Documentation/Technical style guides and templates

This page contains resources you will need to create quality documentation for Wikimedia projects.

Style and grammar

 * Wikipedia manual of style - This is the primary style guide for Wikimedia projects. You should use this as a reference for any general writing you are doing.
 * MediaWiki technical documentation style guide - This resource is a secondary style guide meant specifically for technical documentation on Wikimedia projects. You should use this to help guide the style and formatting of technical aspects of projects.
 * Inclusive language guide - We want to encourage a culture of inclusivity, and part of doing that is making sure we use appropriate language where we can. This guide provides information about using inclusive language in your technical documentation.

= Specific types of technical documentation =

This section is for resources for technical writers working on specific kinds of documentation.

API documentation

 * Documenting APIs - a resource for individuals who want to learn how to document APIs.
 * Documenting your API
 * The ten essestials for good API documentation

PAWS/Jupyter notebooks

 * PAWS examples and recipes - This page contains a number of example PAWS notebooks that can give you some ideas about how to format your own.

Runbooks

 * Cloud VPS Runbooks - This page provides some good general tips about how to create runbooks.

Templates

 * MediaWiki templates - Mediawiki templates are standard wiki pages whose content is designed to be transcluded (embedded) inside other pages. Mediawiki templates make it possible to include the same text across a number of pages.
 * Templates and suggestions for writing in genres - This resource provides information and examples about different types of documents. This can help you decide what kind of document you want to write and help you get started.
 * Text formatting templates - Need to leave a note in your docs? This page provides a number of templates for your needs.

Best practices or writing simple technical English for translation

 * Plain English - This page has information on using simple English.
 * Simplified Technical English - This page contains information about and some guidelines for writing in Simplified Technical English.

Tools

 * Comparison of automatic documentation generators
 * Confluence documentation

Spelling, grammar and writing aids
Many writers benefit from running spelling and grammar checks on their work. Not only can these check for issues with your document, but they can also help you become a better writer by identifying your more common errors.

Some Open Source options:


 * https://www.languagetool.org/
 * https://editsaurus.tylerwalters.com/
 * https://grammark.org/dist/#/

Learn about technical writing

 * [* Google's technical writing courses
 * Awesome technical writing
 * What is technical writing
 * Technical writing specifications
 * Write the docs - Beginner's guide to docs
 * Technical style

Become a better writer

 * Purdue online writing lab (OWL) - The Purdue OWL offers free writing resources.