What's new

This page provides a summary of significant changes to the style guide.

August 15, 2024

New guidance or change Page

Added guidance for distinguishing between binary and decimal units, such as gibibytes (GiB) and gigabytes (GB). Also corrected abbreviation of kilobyte to kB.

 Decimal and binary units

Expanded guidance for referring to figures and other images in text. Clarified that figure numbers are not required.

Figure captions
Added word list entries: curl, whitepaper, long-running operation Word list
Updated word list entries: ingest, execute, content type, media type, MIME Word list

May 16, 2024

New guidance or change Page

Added the term generative AI.

 Word list

Added the term rehost. Redirected the definition for lift and shift to rehost.

 Word list
Clarified that the style guide shows examples of how placeholders render but doesn't explain how to implement this visual styling. Format placeholders
Added an example to the guidance showing how to use site-root-relative URLs to link to another page on the same server. Cross-references
Clarified guidance about how to format anchor text. Make headings into link targets

March 21, 2024

New guidance or change Page

Expanded guidance about avoidance of the term drop-down.

 Word list

Added examples to guidance about writing documentation that focuses on the present state of the software.

 Timeless documentation

Added recommendation to use a more precise term than workload when possible, or to define what the term means in the specific context.

Added related guidance about avoiding ambiguous or overloaded words like workload, solution, and support, or defining them in each context.

 Word list,
Jargon

Aligned guidance with XML and HTML specifications to recommend against the use of angle brackets as part of an element name, but instead to only use angle brackets as part of a tag.

 Code in text

January 22, 2024

New guidance or change Page

Cleaned up word list by removing entries that only provided hyphenation, spelling, or abbreviation guidance that followed directly from our general guidance.

 Word list

Consolidated and clarified guidance regarding alt text, figure captions, and figure descriptions.

 Diagrams, figures, and other images
Write accessible documentation

Added recommendation to avoid linking to other document sets from navigation controls such as a table of contents.

 Links to other sites

Clarified guidance about avoiding words such as above and below in references to documentation and user interfaces for accessibility reasons, and provided example of appropriate non-directional usage.

 Word list

Removed prohibition against hyphenation of the phrase open source, so this term now follows our general guidance for hyphenation, which allows for hyphenation of an adjectival phrase to add clarity and remove ambiguity.

 Word list

Changed guidance for indicating the omission of code from an instructional code snippet to recommend the use of an explanatory comment instead of a mere ellipsis.

 Code samples

November 8, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Changed guidance regarding run-in headings in description lists to recommend that the punctuation (such as a colon) is not formatted as bold. Making the punctuation bold caused the punctuation to seem to be part of the heading string, which caused confusion in cases such as UI labels.

Lists

Removed the recommendation to use a special external icon (indicated by class="external") for links. Readers and writers have expressed confusion about the meaning and usage of this icon. We strengthened guidance about using other, explicit means to inform the reader about the destination and behavior of a link.

Link text

October 24, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Removed page about custom font styling, which only said to use styles defined in the style sheet for the website. Redirected link to page about HTML formatting and semantic tagging.

HTML and semantic tagging

Added word-list entry for then and expanded entry for if to recommend the use of the optional helper word then in many cases in which it might be omitted in casual usage.

Word list

Simplified and unified guidance for jank and janky to recommend that these terms only be used for specific graphics issues.

Word list

Strengthened guidance against the use of and/or except in cases where space is limited.

Slashes

September 29, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Added several examples of when and how to use quotation marks.

 Quotation marks

Added explanation of guidance against anthropomorphism.

 Anthropomorphism

Added guidance about using a hyphen with the prefix non before hyphenated compounds.

 Hyphens

August 24, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Added link buttons to each entry in the word list to make deep-linking to individual entries easier.

Word list

Extended guidance about example names to recommend using an initial to represent a person's surname.

Example person surnames

Clarified guidance about when to use present tense and when to use future tense.

Present tense

Extended link text guidance to include an example for mailto links.

Link text

July 26, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Added link to Google API guidelines for information about code comments.

API reference code comments

Revised guidance for the word toggle to recommend against use as a verb.

UI elements and interaction

Extended and clarified guidance for names for directories and files.

Filenames and file types

Added explanation for why to use code format for code items.

