Style guide for online hypertext

Document style

The style of a document helps a reader to browse through it, in order to find the information he is looking for. All documents on one subject should share the same style. This makes it easier to understand any particular document, and to jump to related information. Use the same "skeleton" or template to create all documents, and ensure that each element is used for the same function in all documents. This also helps maintaining the documents in the long term; because all documents share the same markup style, extracting information can be done automatically.

The following aspects are the most important:

Sign all documents to indicate who owns them and where to send comments,
Give the status of a document,
Make it usable out of context, so a reader isn't lost when he comes in through the back door,
Use images and icons in a responsible way,
Don't write for one browser, use browser-specific elements in a responsible way,
Use the right tag for the job, don't rely on how one browser renders a tag,
Avoid online-only aspects, so the document is still usable when printed,
Don't bother with the mechanics, that can be done in HTML, and lastly,
Validate the document.