When writing for the UI, we follow many of the same guidelines as the rest of the company. We've called out some specific elements in this section to address frequently asked questions or slight differences from the broader New Relic style guidelines.
Our voice
New Relic has a voice that we use wherever we write copy: in the product, in our documentation, and in our messaging and sales material.
We use American English and write in a way that’s honest, empowering, and ingenious.
We sound like a trusted friend. We're transparent, optimistic, intuitive and innovative. For more on writing with the New Relic voice, see the New Relic style guidelines for voice.
Some tips:
- Use a conversational tone, not formal language.
- Use pronouns and contractions.
- Speak directly to the reader.
- Explain complex concepts simply and clearly and limit jargon.
- Ask yourself what the user gets out of the action or feature in question, and then write from that point of view.
- Put the value or benefit to the user first, then follow with how to achieve it.
- Use bold and innovative words if they better express what users need to do. Don't get stuck on common industry terms.
| Do | Don't |
|---|---|
| Get reports for transactions of all types, from logins to database calls. | New Relic collects and reports information on web transactions and non-web transactions. |
| Use alerts to track an event or incident. OR Track events and incidents with alerts. | An alert communicates an event or incident that designated personnel can track through New Relic Alerts. |
| Find and resolve issues faster with our real-time metrics and powerful analytics. | New Relic's real-time metrics and powerful analytics reduce your mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR) by connecting changes in host performance to changes in your configuration. |
| Use American spelling, e.g. Optimize the defense catalog license. | Use British spelling, e.g. Optimise the defence catalogue licence. |