Code in text

June 15, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Consolidated guidance about periods and end punctuation. Also removed standalone pages about exclamation points and about spacing after periods.

Periods and other end punctuation

Revised guidance about hyphens to suggest a lookup strategy, categorize uses, and note exceptions.

Hyphens

Created firmer guidance about punctuation in lists for run-in headings and at the end of list items.

Lists

Strengthened capitalization guidance: when not to use capitalization, and how to use capitalization with product names.

 Capitalization, Product names

Added guidance about using end punctuation when documenting a command-line option or argument.

 Document command-line syntax

Improved description and examples for using first-person pronouns (we, our).

 Second person and first person
Updated word list entries: etc., OK, user, we, you Word list

May 9, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Softened guidance regarding the choice between the pronouns who and that.

 Pronouns

Added web interface as an alternative to console and UI in general references to a browser-based interface.

 Word list
Clarified the purpose of the page about phone number formats. Format phone numbers in text

March 31, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Expanded and clarified guidance about using trademarks only as modifiers. This guidance emphasizes that you should never modify a trademark, such as by creating a possessive or plural form.

 Use trademarks only as modifiers

Strengthened guidance against shortening product names to anything other than an approved alternative name.

 Google product names

Expanded guidance about using ARIA labels in text that describes icons in graphical user interfaces. This improves accessibility and increases consistency in terminology used to refer to visual elements in text.

 Buttons and icons, Accessibility
New word list entry: toolkit Word list

February 13, 2023

New guidance or change Page

Added a page about paragraph structure, which provides guidance about recommended paragraph length and order of information.

 Paragraph structure

Expanded accessibility guidance to say that a document should convey its information when you use it without images or animation.

 Write accessible documentation

Clarified that letter keys should be represented with uppercase letters.

 Press and type keyboard keys

Added existing to list of examples of potentially problematic words in timeless documentation.

 Timeless documentation

Recommended using an empty alt attribute for icons that include a text label.

 Buttons and icons

Strengthened and clarified guidance about avoiding culturally specific references and about using simple and consistent language.

 Voice and tone

Created section about items that are sometimes—but not always—formatted in code font, such as email addresses.

 Items that are sometimes in code font

Added information about example internationalized domain names.

 Example domain names

Expanded guidance about choosing example email addresses.

 Example email addresses

Expanded guidance about using second-person you to refer to the reader of a document and, generally, using third-person user to refer to the intended user of the software that the reader is developing.

 Second person

December 12, 2022

New guidance or change Page
New word list entry: anti-pattern Word list

November 7, 2022

New guidance or change Page

To emphasize a negative, use <em>not</em>.

 Contractions

October 31, 2022

New guidance or change Page
New word list entry: standalone Word list

October 10, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Added guidance about how to document optional arguments for commands.

Special characters that indicate optional and mutually exclusive arguments in commands—such as brackets, braces, and pipes—break commands if the user doesn't edit them first. The new guidance offers several approaches for avoiding these problems.

 Code in text, Code samples, Document command-line syntax

Clarified that contractions are recommended in general, but not required in all cases.

 Contractions

September 26, 2022

New guidance or change Page

In figure captions, always use end punctuation, and use complete sentences when possible.

 Figures and other images

Added separators between word list terms, to improve readability.

 Word list

September 19, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Added guidance to multiple pages about ways to make documentation more inclusive for readers who have a variety of cognitive patterns.

 Write accessible documentation, Cross-references, Numbers, Procedures

September 12, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Don't present new information in tables through images or symbols alone.

 Tables

Clarified guidance about using footnotes in tables.

 Tables

Added instructions for how to look up a UI element's aria-label attribute.

 UI elements and interaction

September 5, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Strengthened recommendation to avoid using semicolons where possible, and removed basic information about semicolons.

Our accessibility guidance recommends against using semicolons where possible, because screen readers may not clearly indicate them. So we changed our semicolon guidance to be more in line with our accessibility guidance.

 Semicolons

Expanded and clarified guidance about what to put in code font.

 Code in text

August 29, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Changed and clarified recommended phrasing for describing boolean parameters in reference docs.

 API reference code comments

Expanded and clarified explanation of why we use straight quotation marks and apostrophes.

 Quotation marks

Added suggested alternative terms for cloud-native.

 Word list
New word list entries: prebuilt, scroll Word list

August 22, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Clarified that and then is generally better than just then.

