Consistency Standards

Establish uniform patterns for naming, terminology, and content reuse.

When to Use / Not Use

Use when:

• Establishing naming conventions for a new project
• Auditing existing code or docs for consistency issues
• Creating a terminology glossary to standardize vocabulary
• Defining voice and tone guidelines for different content types
• Designing content reuse strategies (DRY documentation)
• Onboarding new team members with style standards

Do NOT use when:

• Formal ontology or semantic modeling -> use ontology-design
• Content type and CMS schema design -> use content-modelling
• Writing the actual documentation content -> use documentation-generator

Decision Tree

What are you standardizing?
├── How things are NAMED (variables, files, endpoints, columns)
│   ├── Single language? -> Case style guide (§Naming Conventions)
│   └── Multi-language stack? -> Per-context rules + mapping between layers (§Naming Conventions)
├── How things are CALLED (terminology, synonyms, product names)
│   └── Multiple terms for same concept? -> Glossary with preferred + forbidden terms (§Terminology)
├── How things SOUND (voice, tone, formality)
│   └── Different contexts need different voices? -> Per-context voice rules (§Voice and Tone)
├── How content is REUSED (repeated sections across docs)
│   └── Same content in 3+ places? -> Snippets/variables/conditionals (§Content Reuse)
└── Not sure / combination? -> Start with audit (§Style Checklist)

Naming Conventions

Case Styles

File Naming

[type]-[name]-[variant].[ext]
component-button-primary.tsx
doc-api-reference.md

Cross-Layer Mapping Rules

When a stack has multiple languages, define how names map between layers:

Terminology Standards

Glossary Template

| Term | Definition | Do Not Use |
|------|------------|------------|
| click | Select with mouse | press, hit |
| select | Choose from options | pick, click on |
| enter | Type in field | input, write |

Voice and Tone

Content Reuse Patterns

Single-Source Components

DRY Documentation

<!-- Include shared content -->
{{> shared/authentication.md}}

<!-- Use variables -->
Install {{product_name}} v{{version}}

Style Checklist

• [ ] Consistent capitalization
• [ ] Uniform date/time formats
• [ ] Standardized UI element names
• [ ] Single voice throughout
• [ ] Glossary terms used correctly
• [ ] Code style matches project

Anti-Patterns