Term usage for login and logout

I just thought the the webteam should follow the documentation team's usage of the terms to add a little consistency to the website. I am just looking for clarification of usage for this:

You will find the _____ button here.

Do you (we) use:

log-in
login
log in
log -out
logout
log out

Thanks for the help.

Marc

Hi :slight_smile:
I think for documentation it might be good to use. 
log-in
log-out
but between ourselves i guess we drop the - signs.  There is probably a list of pre-agreed conventions somewhere so stick with that if anyone finds it.  I just think that documentation tries to aim at non-computer users where possible and even fairly advanced users are still unfamiliar with login and logout. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Tom,
You do not speak for the Documentation Team on matters of language and style.

Marc,
I'll reply properly to your question as soon as I've had time to check
on something.

--Jean

Marc,
Standard practice is to use in the documentation the same term (and
capitalisation) that appears on the item in the user interface. So if
the button says "Login" then the docs would say "You will find the
Login button here." or "Click the Login button." or similar.

As for what the button itself should be called, I'm fairly sure that
the majority of such buttons that I have seen recently are labelled
"Login" or "Logout".

The spelling of "login" and "logout" (with or without a hyphen or
space) in other sentence constructions is different. For example, as a
verb form we would normally write, "To log in, do xxxx." NOT "To
login, do xxxx." In the past, we've written things like, "The log-in
procedure is as follows..." (where log-in is an adjective) but these
days I personally would drop the hyphen and write, "The login
procedure..." just to avoid having too many different spellings, the
nuances of which are totally lost on most readers. I am aware that
some other technical editors have different views on this subject.

Hope this helps and does not further confuse things for the website team. :slight_smile:

--Jean

Hi :slight_smile:
That is why i so often say "i think" or similar things to try to make it clear that what i say is not definitive and seldom even reaches the level of being a suggestion.  The idea is that other people chime in with what they would like or else just give the definitive answer that was agreed previously or just pertinent information to help the discussion.

When i am certain of something i do say so but that is very rare and certainly didn't apply to this thread. 
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Marc did not ask for an opinion. Therefore offering an opinion in
response to his question was IMO just noise.

There are many questions where offering an opinion is appropriate and
valuable, but IMO this wasn't one of them. Especially when a comment
like "even fairly advanced users are still unfamiliar with login and
logout" indicates you haven't a clue what you are talking about.

--Jean

Hello Jean and Tom

In my opinion we need a dictionary of terms that everybody has to follow. The dictionary should also include the use on contractions and the apostrophe. I have used this type of dictionary before when I worked with Ericsson in Sweden and Netherlands.

A few examples:

Log in/log out not login/logout
Set up not setup
Cannot not can not or can't
Do not not don't
To not in order to
It is not it's

It does need a volunteer to do this and the dictionary could be included in the technical writers' guide.

Peter Schofield
psauthor@gmail.com

Peter,
We have the start of a list of terms (in the style guide chapter of
the contributors' guide), and I thought I had a longer list that I'd
posted to Alfresco, but I can't find it so I must be misremembering.
I'm fairly sure the info on contractions etc is in the style guide
chapter. There also used to be on the OOo wiki a word list for use
with the online help; I don't know if a version of that is in use or
anywhere on the LO wiki.

Please feel free to expand upon what's available. I agree, we do need
it. And we should work together with the Help people to improve
consistency.

--Jean

BTW, I am attending a "sprint" at the Open Help Conference in August,
where we plan to produce -- or at least make great progress on -- an
Open Source Style Guide which is intended to cover the things Peter
mentioned, among others. I suggest we wait until after the sprint to
put time into one of our own.

Peter and anyone else, if you want to contribute at a distance on this
project, let me know and I can pass on some info and get you in touch
with the organiser.

--Jean

Hello Jean and Tom

In my opinion we need a dictionary of terms that everybody has to follow. The dictionary should also include the use on contractions and the apostrophe. I have used this type of dictionary before when I worked with Ericsson in Sweden and Netherlands.

A few examples:

Log in/log out not login/logout
Set up not setup

set up (setup) has two forms in common usage: set up as a verb and setup as a noun.

Gary

Hi Jean et al,

Marc,
Standard practice is to use in the documentation the same term (and
capitalisation) that appears on the item in the user interface. So if
the button says "Login" then the docs would say "You will find the
Login button here." or "Click the Login button." or similar.

As for what the button itself should be called, I'm fairly sure that
the majority of such buttons that I have seen recently are labelled
"Login" or "Logout".

Thanks! So the terms will be "Login" and "Logout"

Cheers,

Marc

I use "login" and "logout".

Regards