 Write for a global audience
New word list entries: canary, multi-service, precapture, pre-existing, presubmit, rebranding, roll out Word list

August 15, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Expanded table-formatting guidance, to improve accessibility.

 Tables

Improved guidance about figure captions, descriptions, and alt text.

 Figures and other images

August 8, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Write a SQL rather than an SQL.

Both are in use, but a SQL is significantly more common.

 Articles (a, an, the)

Added information about our distinction between don't use and avoid.

 Word list
New word list entries: nonce, SQL Word list

August 1, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Expanded guidance about mobile and related terms.

 Word list

It's OK to use below in set phrases such as below (the) average.

 Word list

Expanded our information about serial commas.

 Commas

To refer to a file with the .tiff extension, use the phrase TIFF file.

 Filenames and file types
New word list entries: admin; blue-green; cold, hot, and warm (in the context of a failover, spare, or standby); inline; mobile phone; online Word list

July 25, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Updated guidance about the term Cloud console.

 Word list

Clarified guidance about the term see.

 Word list

July 18, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Revised guidance about using the term element in HTML and XML contexts.

 Word list

Revised and expanded guidance about how to form possessives.

 Possessives
New word list entry: tag Word list

June 20, 2022

New guidance or change Page
New word list entry: brown bag Word list

June 13, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Clarified guidance about placement of only.

 Write for a global audience
New word list entry: using Word list

June 6, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Clarified guidance about Interconnect connection.

 Word list

May 16, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Offset footnote symbols using superscript.

 Footnotes
New word list entries: could, would Word list

May 9, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Strengthened guidance recommending avoiding humor in documentation.

Most humor is difficult to translate, and much humor is culturally specific.

 Write for a global audience

Changed the link to a resource about identity-first language.

The site that we had previously linked to has disappeared.

 Write inclusive documentation

April 25, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Added a new page about jargon.

 Jargon

Expanded guidance about when to use the various notice types.

 Notes, cautions, warnings, and other notices

Clarified and expanded guidance about when to remove locales from URLs.

 Link to other sites
New word list entries: final solution, gsutil Word list

April 18, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Introduce an interactive element (such as a button that expands and collapses) in the text preceding the element, to improve accessibility.

 Write accessible documentation

April 11, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Changed guidance about taking screenshots.

 Figures and other images

In code samples, indicate omitted code using three dots and no spaces (...)

 Code samples
New word list entries: + (appended to numbers in text) Word list

April 4, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Removed guidance about using lettered lists for mutually exclusive options.

The semantic distinction that we were making isn't in wide use, and lettered lists aren't supported in standard Markdown, so we no longer recommend using lettered lists.

 Lists

Clarified recommendation about how to italicize in Markdown.

 Text-formatting summary

Changed guidance about dead-letter queue and hold the pointer over.

 Word list
New word list entry: break-glass Word list

March 28, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Clarified guidance about using an introductory phrase before the output of a command.

 Document command-line syntax
New word list entry: Unicode Word list

February 21, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Use gcloud CLI instead of gcloud command-line tool.

 Word list
New word list entry: shift left Word list

February 7, 2022

New guidance or change Page

In general, don't use a single x or a series of x's as placeholders; instead, use a more informative placeholder.

 Formatting placeholders
New word list entry: GBps Word list

January 31, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Avoid repeating the exact page title as a heading on the page.

Headings and titles

Expanded guidance about runtime and run time.

 Word list

Added .adoc and .md to the list of examples of filename extensions.

 Filenames and file types

January 24, 2022

New guidance or change Page

Clarified guidance about video formats.

The main reason to avoid using animated GIF is that it's resource-inefficient.

 Figures and other images

Clarified guidance about changing an existing custom anchor for a heading.

 Making headings into link targets

January 18, 2022

New guidance or change Page

For animations and videos, use a compressed format (such as MP4), not animated GIF.

 Figures and other images

Don't use email as a verb.

 Word list
New word list entry: healthcare Word list

December 31, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Added headings to make guidance about using simple and unambiguous language easier to find.

 Writing for a global audience

Expanded guidance about demonstrative pronouns.

 Ambiguous pronoun references

Clarified guidance about when to use code format for URLs.

 Code in text

Refreshed guidance about optimizing for search (SEO).

