Global guidelines

Actian Data Intelligence speaks to data professionals: engineers, analysts, and catalog administrators. The voice is direct, precise, and professional without being formal or stiff.

Voice and tone

When to use: Apply these guidelines to all UI copy, including labels, tooltips, empty states, error messages, and notifications.

Style

Use active voice. “Export the dataset” not “The dataset can be exported.”
Use present tense. “Saves automatically” not “Will save automatically.”
Use sentence case for all UI text, including headings and button labels.
Do not use exclamation points except in genuine success states.
Do not use “please” or “sorry” — they add length without value.

Do / Don’t

Do	Don’t
Export the dataset	The dataset will be exported
Something went wrong	We’re sorry, something went wrong
Log in	Sign in / Signin

Writing style

Use present, active tense in all possible cases. In some cases, you can use passive voice if the focus needs to be on a system instead of a person.

Tense and voice

Voice	When and how to use	Example
Active	All cases except where passive is needed	Only an administrator can create a warehouse.
Passive	Use only when focus is not on a person	The database needs to be shut down.

Tone

Be direct, active, and consistent.
Be friendly and helpful.
Use the simplest terms. Don’t try to “beautify” with alternatives.
Do not personify the product as the subject of the text.
Avoid humor; it rarely translates.
Avoid idioms, sarcasm, metaphors, slang, colloquialisms, and jargon.
Do not use racial, gender, or cultural-biased language.
Use gender-neutral pronouns to help make text inclusive.
Use the second person: “you.” Don’t use “I,” “we,” or “us” to refer to the user.

Do	Don’t
Submit form	Click here to submit the form

Personification

Do not personify the product as the subject of the text. Keep the user in focus, rather than the product.

Do — User focus	Don’t — Product focus
In the Delivery Information window, specify the name of the sender.	The Delivery Information window allows you to specify the name of the sender.
Use this menu to create diagrams.	This menu enables you to create diagrams.

Capitalization

Don’t overuse capitalization — it makes copy harder to read and de-emphasizes the important content.

When to use each case

Title case	Sentence case	All caps
Top-level navigation	In-line and standalone links	Functional text
Main page headers only	Section headers, checkboxes, radios, badges, sliders, toggles, tooltips, tags, pills, toasts, loading indicators	Acronyms (API, not Api)
Menu titles	Placeholder text inside form fields
Menu items	Labels
Proper nouns	Buttons
Names of people or products	Column headers

Do / Don’t

Do	Don’t
Add a row to the catalog. List it on the page.	Add a row to the Catalog. List it on the Page.
Add a row to the MyCatalog page.	Add a row to the MyCatalog Page.
Selects an item type.	Select an Item Type.

Words to avoid

Guidance on what content works best, including text, imagery, and messaging.

Example	Do	Don’t
Never say “Please” or “Sorry” — they are unnecessary.	Contact Support	Please Contact Support
Don’t refer to Actian as “we” or “us.”	Actian recommends	We recommend
Don’t use “Execute” or “Abort.”	The process was cancelled/stopped	The process was aborted.
Don’t use “Master” or “Slave.”	Primary and Secondary servers	Master and Slave servers
Don’t use “Blacklist” or “Whitelist.”	Add a row to the Allow/Deny List	Add a row to the Black/Whitelist
Don’t use “Press” or “Type” as verbs.	Click “OK”, Enter/Provide a name	Press “OK”, Type a name
Never use developer-speak.	Click the OK button.	Click the OK CTA.
Don’t use “Caution” or “Danger.”	Remember: Restart the server first.	Danger: Stop the server first.
Don’t use “Ensure.”	Verify that the value is provided.	Ensure you provided the correct value.
Don’t use “Disabled.”	This setting is blocked/off	This setting is disabled
Don’t use “Agnostic.”	This feature is platform independent	This feature is platform agnostic
Don’t use “Sign in” or “Signin.”	Log in to begin	Signin to begin

Punctuation

To help readers scan text at a glance, avoid using punctuation in places where it isn’t necessary.

Ampersands (“&”)

Avoid using ampersands in place of “and” except for common abbreviations (e.g. Q&A) or when the ampersand is part of an organization’s formal name (e.g. H&R Block, AT&T). In those cases, follow the organization’s formal spacing style.

Do	Don’t
Common abbreviations: Q&A. Organization formal names: H&R Block, AT&T	Using & in place of “and” in general copy

Periods (“.”)

Avoid using periods on solitary sentences within these UI elements:

Use periods	Don’t use periods
Multiple sentences	Labels
A sentence followed by a link	Hover text
Description text	Tooltips
	Placeholder text
	Radios
	Loading indicators

Commas (“,”)

Use a comma after the second-to-last item in a series, before the conjunction (serial/Oxford comma).

Exclamation points (“!”)

Use exclamation marks only positively, not negatively. Use no more than one exclamation mark per page or window.

Numerical formatting

Currency and phone numbers

Currency: $1,000,000.00
Phone numbers: +1 (212) 123 4567

Dates and times

Type	When and how to use	Example
Time	Within the current day, use uppercase AM or PM without periods	2:00 PM
24-hour clock	Display the time without AM/PM	14:00
Date	Show the date with the year. If it’s within the current calendar year, don’t show the year.	January 14 / Jan 3, 2012 / 10/23/2022
Timestamp	Display an exact time	2:36:17 PM PST
Approximate time	Round down to the largest and most recent date or time	In 5 minutes / 3 days ago

Prepositions

Prepositions indicate relationships between different elements, actions, or concepts. Proper use maintains clarity and precision; misuse leads to confusion.

Conciseness — avoid overuse

Minimize unnecessary prepositions. Omit them when they don’t add meaning.

Do	Don’t
Manage notification settings.	The settings for managing notifications on your profile.
Contact Support	Contact to Support

Accuracy and clarity

Use prepositions that clearly express the relationship between actions, objects, or concepts.

Do	Don’t
Upload to the server	Upload on the server
Details on how to configure settings	Information about settings

Keep prepositional phrases short

Avoid long prepositional chains — break them up for clarity.

Do	Don’t
Click the link in your email to view your order details.	Click on the link in the email for information about your order.

Consistency

Standardize common prepositional phrases and use them consistently throughout the product.

Do	Don’t
Save the changes to your profile.	Save the changes on your profile.
Drag the file into the folder	Drag the file to the folder
Tap the icon	Tap on the icon

Acronyms

Spell out an acronym the first time it’s mentioned. On subsequent references, use the abbreviation. If the abbreviation isn’t clearly related to the full version, specify it in parentheses after the spelled-out version in the first instance.

Fully capitalize all letters in abbreviations:

PDF
AM/PM
FAQ
HTML
OK (not Ok or Okay)
HCL

If there’s a chance that an abbreviation might not be known to the target audience, spell it out in full the first time you use it. However, don’t spell out commonly known abbreviations. If the abbreviation or acronym is well-known to the average client (for example, CIC or CDE), use it on the first reference without spelling it out.

Plurals

Make sure items are correctly used as plural or singular nouns as appropriate.

Do not use “(s)” or “/s” after a noun to make it plural. If you must indicate both forms, use “one or more.”

Abbreviations and articles

Abbreviations

Do not use “i.e.” or “e.g.” in UI copy. Avoid using a slash between two words to mean “and/or” — use the word “or” instead.

Do	Don’t
You can select green, blue, or both.	You can select green/blue.

Articles

Don’t speak like a robot — use “a,” “an,” and “the” articles.

Do	Don’t
Use the default JRE to run a shell instance.	Use default JRE to run shell instance.