreviation or acronym.
1-gigabyte (GB) hard disk

information stored in random access memory (RAM)

• In paper documents, it may be a good idea to spell out the abbreviation or acronym again
when it appears in a later chapter or if many pages separate subsequent references.
• It is acceptable to use an acronym in a heading, but do not spell out its meaning in the
heading, even if it has not been spelled out previously.
• Choose the indefinite article based upon the acronym’s pronunciation.
an ANSI character set a WYSIWYG system

• To form the plural of an acronym, use a lowercase s without an apostrophe.

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Section Three: Sample Grids

Paper Documents

Page Layout & Design

Bold 11-12 pt. In presentational writing, you should try to minimize elaboration. One effective
Sans Serif method to minimize elaboration is through bulleted lists. When using lists, you
Headings should have no more than seven elements.

Another method to aid your readers’ understanding is in choosing the most

appropriate font. Always use a serif font in the body text of paper documents. Serif
fonts guide your reader’s eye across the page. The following fonts are suitable for
body text:

• Times New Roman

• Garamond

• Palatino

In addition, select a 10-11 pt. serif font for body text.

Sans Serif 10 pt. The following visual elements will allow your reader to assimilate information at a
Subheadings glance:
• Paragraphs . Your paragraphs should have no more than 35 words and no
more than three sentences. Bolding key words, phrases, or sentences allows
you to provide additional schemata by providing your reader with a visual
overview.
• Sentences. Your sentences should have no more than 17 words. Your point
should always be obvious to the reader.
• Visual Elements. Paper documentation typically employs listings, headings,
subheadings, sectional overviews, and textual introductions and captioning
for visual elements. Additional elements such as ragged-right margins can
increase your readers’ comprehension by 10 percent.

The following visual illustrates the method for presenting graphics in paper
documents:

10 pt. Figure or Table Number and Caption

10 pt. Section or Chapter Title 10 pt. Pagination in Footer

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Web Pages

Site title and navigational buttons

Page title
Link to entry page

Context links with current page lightened

Gutter

Text and graphic column

Centered logo in navigational column

Link to top of page

Footer with name, copyright, revision

date, navigational buttons, and links
with current page lightened

Help Windows

Title: 24pt. Tahoma Bold, Overview Hyperlink Button: 12pt. Tahoma

RGB: 51, 51, 204 Bold, RGB: 51, 51, 204

Topic Frame
Images Overview

Textual Introduction: Initial

To add an image
cap., infinitive phrase
1. Click where you want to insert the image.
2. Click Insert, Graphics, Image. Menus and Buttons: Indicated
3. Browse through the files until you find the by hot keys
image you want to insert.
4. Select the image.
5. Click the Insert button.
6. Click outside the image to return to the
Document Window.
Related Topics Hypertext:
Related topics Initial cap., 12pt. Tahoma
Bold, RGB: 51, 51, 204

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Index

Abbreviations, 10, 12 commas in a series, 3

initialism, 12 coordinating conjunctions, 3
Abbreviations and Acronyms, 12 introductory clauses or phrases, 3
Addresses , 3 parenthetical elements, 4
American Heritage Dictionary, 8 series, 3
and/or, 10 course work, 10
Appositives, 3 CSU, Chico, 10
California State University, Chico, 3, 10 Dashes, 4
Capitalization, 4 em dash, 4
articles, 4 en dash, 4
chapters, 4 Developing Quality Technical Information, 3
command, 4 disabled, 10
command button names, 4 E-mail Addresses, 9
complete sentence, 4 etc., 10
coordinating conjunctions, 4 Gender, 5
dialog box titles, 4 pronouns, 5
figures, 4 sexist language, 5
headings, 4 Grids, 13
icon, 4 help windows, 14
infinitive phrase, 4 paper documents, 13, 14
Interface, 4 web pages, 13, 14
interface elements, 4 House Style, 1
letter, 4 Hyphenation, 5
letter or number, 4 compound adjective, 5
menu names, 4 key combinations, 5
prepositions, 4 modifiers, 5
scroll bar, 4 past or present participles, 5
second-level headings, 4 post/pre, 5
style sheet, 4 i.e. or e.g., 10
tables, 4 Internet, 10
titles, 4 it’s/its, 10
toolbar, 4 less/fewer, 11
verb phrase, 4 Lists, 6
Colons, 3 bulleted, 6
Commas, 3 colons in, 6
appositives, 3 numbered, 6

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 parallelism, 6 essays, 9
parentheses in, 6 lectures, 9
running text, 6 manuscripts, 9
media, 11 question marks in, 8
medium, 11 sections in books, 9
menus, 11 short compositions, 9
Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications, 2 songs, 9
money, 11 Read Me First!, 2
non-, 10 seasons, 11
Numbers, 6 Spacing, 8
approximations, 7 colons, 8
days, 7 periods, 8
fractions, 7 Telephone Numbers, 8
large numbers, 7 area codes, 8
measurement, 7 Terms, 10
money, 7 The Chicago Manual of Style: The Essential Guide for
numerals, 6 Writers, 2
time, 7 Titles, 9
weeks, 7 articles, 9
word equivalents, 7 chapter titles, 9
years, 7 collections, 9
online, 11 collections of poetry, 9
Plurals, 8 drawings, 9
collective nouns, 8 essays, 9
committee, 8 italics, 9
criterion, 8 lectures, 9
faculty, 8 long poems, 9
medium, 8 manuscripts, 9
memorandum, 8 motion pictures, 9
parenthesis, 8 musical compositions, 9
phenomenon, 8 newspapers, 9
singular/plural words, 8 operas, 9
staff, 8 paintings, 9
Quotation Marks, 8 pamphlets, 9
television and radio programs, 9 papers read at meetings, 9
articles, 9 periodicals, 9
chapter titles, 9 plays, 9

citation, 8 poetry, 9
commas and periods, 8 proceedings, 9
direct quotations, 8 published books, 9

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 quotation marks, 9
roman type, 9
sections in books, 9
short compositions, 9
songs, 9
statues, 9
television and radio programs, 9
titles of short stories, 9
works of art, 9
URLs, 9
Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the
Digital Age, 2

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