 Text for images,
Link text,
Filenames,
Headings

November 30, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Added examples and clarified guidance recommending use of optional pronouns and other helper words.

 Optional pronouns,
Writing for a global audience

Added guidance for linking to a section of another page.

 Links to sections on another page
New word list entries: portal, copy and paste, performant Word list

November 1, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Added guidance about expanding shortened words and symbols.

 Abbreviations

Expanded guidance about the order of information in complex procedures, including the recommended order for goals, results, and justifications for steps.

 Procedures

Added guidance about including a description of default behaviors in API reference documents.

 API reference code comments
Reinforced guidance about including words like file after items in code font, such as filenames. Filenames

Added guidance about using alternatives to directional terms such as above and below when referring to location in a document.

 Writing accessible documentation
New word list entries: practitioner, left-nav, right-nav, create new Word list

October 11, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Simplified placeholder examples and clarified when to repeat an explanation for a placeholder.

 Formatting placeholders

Added guidance on using brackets and dots ([...]) to indicate omitted output in an example.

 Output from commands

October 4, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Added page about philosophy and principles of the style guide.

 Philosophy of this style guide

Clarified recommendation to include a noun after a code element and to avoid inflecting code elements.

 Code in text

Added guidance to not use numbers in headings to indicate a sequence of sections.

 Headings and titles

Updated examples for verb forms in headings and titles, including special cases such as Pricing and Billing.

 Headings and titles

September 13, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Clarified guidance about specifying the context for a task.

 Procedures

Avoid using run the following command to introduce code. Instead, focus on what the command does.

 Procedures

Expanded the guidance for CLI.

 Word list
New word list entries: ransomware Word list

September 6, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Avoid words and phrases that anchor the documentation to a point in time or assume knowledge of prior or future products and features.

 Timeless documentation

Added navigation menu to the list of UI terms.

 UI elements and interaction

Marked slice and dice as don't use.

 Word list
New word list entries: web application firewall, while Word list

August 30, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Introduce a list of placeholders with the phrase This output includes the following values:

The old guidance for what introductory phrase to use wasn't a complete sentence.

 Formatting placeholders

August 16, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Added guidance for heading and title phrasing.

Many writers ask what verb forms to use in headings and titles. The new guidance helps writers make that decision more easily, and it improves consistency for translators and readers.

 Headings and titles

August 2, 2021

New guidance or change Page

When you need an example project name, create a name that's meaningful or descriptive.

 Example domains and names
New word list entry: pop-up Word list

July 26, 2021

New guidance or change Page
New word list entry: intercluster Word list

July 19, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Added guidance about whether to include an abbreviation if it is used only once in the document.

 Abbreviations
Clarified and added guidance about the terms above, below, earlier, higher, later, lower, and under Word list

July 12, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Don't refer to casing styles by names like camel case or snake case.

 Capitalization

July 5, 2021

New guidance or change Page

In the first sentence of each procedural step, include an imperative verb.

 Procedures

June 28, 2021

New guidance or change Page

New word list entries: can, might, must

A writer asked us to clarify our guidance for these terms.

 Word list

June 21, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Updated guidance on fictitious person names, and added a list of specific given names to use in examples.

Many writers have asked for a list of recommended names to use.

 Example domains and names

June 7, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Don't use UI element labels as if they were English verbs or nouns.

 UI elements and interaction

May 24, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Clarified phrasing of guidance about avoiding using the same link text for different target pages.

 Link text

Added guidance about what to do when link text includes a command or other code-font element.

 Link text

Try to keep the main subject and verb as close to the beginning of a sentence as possible.

 Writing for a global audience

Updated guidance about using a hyphen to indicate a range of numbers.

For example, we now recommend using an ordinary hyphen rather than a nonbreaking hyphen, for ease of authoring.

 Hyphens

Removed the word list entry for AJAX.

The entry was outdated, and Wikipedia covers the term better.

 Word list

New word list entries: webmaster, white label

Use more specific terms.

 Word list

May 3, 2021

New guidance or change Page

Don't put a link in a heading.

A link in a heading is easy for a reader to miss.

 Headings and titles

Clarified and reorganized the material about which preposition to use with each UI element.

