A style guide on the standard format, spelling, and construction of commonly used words and phrases.
For clarity and consistency of our internal and external communications – from our user interface to our sales, marketing, and commercial docs.
This is our practical guide at Zyllem. Therefore, many of these standards are related to the logistic sector.
- Capitalization
- Message Templates (Common Errors, Confirmations, etc.)
- Common Word Spellings
- Spelling and Formatting Rule
- Common Grammar Dilemmas
- Contributing
| Case | Use In | Examples | Rules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Title Case |
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| Sentence case |
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| ALL CAPS |
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Standard templates for some common messages
| Case | Template | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Forms: Field is blank |
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| Forms: Wrong text format / value |
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| Forms: Wrong numeric format / value |
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| Error messages and warnings |
Message must contain at least 2 of the following in order:
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| Action completed |
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| Confirm user-defined action |
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| Confirm deletion |
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| Value already exists |
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| An element has been updated/deleted |
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| Attempting to delete a primary element |
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| Action no longer valid |
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| Missing configuration |
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| Pre-requisite configuration |
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The spellings are based on:
- Most widely used spelling - references Google Ngram (books), Thesaurus and Dictionary.
- Avoid two words - combine words as first rule (e.g., geolocation). Otherwise, use dash if it makes more sense (e.g., cloud-based). This is a wide practice especially in the tech world.
- Your own terminology - for words that are not in any official guide or publication, you should create our own standard. Note that others may spell them differently and that's okay. Consistency is the key.
| Use This | Not This | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| geofencing | geo fencing, geo-fencing | most compound words that start with geo are combined without a dash |
| geolocation | geo location, geo-location, geo position | |
| geozone | ||
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photosign / photosignature |
photoSign, photo-sign, photo sign | |
| reroute | re-route, re route | most words with the prefix re are combined without a dash |
| recalculate | re-calculate | |
| redeliver | re-deliver | |
| reassign, reassignment | re-assign, re-assignment | |
| reoptimize | re-optimize | |
| mutilingual | most words with the prefix multi are combined without a dash | |
| multicountry | ||
| multi-delivery | ||
| timestamp | time stamp | |
| cloud-based | most compound words with the suffix based are combined with a dash | |
| role-based | ||
| transaction-based | ||
| auto-assign, auto-assignment | auto assign, autoassignment | |
| autobundling, autobundle | auto-bundling, auto-bundle, auto bundle | |
| on-premise | ||
| cross-border | ||
| in-app | inapp | |
| real-time | realtime | |
| synchronize | synchronise | |
| sync, synced, syncs | synch, synched, synchs |
(This is not an American vs British spelling thing). Although the past tense synched is more widely used than synced, the present tenses: sync and syncs are more widely used especially in computing (and the usage gap is so much wider). So for consistency and to save space, we will get rid of the "h". |
| endpoint | end-point | |
| SMS | sms | |
| Google Maps | Google maps, google maps | |
| iOS | IOS, ios | |
| Android | android |
| Use This | Not This | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Use American English instead of British English (e.g., customize, fulfill) | customise, artefacts, fulfil, synced | We go for what is more widely used worldwide. See this example |
Use this
- Spell out if it's less than 10, use numeric if it's more than 10 (e.g., three, 25)
- Spell out when used as a compound adjective (fifty-thousand-foot view)
Not this
3 layers, twenty-five drivers
50-thousand-foot view
Use this
- Date
- Time
- Date and time
Not this
- date
- time
- Date and Time
These abbreviations must be used in both plural and singular forms.
For consistency and due to space constraints in the mobile app, let's NOT put a space between the number and the unit.
| Use This | Not This |
|---|---|
| Days, hours, minutes, seconds: d, h, min, s (e.g., 4d, 2h, 8min, 5s) | 4 d, 2 h, 8 min, 5 s |
| 6AM, 3PM | 6am, 6Am, 3Pm, 3pm |
| Use This | Not This |
|---|---|
| Kilometers, meter: km, m (e.g., 34km, 500m) | 34 km, 500 m |
| Use This | Not This | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Use serial comma (e.g., distance, traffic, and capacity). Notice the comma after "traffic". | Enterprise, network and operator | A must in contracts and legal documents. Here's one of the many reasons |
| Use this | Not this |
|---|---|
| Driver Name | Drivers Name |
| Customer Survey | Customers Survey |
| Item Summary | Items Summary |
| & = united | And = separated |
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| Search & select Both actions were performed as one like when you use a barcode scanner to scan barcode and the item was selected automatically |
Search and select Search for the item and then tap to select the check box |
Cookies & Cream  |
Cookies and Cream  |
Fruit & Nut  |
Fruit and Nut  |
| One word = noun | Two words = verb |
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| What is your login password? | Log in with your account |
| The pickup time is at 3PM | Pick up the parcel |
I know this collection of standards is not perfect and still needs to improve. If you have any ideas, just open an issue and tell me what you think.
If you'd like to contribute, please fork the repository and make changes as you'd like. Pull requests are warmly welcome.