Salesforce Style Guide for Documentation and User Interface Text

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Abbreviations

Abbreviations include acronyms, shortened forms of terms, and symbols for units of measure. In general, abbreviate terms that must be repeated often or that must appear in tables or other tight spaces, but don't confuse your reader with too many abbreviations or too much jargon. When in doubt, spell out the term.

General Rules

When to spell out
The first time you use an acronym or abbreviation that may not be obvious, spell out the word or phrase and follow it with the shortened form in parentheses. For example: A local area network (LAN). Use the acronym or abbreviation in all subsequent references. However, in long manuals or manuals that include sections that may be read separately, you may want to repeat the full name and abbreviation the first time a term is used in each new topic.
No apostrophes for plurals
For example, the plural of FAQ is FAQs, not FAQ's.
No periods
Don't use periods with most acronyms or abbreviations for technical terms, standard nontechnical abbreviations, or abbreviations for units of measure:
  • ANSI (acronym)
  • MB (technical abbreviation)
  • PhD (nontechnical abbreviation)
  • ft (unit of measure)

Capitalization

  • When spelling out an acronym, only capitalize the individual words if they're proper nouns. Use all capital letters for the acronym itself.
  • Use all lowercase for file extensions. For examples, see File Names and Extensions.
  • Don't alter the capitalization of abbreviations in titles. For examples, see Capitalization.
  • Use lowercase to document time. For examples, see AM, PM.
  • If an acronym is generally read as alphabetic letters, choose the article according to the first letter. For example: an API, a URL.

Common Acronyms and Abbrevations

Certain acronyms and abbreviations are so common that you never have to spell them out. For example: IBM, RAM, PC, US.

Measurements and Units

  • Don't use abbreviations like K for thousand or M or MM for million.
  • If the abbreviations are common to the audience, it's acceptable to abbreviate measurements, as in KB and GHz, .
  • Omit a space between a number and a single-letter abbreviation or unit symbol: 90%, 401(k)
  • For time values in a twelve-hour system, use AM/PM preceded by a space. For example, 10:30 PM. Don’t use a.m., p.m., A.M., P.M., am, or pm.