 UI elements and interaction

April 26, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Clarified guidance about when to create a custom anchor for a heading. Making headings into link targets

April 19, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Write one-step procedures with a bullet. Procedures
In headings, use punctuation sparingly. Headings and titles
Added a link to another resource about active and passive voice. Active voice
Clarified guidance about the word native. Word list
New entry: sherpa Word list

April 12, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Clarified that guidance that applies to text generally also applies to headings. Headings and titles
Strengthened recommendation to use contractions. Contractions
New entry: downscope Word list

April 5, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Expanded guidance about using simple words and phrases. Writing for a global audience
New entry: instance group Word list

March 29, 2021

New guidance or change Page
To form the plural of an abbreviation, treat the abbreviation like an English word, and follow standard English pluralizing patterns. Abbreviations

March 15, 2021

New guidance or change Page
New entries: more than 60 terms to not use or to use with caution, for inclusive-language reasons (too many to list here) Word list

March 8, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Expanded and clarified guidance about placeholders. Formatting placeholders
New entries: outside the box (and related terms), and more than 40 networking terms (too many to list here) Word list

March 1, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Clarified guidance about spelling out an abbreviation. Abbreviations
Use documentation set instead of docset. Word list

February 15, 2021

New guidance or change Page
New entry: lock-in Word list

February 1, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Revised and clarified guidance about using should. Word list
In some contexts, you can use active/standby as a replacement for master/slave. Word list
Updated guidance about using firewalls. Word list
New entries: black-box, external IP address, gray-box, IPsec, N/A, war room, white-box Word list

January 25, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Updated guidance about link text to remove reliance on external sources. Link text
Don't use abbreviations or product names as verbs. Abbreviations, Product names

January 11, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Clarified guidance about indentation in code samples. Code samples
Added links to more coding-style guides. Code in text
Clarified that you can use please under certain specific circumstances. Word list
Clarified guidance about terminate. Word list
New entries: hang, MTU, utilize Word list

January 4, 2021

New guidance or change Page
Merged landing page with "Other editorial resources" to help new readers learn how to use this guide. About this guide
New entry: deprecate Word list

December 28, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Added an explanation of what placeholders are. Formatting placeholders

December 14, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Distinguished between the Google Cloud product called Identity and Access Management (IAM) and the general practice of identity and access management. Word list
Clarified that the word terminate has a specific meaning in telephony. Word list

December 7, 2020

New guidance or change Page
When you describe navigating through menus using angle brackets, add an aria-label attribute to each angle bracket, for use by screen readers: <span aria-label="and then">></span>. UI elements and interaction
New entry: metageneration Word list

November 30, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Updated content-navigation titles for some style guide pages. Content navigation
Clarified guidance for just. Word list
New entry: time to live Word list

November 23, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Changed guidance about fictitious email addresses. Example domains and names
New entry: holiday, the holidays Word list

November 16, 2020

New guidance or change Page
In examples, use fictional street addresses. Example domains and names
Clarified guidance for functionality. Word list

November 9, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Format folder and directory names in code font. Code in text

November 2, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Avoid double negatives. Writing accessible documentation
Expanded guidance about how to write around unavoidable references to non-inclusive words. Writing inclusive documentation

October 19, 2020

We're changing the format of the updates to this page, to focus on what each change is rather than where it is.

New guidance or change Page
You can use an asterisk to indicate emphasis in Markdown. Don't use a double underscore to indicate bold in Markdown. Text-formatting summary

October 12, 2020

New guidance or change Page
Use enable or turn on consistently. Word list
All pages about linking are now grouped together under a new Linking heading. Content navigation
Don't link to the same document multiple times in close succession. Cross-references
For subsections, use the phrase in the following sections. Headings and titles
Don't create your own abbreviations. Abbreviations
Don't reveal personally identifiable information. Example domains and names
For exponents, use standard mathematical notation. Numbers
Expanded guidance about expressing times of day. Dates and times
New entries: aka, America, -aware, Black Friday, Cyber Monday, leverage, possible, postmortem Word list

October 5, 2020

  • In the word list, updated guidance about the term disable.

September 28, 2020

  • On the Capitalization page, expanded guidance about using consistent capitalization.
  • On the Procedures page, added guidance about including keyboard shortcuts in procedures.

September 21, 2020

  • On the Figures and other images page, added guidance about using image maps.
  • On the Text-formatting summary page, added guidance about using a variable to indicate a range of version numbers, and clarified guidance about using <em>.
  • Added entries to the word list: distributed denial-of-service (DDoS), UTF.

