I'm writing a guide to give step-by-step instructions to complete some tasks on the computer. At some points, I need to indicate pressing keys on the keyboard; how may I format the letter/symbol to best indicate them as keys?
-
1) What program are you using? 2) What format will the final product be in? If it's a PDF, you can just find a keyboard font or some other dingbat font which will produce a letter which is visibly a key and not just "a letter."– Lauren-Clear-Monica-IpsumCommented Oct 22, 2015 at 11:51
-
xahlee.info/comp/unicode_computing_symbols.html some unicode symbols related to keyboards such as ↵ ⌘ ⇧ ↹– Petit LamaCommented Oct 22, 2015 at 12:06
-
@LaurenIpsum Since I did not find tags for any programs, I thought it inappropriate for this SE. I'm using LibreOffice Writer, but will probably find the appropriate alternative if provided Microsoft Word instructions.– OxwiviCommented Oct 22, 2015 at 13:15
-
@PetitLama I'm somewhat aware of them, but likely to cause more confusion if used for keys other than command keys for each OS.– OxwiviCommented Oct 22, 2015 at 13:16
Add a comment
|
1 Answer
I am assuming that your organization does not have an official style guide, or that this is a personal project. (If you are bound by a style guide, consult it.) I am also assuming that you aren't using a semantic markup already; if you're using a DTD/schema/tool/markdown that already has a notion of "keyboard input", you'd use that unless there's a good reason not to.
The Microsoft Style Guide is a common choice for software companies in my experience. This guide (4th edition, p 91) calls for capitalizing key names but not otherwise formatting them. It gives a list of "official" names of special keys. Keys that are used together are joined with '+'. Correct example according to this guide: Ctrl+Shift+?.
Some companies add bold face to this, e.g. Ctrl+Shift+?. In my experience this is especially common if the documentation also refers to UI elements like menu names. I think the reasoning is that "user-entered stuff" should look the same whether it's Ctrl+Z or File->Open.
I have sometimes seen a hyphen used in place of '+': Ctrl-Z, for example. I don't know the origin of this style.
I recommend against using a fixed-width font. In technical writing this style is usually reserved for console output, code, code elements like function names, and sometimes environment variables -- things you would expect to see in a terminal window, error log, or editor window, in other words.
answered Oct 22, 2015 at 16:01
-
Currently I'm using capitalized fixed-width. I asked with the intention of learning specific key formatting to the the effect of SE's <kbd>, but might as well stick to my current style or change as per your recommendations.– OxwiviCommented Oct 22, 2015 at 16:06
-
You make a good point about <kbd> --if the syntax you're using abstracts this away already, you'd follow that. I'll make a small edit to this. Commented Oct 22, 2015 at 16:09
-
Guess I'll look up if the current style does have similar syntax. Otherwise, it will be as I last commented.– OxwiviCommented Oct 22, 2015 at 16:50