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What are the usual typographical conventions to set off text from the UI in a user manual?
For example, how should I style the text of the label on a button in:
Press the Submit button.
Or styling the text of labels and input values:
Select Gluten Free from the dropdown menu. The enter I also don't eat soy. in the Notes box.
The style I see most often in technical writing is that UI labels, like the names of menus, are bold:
From the File menu, choose Save.
Click the Submit button.
Variable text is usually italic, but this comes up more for command-line interfaces than GUIs:
git checkout -b branch-name
In writing about a GUI you're more likely to describe what's needed, which doesn't require styling:
In the Path field, type the name of the top-level directory for the new project.
The Microsoft Style Guide calls for bold for GUI labels and italics for variables, as I've used them here.