September 14, 2020

  • On the Figures and other images page and the Tables page, added guidance about introductory sentences.
  • In the word list, clarified the distinction between terms to never use and terms to avoid when possible. Also added icons for both kinds of terms.

September 7, 2020

August 31, 2020

August 24, 2020

August 10, 2020

August 3, 2020

  • On the Dates and times page, added guidance about avoiding referring to seasons of the year.
  • In the word list, added more suggested alternatives for master and slave.

July 27, 2020

  • Added entries to the word list: grandfathered, graylist, greylist, multi-regional, Unix epoch time. Expanded and clarified guidance for the blacklist, master, and multi-region entries.

July 20, 2020

  • Reorganized and updated the Other editorial resources page, and moved that page to near the top of the left nav.
  • On the Figures and other images page, added links to Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) resources.
  • On the Procedures page, added guidance about introducing a procedure with an imperative.
  • Added entries to the word list: bar, baz, canceled, foo, like, such as.
  • As of this week, we've stopped including small-detail changes in this page. For example, when we corrected a typo in the style guide in the past, we used to mention that correction on this page, but we're no longer mentioning minor changes that have no effect on guidance.

July 13, 2020

  • Renamed this summary-of-recent-changes page from "Release notes" to "What's new," and moved it to near the top of the left nav.
  • In the Pronouns page, slightly updated the guidance about using gender-neutral they.

June 29, 2020

  • On several pages, reorganized guidance about formatting code and command lines. In particular:
    • Moved the guidance that was in a page about command-line terminology to the Documenting command-line syntax page, and deleted the separate command-line terminology page.
    • Moved the guidance about placeholders to a new Formatting placeholders page.
    • Added cross-references among various code-related pages.
  • In the word list, corrected a typo.

June 22, 2020

  • In the word list, changed guidance about using earlier and later for a range of version numbers.

June 15, 2020

  • On the Capitalization page and other pages, made guidance consistent about capitalizing references to document titles.
  • On the Cross-references page and other pages, added guidance about not forcing a link to open in a new tab.
  • On the Code in text page, added guidance about when to put UI elements in code font.
  • Added an entry to the word list: best effort.

June 8, 2020

June 1, 2020

  • On the Figures and other images page, updated guidance about alt text, figure descriptions, and figure captions.
  • Reorganized the HTML and semantic tagging page, and added guidance about not using the br element to change visual presentation. Also replaced a broken link to a third-party site.
  • On the Numbers page, added guidance about avoiding using Roman numerals.
  • Added entries to the word list: currently, dash, NoOps.

May 25, 2020

  • On the Numbers page, corrected two examples to match our guidance.
  • On the Abbreviations page, added guidance about use of the term acronym.
  • Added entries to the word list: happiness, scale, service level agreement, service level indicator, service level objective. Also clarified guidance for app.

May 18, 2020

  • On the Filenames and file types page, added guidance about how to refer to a filename.
  • On the Headings and titles page, updated the guidance about using code font in headings.
  • On the UI elements and interaction page and elsewhere, replaced the term arrow notation with angle bracket.
  • On the Procedures page, clarified the guidance about stating the location of an action before stating the action.
  • Added entries to the word list: config, extract, unarchive, uncompress, untar. Also changed the guidance about ssh and related terms. Also corrected a typo.

May 11, 2020

  • Major change: On the Code in text page, changed guidance for placeholder styling. The new preferred style is all-uppercase with underscore delimiters.
  • Also on the Code in text page, corrected guidance about how to mark up placeholders with Markdown.
  • On the Figures and other images page, corrected a typo.

May 4, 2020

April 27, 2020

April 20, 2020

  • On the Units of measurement page, added guidance about using per when referring to rates.
  • On the UI elements and interaction page, clarified the distinction between text input and keyboard shortcuts, and added guidance about when to use the code and kbd elements. On the Code in text page, added text input to the list of things to put in code font.
  • On the Accessible content page, added a recommendation to use a screen reader to test your documentation. Also added guidance about introducing tables.
  • On the Example domains and names page, changed the recommended example company names to avoid camel case.
  • On the Code in text page and the Colons page, clarified and expanded guidance about how to format a colon after text that's bold or in code font.
  • Added entries to the word list: key, key ring, per, vice versa.

