Designers & Developers: Copy and Content Guide on UserVoice

guidance on tone of voice, particularly when the user's done something 'wrong'

2010-09-16T00:45:01+02:00

nicecupoftea suggested:
A lot of "You've done it wrong" messages (e.g. on forms, etc.), can sound cold, and may well put off the less confident user. How to make these friendlier to build a sense of confidence in the user.

To Donate Some Material

2010-02-18T06:10:37+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
I did some work for an online newspaper that caters to a high-literacy audience and, in the process of doing that project, I compiled a guide of web writing tips from various studies by Jakob Nielsen. The guide is at: http://www.reportla.com/non-cms/web_writing.html. Feel free to take whatever you want!

Microcopy around downloads

2010-02-17T19:54:21+01:00

LanaCar suggested:
When presenting a download button, what's standard info to include: file name, format, size, what's included (in the case of .zip files), date last modified or version

Chocolate

2010-02-17T15:14:31+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Editor: Well, maybe I'll find a way to include it ... ;-)

a guide to naming things [updated]

2010-02-17T14:59:00+01:00

We have a homepage and an about page but is it a sign in, sign-in, or signin process? Or a login or log-in? And what do users call it, a menu or navigation? Checkout, check out, or something else completely?

Andy_M said:

This is one of my pet hates.

'Sign in' or 'sign-in' should be used. The hyphen is optional, as is the case with many instances these days in modern English, where the hyphen can be kept or dropped.

Also, login is something a system does, whereas log in is something a user does, so you should never create a link to instruct users to 'login', it should always be 'log in'.

good & bad examples, specifically on ecommerce pages: gallery pages, cart, etc

2010-02-17T14:53:50+01:00

Some best practices or advice on how to convince clients that great microcopy is really important [updated]

2010-02-17T13:56:00+01:00

Often clients farm out the writing of (micro)copy to their graphic designers, who frequently have little experience as their expertise is in crafting effective visual design, not usable, useful interaction design, forms, and flows (like checkout processes). I find it is often hard to convince clients to spend money on writing microcopy, getting it right, and understanding why it's important - or in fact, that it can be a lot more important to their bottom line than the graphic design.

Rahul Choudhury said:

I created this and then signed up afterwards.

Some best practices or advice on how to convince clients that great microcopy is really important

2010-02-17T13:52:28+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Often clients farm out the writing of (micro)copy to their graphic designers, who frequently have little experience as their expertise is in crafting effective visual design, not usable, useful interaction design, forms, and flows (like checkout processes). I find it is often hard to convince clients to spend money on writing microcopy, getting it right, and understanding why it's important - or in fact, that it can be a lot more important to their bottom line than the graphic design.

a guide to microcopy [updated]

2010-02-16T22:36:10+01:00

Those nifty simple sentences that make the difference - examples might be: how do I ask users not to opt-out, or to encourage them to pick a safe password, or reassure them about giving us their details.

Simon Starr said:

I spend an unhealthy amount of time worrying about this kind of thing and experimenting with different wording. I think microcopy is a lot harder than people give it credit for - it's one thing being able to fill your homepage with paragraph after paragraph of flowing prose but trying to deliver an important message in one short sentence can be really tricky!

helpful error messages for form validation

2010-02-16T22:10:19+01:00

a guide to what is useful placeholder text

2010-02-16T22:01:06+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Instead of lorem ipsum what can I do to encourage my client to start creating content. How can I design and develop for actual content in mind

a section on writing for older people and younger people

2010-02-16T21:51:14+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Are there any specific considerations we should maek for older users and younger users?

Copy that demands attention!

2010-02-16T21:49:27+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
I want to know how to write well, but also converts into sales or another action I want the visitor to take. Editor: This would focus on how to construct 'calls to action', and helping users take the next step.

a guide on choosing "Your" vs "My" (Account, Photos, etc)

2010-02-16T21:43:16+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
Some sites have links like "My Photos/Account/Profile" some use "Your Photos/Account/Profile", which should be used, and in what circumstances?

Short form 'personability'

2010-02-16T21:21:38+01:00

an anonymous user suggested:
For short error messages and guidance, your thoughts on writing 'personable' copy without overdoing it. Hootsuite seem to do this well but I imagine its not an easy balance to achieve -- AM_Doherty

a section on nouns and verbs relating to the web

2010-02-16T21:06:19+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
email, e-mail - tomaytoh, tomartoh? Skype, Skyping, Skyped etc? I tweet, you tweet, they tweeted, we tweetered? We are making up words like they are going out of fashion, so perhaps a section to debate and get some consensus?

a guide to contact pages and forms

2010-02-16T20:54:08+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
What information is needed on a contact page? In what order? What call to actions are required? How do I ask for it nicely? Hiw do I reassure users about my intentions?

a guide to common mistakes in web copy

2010-02-16T20:52:27+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Examples might be: Why should my links not be 'click here' when that's what you do? Why is it not enough to give a telephone number and email address on a contact page?

a guide to naming things

2010-02-16T20:49:52+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
We have a homepage and an about page but is it a sign in, sign-in, or signin process? Or a login or log-in? And what do users call it, a menu or navigation? Checkout, check out, or something else completely?

a guide to microcopy

2010-02-16T20:40:36+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Those nifty simple sentences that make the difference - examples might be: how do I ask users not to opt-out, or to encourage them to pick a safe password, or reassure them about giving us their details.

articles with examples of best practice that examine error messages and instructions

2010-02-16T20:36:12+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Not just a style guide, please! I want to see articles from different authors on topics like interaction copy, microcopy, sign up forms etc.

examples of punctuation and grammar for quick reference

2010-02-16T20:32:27+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Maybe you dropped English like a hot potato in favour of Art or CS and now you can't quite remember which side of the quote the comma goes, or what you hyphenate. So a simple primer and reminder would be great, thanks!

a guide to login error messages

2010-02-16T20:29:27+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Examples might be: explaining email address changes, describing common password entry mistakes, what doesn't help and why, how to write errors for inconsistent entry, explaining captcha and similar.

a guide to checkout error messages

2010-02-16T20:24:16+01:00

Relly Annett-Baker suggested:
Examples might be: Describing the right card number, explaining a billing address, explaining a card decline and what to do next.