{"id":1952,"date":"2025-12-19T11:29:14","date_gmt":"2025-12-19T16:29:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/it.rutgers.edu\/it-communications\/?page_id=1952"},"modified":"2026-01-11T18:56:26","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T23:56:26","slug":"knowledge-base-style-guide-for-rutgers-it","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/it.rutgers.edu\/it-communications\/knowledge-base-style-guide-for-rutgers-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Knowledge base style guide for Rutgers IT"},"content":{"rendered":"    <section class=\"cc--component-container cc--hero-basic  hero-basic color-light-gray\">\n\n<div class=\"c--component c--hero-basic\">\n        \n<div class=\"outer-wrapper\">\n    <div class=\"inner-wrapper\">\n        <div class=\"text-container\">\n            <div class=\"text-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"f--field f--page-title \"><h1>Knowledge base style guide for Rutgers IT<\/h1>\n\n<\/div><!-- f--field f--page-title -->\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"f--field f--text \"><\/div><!-- f--field f--text -->\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n    <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div><!-- c--component c--hero-basic -->\n\n    <\/section><!-- cc--component-container cc--section -->\n\n\n    <section class=\"cc--component-container cc--rich-text  rich-text\">\n\n<div class=\"c--component c--rich-text\">\n        \n    <div class=\"f--field f--rich-text \"><p>Rutgers IT knowledge base content should provide clear, accessible advice for members of the Rutgers community.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Guidelines<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Here are some key guidelines:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Write clear, accurate, and up-to-date content.<\/li>\n<li>Know your audience\u2014in particular, whether you\u2019re writing for a general audience or an IT audience.<\/li>\n<li>Employ a user-friendly tone.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid jargon.<\/li>\n<li>Consult the\u00a0<a href=\"\/it-communications\/editorial-style-guide-for-rutgers-it\/\">Editorial style guide for Rutgers IT<\/a>\u00a0as needed.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Follow these guidelines for formatting when developing knowledge base content.<\/p>\n<h4>Titles and headings<\/h4>\n<p>Titles of knowledge base articles should usually include the name of the relevant service. This is important for helping users to find relevant content when searching for it.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Recommended:<\/span><\/strong> Storage space limits for OneDrive<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Not recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Storage Space Limits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Use sentence case (capitalize only the first word) for titles:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #339966;\">Recommended:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Instructions for connecting to RUWireless<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Not recommended:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Instructions for Connecting to RUWireless<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Commands, menus, and UI elements<\/h4>\n<p>Use bold text (not quotation marks) when referring to menus, menu options, dialog boxes, commands, buttons, and other elements of the user interface. Examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Choose <strong>Slide Show<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Play from Current Slide<\/strong> to start your slide show.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Not recommended:\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>Choose &#8220;Slide Show,&#8221; and then &#8220;Play from Current Slide&#8221; to start your slide show.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In addition, try to avoid terms that are specific to one device or interface; also avoid mentioning the specific UI element (i.e., that it\u2019s a button). Instead, simply indicate what action a user needs to take. Examples:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Select <strong>Save as<\/strong> and then\u2026<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Not recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Select the <strong>Save as<\/strong> button.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Go to <strong>Tools<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Spelling and Grammar<\/strong>, and then select <strong>Hide Spelling Errors<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Not recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Go to the <strong>Tools<\/strong> menu, click <strong>Spelling and Grammar<\/strong>, and then select <strong>Hide Spelling Errors<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Error messages<\/h4>\n<p>Enclose examples in quotation marks.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/span> If you receive an error message saying \u201cStop, you should wait to install Office 2016,\u201d then consult the How to install Office instructions or contact the Help Desk for assistance.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Key names and keyboard sequences<\/h4>\n<p>Capitalize key names and keyboard sequences, as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ctrl+Alt+Del<\/li>\n<li>Shift<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For additional guidance on key names and keyboard sequences,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/style-guide\/a-z-word-list-term-collections\/term-collections\/keys-keyboard-shortcuts\">consult the Microsoft Style Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>Links<\/h4>\n<p>Use meaningful links and avoid \u201cclick here\u201d as a link. Avoid displaying URLs unless necessary.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Recommended:<\/strong><\/span> Contact the <a href=\"\/help-support\/\">Help Desk<\/a> for support.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>Not recommended:<\/strong><\/span> To contact the Help Desk, <a href=\"\/help-support\/\">click here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Not recommended:<\/span><\/strong> Contact the Help Desk at <a href=\"\/help-support\">https:\/\/it.rutgers.edu\/help-support<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Placeholder text<\/h4>\n<p>Use italics for placeholder text:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Enter NetID <em>username<\/em> and <em>password<\/em>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Procedures and sequences<\/h4>\n<p>Use arrows for procedures. Bold the step, but not the arrow:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0Choose <strong>File<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Share<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Send PDF<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If including the purpose of an action, do so before the actions:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #339966;\"><strong>Example:<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0To share a document as a PDF, choose <strong>File<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Share<\/strong> &gt; <strong>Send PDF<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a sequence of steps, use a numbered list.<\/p>\n<h4>Screenshots<\/h4>\n<p>Avoid overusing. For instance, do not use screenshots for obvious steps in a procedure, such as Next or OK. If needed, add labels, arrows, or notes to clarify the content of screenshots.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Resources used in preparing this document<\/strong><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/help.apple.com\/applestyleguide\/\">Apple Style Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/developers.google.com\/style\/\">Google Developer Documentation Style Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/style-guide\/welcome\/\">Microsoft Style Guide<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><strong>Examples of knowledge base articles<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Below, please find examples of Rutgers IT knowledge base articles that can be used for reference when creating new knowledge base articles.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ithelp.rutgers.edu\/sp?id=kb_article&#038;sysparm_article=KB0012556\">How to install Microsoft Office for faculty\/staff<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/ithelp.rutgers.edu\/sp?id=kb_article&#038;sysparm_article=KB0012526\">Getting started with Rutgers Connect<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><!-- f--field f--rich-text -->\n\n    <\/div><!-- c--component c--rich-text -->\n\n    <\/section><!-- cc--component-container cc--section -->\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":257,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"page-category":[],"class_list":["post-1952","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.0 - 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