April 13, 2020

  • On the Lists page, expanded the guidance about when not to use sentence-ending punctuation.
  • Added cross-references between the Abbreviations page and the Headings and titles page.
  • On the Numbers page, clarified the guidance about hyphens and en dashes in ranges of numbers.
  • On the Units of measure page, clarified guidance about what counts as a unit.
  • In the word list, clarified guidance about using blacklist and whitelist.
  • Added entries to the word list: ad tech, easily, fintech, NLU, quick, quickly.

April 6, 2020

  • On the Abbreviations page, clarified guidance about using abbreviations in headings and titles.
  • On the Text-formatting summary page, added guidance on formatting mathematical variables.
  • On the Link text page, added guidance about abbreviations in link text.
  • On the Dates and times page, added guidance about how to express time zones.
  • In the word list, clarified guidance about key-value pair.
  • Added an entry to the word list: personally identifiable information (PII).

March 30, 2020

  • On the Hyphens page, clarified guidance about ranges of numbers.
  • In the UI elements and interaction page, changed guidance for formatting input for text boxes to recommend using the HTML code element instead of the kbd element.

March 23, 2020

  • On the Capitalization page, made the following changes:
    • Removed outdated guidance about capitalization after a run-in heading. For the current guidance, see "Description lists that use run-in headings" on the Lists page.
    • Clarified guidance about avoiding all-uppercase and camel case.
    • Clarified guidance about avoiding lowercase at the start of a sentence.
    • Clarified guidance about capitalization when referring to documents by title in various contexts.
  • Expanded and reorganized the Code in text page. In particular:
    • Expanded the guidance about documenting placeholders.
    • Expanded the list of items to put in code font.
  • On the Commas page, added guidance about using a comma with because.
  • On the Dashes page, added guidance about not using en dashes.
  • Added entries to the word list: datastore, tutorial. Also added guidance (in the entry for documentation) about phrases like in this document.

March 2, 2020

  • On the Capitalization page, added guidance about using sentence case for labels and callouts.
  • On the Cross-references page, added guidance about how to format the titles of web series.
  • Added an entry to the word list: web server.

February 24, 2020

  • On the Resources page, added links to the Kubernetes glossary and the Kubernetes style guide.
  • On the Lists page, added guidance about how and when to use a bulleted list with run-in headings.
  • Updated the word list to refer to Google Cloud instead of GCP, in accord with a recent name change. In particular, changed entries for GCP, GCP Console, and GCP project ID to Google Cloud, Google Cloud Console, and Google Cloud project ID, respectively.
  • Added an entry to the word list: GKE node. Also updated guidance for GKE.
  • In the left nav, moved the word list and the product-names page to near the top.
  • On the Plurals in parentheses page, added guidance about using the phrase one or more.

January 13, 2020

January 6, 2020

  • Added entries to the word list: DevOps, ECMP, GFE, NoSQL, PostgreSQL. Also updated guidance on virtual machine (VM) instance.

December 23, 2019

December 16, 2019

  • On the Abbreviations page, expanded guidance about when to spell out abbreviations.
  • On the conventions page, fixed two broken links.
  • Added entries to the word list: as, big-endian, google.dev, little-endian.

December 9, 2019

  • On the Tables page, added guidance about sorting tables, and clarified guidance about when to use tables.
  • Reverted last week's changes about using earlier and later instead of lower and higher; those changes need further refining.

December 2, 2019

  • On the Cross-references page, added guidance about using the word about in cross-references, rather than on.
  • Added entries to the word list: about versus on, for instance, SLA. Also changed guidance about using earlier and later for a range of version numbers.

November 25, 2019

  • On the UI elements and interaction page, added guidance about focusing on the task rather than on UI elements as such.
  • On various pages, added cross-references linking to other pages.

November 18, 2019

November 11, 2019

October 28, 2019

October 21, 2019

October 8, 2019

  • Reorganized the page about notices, and added examples.
  • Cleaned up some minor formatting and phrasing issues in the word list.
  • Corrected a typo on the Accessible content page.
  • Changed the title of the style guide to use sentence case.

September 30, 2019

September 23, 2019

September 16, 2019

June 24, 2019

  • Added guidance about US currency to the Numbers page.

