Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications
Encyclopedia
The Microsoft Manual of Style for Technical Publications (MSTP) is a style guide
published by Microsoft
. The Third Edition, ISBN 0-7356-1746-5, was published on November 12, 2003. The print version of this edition was published in June 2004. Microsoft
employees and partners can also access a Microsoft Compressed HTML Help
(CHM) version of the MSTP. While the Third Edition was in preparation, the CHM version was available for free public download from Microsoft: this is no longer the case.
Second Edition: Published in June 1998 (ISBN 1-57231-890-2)
First Edition: Published in 1995 (ISBN 1-55615-939-0)
, the MSTP establishes standards and serves as a reference for writers. The MSTP has the specific purpose of guiding technical writers, editors, and content managers working with Microsoft
products. While the manual in some parts focuses on usage particular to these products, the guide also serves as a general tool for the technical writers. Content ranges from specific instructions for naming particular elements of specific programs to general rules of grammar
.
version)
The MSTP is divided into the following 13 sections:
Introduction: Provides acknowledgements and a brief guide to using the manual
Documenting the User Interface: Provides standardized names for elements of the Microsoft
user interface
. For example, it differentiates between a combo-box and a list-box and delineates how to refer to file names.
Content Formatting and Layout: Deals with several formatting and layout issues, including pictures with captions and tables.
Global Content: Provides instructions for ensuring that documents will be understood throughout the world by avoiding local references and making texts easy to translate.
Content for Software Developers: Gives conventions for code formatting and other issues that affect developers.
Web Content: Defines parameters for titles and descriptions of web pages, as well as ways of referring to tags, elements, and attributes in other documents.
Legal Content and Front Matter: Provides information about copyrights, trademarks, and other legal issues.
Indexing and Attributing: Contains guidelines for indexes and keywords.
Tone and Rhetoric: Urges the writer to avoid problems with tone. Specifically, it calls on technical writers to have a formal tone that is nevertheless interesting. It suggests writing should contain the following values: empathy, responsibility, passion, and inspiration.
Common Style Problems: Points out common problems ranging from capitalization to style used when describing a procedure.
Grammatical Elements: Contains sections on the general usage of verbs and nouns.
Punctuation: Contains not only information about using punctuation in general, but also some elements specific to the technical writing industry, such as formatting concerns.
Usage Dictionary: An alphabetized list of terms commonly used in technical writing. It also contains a list of acronyms and abbreviations.
Style guide
A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field...
published by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
. The Third Edition, ISBN 0-7356-1746-5, was published on November 12, 2003. The print version of this edition was published in June 2004. Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
employees and partners can also access a Microsoft Compressed HTML Help
Microsoft Compressed HTML Help
Microsoft Compiled HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary online help format. It was introduced as the successor to Microsoft WinHelp with the release of Windows 98, and is still supported in Windows 7.-History:...
(CHM) version of the MSTP. While the Third Edition was in preparation, the CHM version was available for free public download from Microsoft: this is no longer the case.
History
Third Edition: Published in June 2004 (ISBN 0-7356-1746-5)Second Edition: Published in June 1998 (ISBN 1-57231-890-2)
First Edition: Published in 1995 (ISBN 1-55615-939-0)
Purpose
Like any style guideStyle guide
A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for the writing and design of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication, organization or field...
, the MSTP establishes standards and serves as a reference for writers. The MSTP has the specific purpose of guiding technical writers, editors, and content managers working with Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
products. While the manual in some parts focuses on usage particular to these products, the guide also serves as a general tool for the technical writers. Content ranges from specific instructions for naming particular elements of specific programs to general rules of grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
.
Contents
(Based upon Version 4.5 of the HelpMicrosoft Compressed HTML Help
Microsoft Compiled HTML Help is a Microsoft proprietary online help format. It was introduced as the successor to Microsoft WinHelp with the release of Windows 98, and is still supported in Windows 7.-History:...
version)
The MSTP is divided into the following 13 sections:
Introduction: Provides acknowledgements and a brief guide to using the manual
Documenting the User Interface: Provides standardized names for elements of the Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
user interface
User interface
The user interface, in the industrial design field of human–machine interaction, is the space where interaction between humans and machines occurs. The goal of interaction between a human and a machine at the user interface is effective operation and control of the machine, and feedback from the...
. For example, it differentiates between a combo-box and a list-box and delineates how to refer to file names.
Content Formatting and Layout: Deals with several formatting and layout issues, including pictures with captions and tables.
Global Content: Provides instructions for ensuring that documents will be understood throughout the world by avoiding local references and making texts easy to translate.
Content for Software Developers: Gives conventions for code formatting and other issues that affect developers.
Web Content: Defines parameters for titles and descriptions of web pages, as well as ways of referring to tags, elements, and attributes in other documents.
Legal Content and Front Matter: Provides information about copyrights, trademarks, and other legal issues.
Indexing and Attributing: Contains guidelines for indexes and keywords.
Tone and Rhetoric: Urges the writer to avoid problems with tone. Specifically, it calls on technical writers to have a formal tone that is nevertheless interesting. It suggests writing should contain the following values: empathy, responsibility, passion, and inspiration.
Common Style Problems: Points out common problems ranging from capitalization to style used when describing a procedure.
Grammatical Elements: Contains sections on the general usage of verbs and nouns.
Punctuation: Contains not only information about using punctuation in general, but also some elements specific to the technical writing industry, such as formatting concerns.
Usage Dictionary: An alphabetized list of terms commonly used in technical writing. It also contains a list of acronyms and abbreviations.
Other style guides
- The Chicago Manual of StyleThe Chicago Manual of StyleThe Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
- The Elements of StyleThe Elements of StyleThe Elements of Style , also known as Strunk & White, by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White, is a prescriptive American English writing style guide comprising eight "elementary rules of usage", ten "elementary principles of composition", "a few matters of form", a list of forty-nine "words and...
by StrunkWilliam Strunk Jr.William Strunk Jr. was a professor of English at Cornell University and author of the The Elements of Style , which, after being revised and enlarged by his former student E. B...
and WhiteE. B. WhiteElwyn Brooks White , usually known as E. B. White, was an American writer. A long-time contributor to The New Yorker magazine, he also wrote many famous books for both adults and children, such as the popular Charlotte's Web and Stuart Little, and co-authored a widely used writing guide, The...