Style guide¶

This documentation follows the Google Developer Documentation Style Guide.

Apart from the style guide, here are some additional guidelines to follow when writing documentation for Django OTP WebAuthn:

Spelling¶

Use American English spelling. For example:

color, not colour
optimize, not optimise
canceled, not cancelled

Words to avoid¶

Avoid informal, unclear words, and internet slangs. Use the following table for guidance:

Word	Meaning	Use instead
ain’t	is not	isn’t
gonna	going to	going to
gotta	got to	have to
how’d	how did / how would	how did / how would
how’ll	how will	how will
I’d	I would	I would
may’ve	may have	may have
mayn’t	may not	may not
might’ve	might have	might have
mightn’t	might not	might not
’twas	it was	it was
wanna	want to	want to
YMMV	Your mileage may vary	Your mileage may vary
u need to download Python	you need to download Python	you need to download Python

Commonly misused words and preferred alternatives¶

The following table shows the commonly misused words and their preferred alternatives:

Avoid	Use instead
cons	disadvantages
desire, desired	want or need
does not yet	doesn’t
enable	Be precise by using turn on for features or lets you for capabilities
pros	advantages
leverage	use build on, use, or take advantage of if needed
leverage

Latin phrases and abbreviations¶

Avoid Latin phrases like ergo or de facto and abbreviations like i.e. or e.g. Use clear, common English phrases instead. If possible, find a simpler way to express the idea. The only exception is etc., which is acceptable when space is limited:

Avoid	Use instead
e.g.	for example, such as
i.e.	that is
viz.	namely
ergo	therefore

Lists¶

You can use lists to organize information in the documentation. There are two types of list:

Numbered lists¶

Use numbered lists for step-by-step instructions when order matters. For example:

Install the necessary software.
Configure the settings.
Run the application.

Unnumbered lists¶

Use bullet lists for items that do not follow a specific order. For example:

Features included in the latest update
Supported file formats
Common error messages

Avoid overly complex nesting in lists. If a list becomes too deep, consider breaking it into smaller sections. Ensure all items in a list follow the same grammatical structure to maintain clarity.