June 17, 2019

May 20, 2019

April 29, 2019

  • Replaced the guidelines on the Accessible content page with a new set of more relevant guidelines.
  • Added a term to the word list: execute.
  • Added material about Linux signals on the Command-line terminology page, and updated related entries in the word list.

April 22, 2019

  • Added a term to the word list: method. Also added to the guidance for Cloud.

April 15, 2019

March 4, 2019

February 25, 2019

  • Added extensive new material to the inclusive documentation page.
  • Updated the word list:
    • Clarified guidance for argument and flag.
    • Added terms: allows you to, desire, drop-down, wish.
    • Removed the recommendations against using enable and disable, and clarified guidance for those terms.

February 4, 2019

January 28, 2019

  • Updated the word list:
    • Changed guidance for above and below.
    • Added terms: gcloud, ML.
    • Updated guidance for &.
    • Improved alphabetization.
  • Fixed a broken link in the Lists page.

January 14, 2019

  • Added terms to the word list: comprise, console, fail over, GCP Console, Google Cloud Platform Console, populate, surface.
  • Reorganized the UI elements page, and added guidance and examples.
  • Added Markdown information to the URLs for images page.
  • Clarified guidance about end punctuation for lists on the Periods page.
  • Clarified guidance about nonbreaking spaces in the Units of measurement page.

December 3, 2018

October 29, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: blacklist, whitelist.
  • Reorganized the dates and times page, and added guidance about times and about ISO 8601.

October 8, 2018

September 18, 2018

September 4, 2018

August 13, 2018

July 30, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: disaster recovery, file system, high availability, high performance computing, OS, tarball, tar file.
  • Updated guidance in the word list for on-premises.
  • Rephrased a paragraph of the landing page.

June 25, 2018

June 19, 2018

  • Added a term to the word list: trojan.
  • Improved the organization, formatting, and phrasing of the filenames page.

June 12, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: appendix, index, matrix.

May 21, 2018

May 14, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: multi-cluster, via. Clarified guidance on firewalls.

April 2, 2018

March 26, 2018

February 26, 2018

February 12, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: Cloud, Container Engine, ephemeral external IP address, firewalls, GCP, GCP project ID, internal IP address, NAT, network IP address, non-key, on-premises, persistent disk, project, RDP, static external IP address, subnet, table name, textbox, turn on.
  • Added information about closed compounds and prefixes to the word list.

January 29, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: alpha, autohealing, autoscaling, autotagging, bare metal, beta, CLI, Cloud SDK, colocate, CPU, curated roles, data center campus, data cleaning, data source, ETL, IaaS, impact, ingest, k8s, key pair, PaaS, preemptible, regex, SaaS, screenshot, sign-in, sign into, sign-out, sub-command, v, virtual machine instance.
  • Added a section on placeholder variables to the code in text page.

January 8, 2018

  • Added terms to the word list: argument, backup, dataflow, flag, higher, later, long press, multi-region, option, slave, touch & hold, transpile, wildcard.
  • Added an item (DNS record types) to the list of items to put in code font.

December 11, 2017

November 13, 2017

  • Changed guidelines on end punctuation for list items.
  • Added alphabetical headings to the word list, so you can now jump to a specific letter using the in-page TOC.
  • Updated word list entries for error-prone, real time, and Search.
  • Added terms to the word list: dataset, legacy, nonfatal.

October 23, 2017

September 4, 2017

  • Added several more terms to the word list: check, checkbox, clear, deselect, open source, select, target, uncheck, Unix-like, unselect.
  • Added material to the Trademarks page about using trademarks as adjectives. Also added links to a couple of other trademark-related pages from Google.
  • Removed Android-specific material from the Headings page, to bring Android doc guidelines more into line with non-Android guidelines. Also, added notes about things not to include in headings.
  • Removed Android label from material on the Tables page, to make that material also apply to non-Android docs.
  • Added mention of degrees and percents to the Units of measurement page.

August 28, 2017

  • Added 160+ terms to the word list. (Too many to list here.)
  • Added recommendations for image size and placement to the Images page.
  • Moved material about Javadoc links to the Code in text page.

August 21, 2017

July 31, 2017

July 10, 2017

  • Added words to the word list: deep linking, jank, wake lock.

June 8, 2017

  • Public release.