Re: Capitalizing product names of product features

[Chris Morton <salt -dot- morton -at- gmail -dot- com>]

How does the item appear in the actual user interface (UI)? That is exactly
how it should be referred to in the text â errors and all.

Take  This button  example... the instruction should read, Click *[This
button]*.

In another chapter, and referring to another portion of the UI, the button
is labeled  This Button

The instruction should now read, Click *[This Button]*.

I also compile a list of such inconsistencies and report them to software
development team.

In your example:

Prose portion (descriptive)

"....blah, blah, email address....blah, blah, email addresses...."

Actual step instructions:

"Enter the primary contact email address in the *Email Address* field."

Note that buttons can be references as you see above, where they're set in
boldface and surrounded by square brackets. UI items such as dialog box
titles and field names are set in boldface.

For more about such conventions, I suggest you refer to the 4th edition of
the *Microsoft Manual of Style*. (There are places on the 'Net from which
you can download a free PDF version.)

Chris Morton



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On Tue, Nov 29, 2016 at 9:42 AM, Tony Chung <tonyc -at- tonychung -dot- ca> wrote:

> Yes. :-)
>
>
> Capitalize if referring to the specific feature or interface name.
>
> Don't capitalize if referring to the general purpose of the feature. As in
> your example.
>
> -Tony
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