The document provides guidance on what a style guide is, its purpose for ensuring consistency, and essential elements it should include such as capitalization, abbreviations, tone, spelling, and punctuation. It also offers tips for creating your own style guide, including deciding on a format to collaboratively edit and share the guide, and regularly updating it. The document advises that a style guide should be project-specific and not include content related to design, development, linking policies or other larger strategic elements.

1. A guide to style guides
By Julie Espinosa, at March
Commpose
Reach me:
My blog
My portfolio
@julieespinosa

2. Why should you care about them?
"Hammering out style details at the beginning
saves needless time and expense to clean up
these small details at the end of a large project."
—Angie Halama, of Brain Traffic

3. Purpose
Consistency
Clears up confusion among multiple contributors to a project
One centralized resource
Resolves questions on frequently problematic elements
Tool in editorial strategy, part of a larger content strategy
Project- or subject-specific.
What it isn't
exhaustive, i.e. it should not replicate or replace a whole
dictionary (or Google)

5. Essentials
Capitalization
Abbreviations
Tone and brand voice
Spelling
Usage
Punctuation
Specify primary reference material and a real person
If it’s not listed here, please consult the AP Stylebook. If you still
can’t find it, call Edith Editor at 555-CAT-SUPQ or e-mail her.

6. Add what you need
It should be project-specific, so consider:
Trademarks or legally required language
If content is done in-house or by freelancers (more detail if
latter)
Whether content might be recycled online or in print
See "Developing a Departmental Style Guide" on last slide
Demonstrate actual examples of tone (words to use or not use)
or the word bank (hat tip: Brain Traffic)

7. Don't include ...
The following are important, but IMO part of a larger content
strategy and don't belong in a style guide:
Process information
Design and developer standards
Linking policy
Community policy
Content management strategy
SEO strategy
Metadata strategy

8. Points of contention
Conventions of AP vs. Chicago vs. normal people vs. your
client
To name only a few:
Phone numbers
Email or e-mail, Web site or website, Internet or internet
Serial commas
List punctuation
Sentence vs. title case
Hyphenation

9. Tips to create your own style guide
1. Decide today to put together a guide for the project(s) you're
currently working on.
2. Survey all your content for inconsistencies/queries.
3. Assess any guidelines you do have and update/reconcile.
4. Put your guide somewhere you can collaboratively edit and
share (online page, Google Docs, wiki, etc.)
5. Plan how to review and regularly update the style guide.
6. Decide who will decide.
7. Use it, share it and keep it up to date.

10. Questions?

11. Resources
Developing a Departmental Style Guide by Jean Weber
Web Content Style Guides that Don’t Suck by Kristina
Halvorson
5 Tips on Working with a Style Guide by Elizabeth Saloka
apstylebook.com
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Elements of Style