Headings
Use headings to split up the content on a page and make it easier for a user to scan. A heading indicates what information a user finds in a specific section of the page.
| This guidance applies only to H<n> elements. For guidance on captions for images and tables, see Images and Tables, respectively. |
Use the following guidance to write headings in your topics:
- Capitalization
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Use title case for all headings. Couchbase uses the Chicago Manual of Style for its heading capitalization. Vale flags any headings that do not match the following criteria:
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Always capitalize the first word.
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Capitalize the main nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
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Leave articles, coordinating conjunctions, prepositions and other connecting words in lowercase, such as
and,the, andto.
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- Length
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Try to keep headings as short and to-the-point as possible. Try to fit your heading in a single line.
- Frequency
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Use a heading whenever it makes sense to do so. Add a heading when you’re starting a new thought or need to highlight something new and important to the user. Keep headings useful, and make sure that you always have content in between 2 headings. Vale flags any headings that appear directly on top of each other with no content in between.
- Depth
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Do not go past an H4 heading. You do not need to have more than 4 levels of headings in your text.
| Do not add Parentheses to headings. |
The content of your H1 heading also needs to match the type of topic you’re writing:
| Content Type | Heading Style | Examples |
|---|---|---|
Concept topic |
Concept headings are a single noun, which accurately outlines the concept you’re describing. Use additional words if you feel that a single noun cannot accurately describe the content of the page. |
Clusters Indexes |
How-to or Tutorial topic |
Task headings are short imperative phrases that start with a verb that does something to a noun. |
Delete a Cluster Create an Index Explore Your Data |
Reference topic |
Reference headings are short phrases that state what kind of reference content the user finds on a page. |
Audit Events Error Messages Rebalance Reports |
Format headings using an equals sign (=). The number of equals signs corresponds to the heading depth that Antora renders. For more information, see Standard Document Structure in the Contributing to the Documentation guide.