Building a Style Guide

In the Polyglots Contributor Training course, you can find tips on organizing a locale style guide creation workshop.

In addition to a glossary, a style guide will help keep your translation consistent by giving the localizers on your team a list of rules they can follow:

  • Punctuation
  • Formatting (bolding, fonts, spacing)
  • Tone (formal vs. informal)
  • Notes on any special cases or exceptions
  • Branding and trademark

You may be able to find something to build upon by searching “style guide” (or “translation style guide”) in your language. Here are some examples you can use as references, but please make sure to check the terms of use and license:

Also, WordPress Marketing Team has their brand writing and style guide, some of which you can use as a guideline.

Once you have a style guide, put it somewhere public – the best place is your local RosettaRosetta The code name of the theme for the local WordPress sites (eg. bg.wordpress.org is a “Rosetta” site). All locale specific WordPress sites are referred to as “Rosetta sites.” The name was inspired from the ancient Rosetta Stone, which contained more or less the same text in three different languages. site, so that it’s accessible for everyone looking for WordPress in your language.

Resources

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Template

Use the Style Guide Template created specifically to help WordPress localeLocale Locale = language version, often a combination of a language code and a region code, for instance es_MX denotes Spanish as it’s used in Mexico. A list of all locales supported by WordPress in https://make.wordpress.org/polyglots/teams/ teams build their own style guide.

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Video/Slides

If you are new to building a locale style guide, watch the “Build Your Locale Style Guide” session from WordPress Global Translation Day 2 (presentation slides).

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