Welcome to the official home of the WordPress Documentation Team.
This team is responsible for coordinating all documentation initiatives around WordPress, including the handbooks and other general wordsmithing across the WordPress project.
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In general, emphasize on the task to be accomplished, rather than how the user should interact with the UI element. Refer to a dialog box by its label. If you have to use a descriptor, use dialog or dialog box.
Use dialog, not dialogue. Use dialogue only for verbal interaction between people.
Use to describe a UI element such as a menu item, dropdown list option, or button that the user can’t interact with due to certain conditions.
In general, describe how the user should interact with the UI rather than describing the state of the UI. Use appears dimmed for describing its appearance. Also include how the user can enable it and interact with the element.
It’s OK to use disable as a verb in developer documentation and for a technical audience, to mean making a function or feature inactive. Use disabled for such functions and features. Avoid using in user documentation and for a general audience.
Don’t use disabled to refer to UI elements, functions, or features that are turned off or unavailable. Instead, use a more accurate term such as turned off, inactive, or unavailable.
Don’t use disabled to refer to people with disabilities. For more information, see Accessibility and disability.
Use to refer to magnetic storage media such as hard disks.
It’s OK to use disk to generically refer to other types of computer storage such as flash storage and solid-state drives. For example, terms like disk image and disk partition are used in the general sense without considering the type of storage.
Instead of disk, you can also use a more general term, such as computer or storage space.
For optical storage media such as CDs or DVDs, use disc.
Don’t use as an intransitive verb. Display is a transitive verb; therefore it requires an object.
Examples
Not recommended: The dropdown menu displays.
Recommended: The dropdown menu is displayed.
Recommended: The dropdown menu appears.
Use display as a general term as a noun, to refer to any visual output device such as a monitor or a built-in display on most devices. Don’t use display when you mean desktop or screen. Use screen to distinguish the usable portion of the display from its edges.
Use document to refer to any editable file such as a text file or a Word file. Use a contextually relevant term such as presentation or sheet whenever possible.
Use in this document while referencing in a particular document. Avoid using in this article or in this topic.
Examples
Not recommended: This article lists all the available WP-CLIWP-CLIWP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ commands.
Not recommended: This topic lists all the available WP-CLIWP-CLIWP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ commands.
Recommended: This document lists all the available WP-CLIWP-CLIWP-CLI is the Command Line Interface for WordPress, used to do administrative and development tasks in a programmatic way. The project page is http://wp-cli.org/https://make.wordpress.org/cli/ commands.
Use file for general uses such as file management or file structure.
In general, hyphenate compound adjectives beginning with double- such as double-layer and double-sided, unless double- is followed by a proper noun or it is absolutely necessary to avoid confusion.
Use double-click as a verb to describe selecting most targets such as buttons, links, list items, and radio buttons by clicking the mouse twice in rapid succession. Don’t hyphenate as a noun.
Use double-click as a verb to describe selecting most targets such as buttons, links, list items, and radio buttons by clicking the mouse twice in rapid succession. Don’t hyphenate as a noun.
Use download to refer to user-initiated transfer of data or content to a system or device. Use install to describe adding programs, apps, other software, and hardware to a device.
Ensure that you make it clear whether you’re using download as a noun or verb.
When you use download as a verb, describe what the user is downloading and where it is being downloaded. It’s OK to use download as a noun.
In general, emphasize on the task to be accomplished, rather than how the user should interact with the UI element. Refer to a dropdown by its label. If you have to use a descriptor, use dropdown.
It’s OK to use dropdown as an adjective. Avoid using dropdown as a noun.
In general, hyphenate compound adjectives beginning with dual- such as dual-core, dual-link and dual-band, unless dual- is followed by a proper noun or it is absolutely necessary to avoid confusion.