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<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<!DOCTYPE article PUBLIC "-//OASIS//DTD DocBook XML V4.3//EN"
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"http://www.oasis-open.org/docbook/xml/4.3/docbookx.dtd" []>
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<title>Document Plan for the Ubuntu Documentation Style Guide</title>
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<para>If you would like to make changes to this document please go to StyleGuideDiscussion
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first. The wiki moin for this plan is generated automatically from styleguide-plan.xml
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in the Docteam's Subversion repository.</para>
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<title>Purpose of the Style Guide</title>
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<para>To help writers communicate clearly.
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<para>To create a consistent style across all documents.
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<para>To create a consistent use of terminology across all
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<para>To highlight common problems in the use of the English
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language, and to provide solutions.
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<para>To help writers write for an international audience,
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including how to write for translation.
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<para>To help writers and editors select the appropriate DocBook
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<para>The Ubuntu documentation team needs its own style guide because
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Ubuntu is unique. Ubuntu is Linux + GNU + Debian + (GNOME and KDE) +
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the Ubuntu philosophy. No style guide covers the entire spectrum
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of Ubuntu components.</para>
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<title>Audience Profile</title>
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<para>The audience for the Ubuntu Documentation Style guide is the
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Ubuntu Documentation Team. Although the team's members come
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from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, they have something in
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common; the desire to produce high quality documentation.
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<para>Members of the team are competent writers in the English language,
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although English is not the first language for many of them.
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<title>Scope of the Style Guide</title>
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<para>The style guide will contain two main types of information:</para>
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<para>Topics and situations applicable to Ubuntu documentation but
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not covered in other style guides.</para>
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<para>Information found in other style guides, but repeated in the
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Ubuntu style guide. The purpose of the repeated information is to
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provide quicker access to important information.</para>
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<title>Overview by Section</title>
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<para>List of authors</para>
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<para>Legal items (copyright, license, history)</para>
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<para>Introduction</para>
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<para>The Need for an Ubuntu Documentation Style Guide</para>
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<para>Style Guide Precedence</para>
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<para>Document Structure
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<para>Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling, Style, and Word Usage
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<para>Writing for an International Audience
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<para>Terminology</para>
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<para>GUI Terms</para>
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<para>User Actions</para>
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<para>Reference Materials
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<title>Style Guide Creation Process</title>
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<title>Planning Phase</title>
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<para>Planning begins on April 20, 2005. During the planning phase, the
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style guide's structure is created with input from the Ubuntu
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Documentation Team and with reference to existing style guides.
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The planning phase ends on May 31.</para>
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<para>The phase includes: </para>
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<para>an announcement on the ubuntu-doc mailing list</para>
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<para>creation of the StyleGuidePlan wiki page</para>
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<para>creation of the StyleGuideDiscussion wiki page</para>
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<para>creation of the style guide directory structure and skeleton
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DocBook files in the Subversion repository</para>
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<para>By May 31, the style guide structure will be finalized. After
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May 31, no structural changes will be made to the style guide unless
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the proposed change is first discussed on the StyleGuideDiscussion
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wiki page or on the ubuntu-doc list, and agreed to by participants in
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the discussion. Non-participation equals approval.</para>
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<title>Writing and Development Phase</title>
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<para>The writing phase starts on June 1, 2005 and ends on July 31,
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<title>Release</title>
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<para>The style guide will be released on August 1, 2005. This will
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give editors two months before Breezy Badger is released to review the
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documentation and bring it into conformance with the style guide.</para>
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<para>The style guide content will be frozen from August 1 until after
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the Breezy Badger release sometime in October 2005. The structure and
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content of the style guide must be fairly stable, otherwise there is a
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significant risk that it will be ignored by writers and editors.</para>
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<title>Post-release Writing and Development Cycle</title>
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<para>The writing and development cycle will closely follow the Ubuntu
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release cycle. Work on the next version of the style guide will start
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on the day after Breezy is released, and will continue until two months
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before the next release.</para>
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<title>Version Numbering</title>
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<para>The version will have two parts and will be in the form n.n. The
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first n is the major release, and the second n is the minor release.</para>
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<para>The initial release (during the first writing and development phase)
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will be 0.1. On August 1 (the end of the intial writing and development
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phase) the number becomes 1.0 and will stay at 1.0 until after Breezy is
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<title>Estimated Page and Graphic Counts</title>
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<para>There may be a couple of screen captures used to illustrate GUI
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<para>The initial release will probably be no more than 25 pages when
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<title>License</title>
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<para>The Ubuntu Documentation Style Guide will be released under the GNU
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Free Documentation License (GFDL) and the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC-BY-SA)</para>