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Word list

In most cases, you can refer to the word list in the Google developer documentation style guide to determine if you should use a word or not. The following guidelines cover cases in which:

  • Grafana guidelines differ from Google guidelines.
  • The word isn’t included in Google guidelines.
  • It’s still easy to use an incorrect word because it’s widely used, generally or in other Grafana media.

Note

This page is a work in progress.

A

alert rule

Grafana Alerting uses the term alert rule to describe the Grafana feature that includes both Grafana-managed alert rules and Data source-managed alert rules. For more information, refer to Alert rules.

Caution

Don’t confuse this with an alerting rule .

alerting rule

An alerting rule is a Prometheus concept reused in Grafana Mimir. For more information refer to Alerting Rules.

Caution

Don’t confuse this with an alert rule .

C

CHANGELOG

When naming a file or making a general reference to CHANGELOGs, spell using all caps. When referencing a specific CHANGELOG file, match the same capitalization of that file.

D

data source

Use this rather than datasource for the noun form.

Also, use data source plugin rather than data-source plugin.

While most compound adjectives require a hyphen, it’s left out in this case to maintain consistency with the naming of data sources in the application and reduce confusion.

Note

For other compound adjectives, use a hyphen unless otherwise specified.

dialog box

Use this rather than modal or dialog.

This guidance intentionally differs from Google style guide advice, which prefers just dialog because dialog box is a user-friendly term that’s easy to understand.

Use this rather than dropdown or drop down.

H

hover over

Use this rather than hold the pointer over or point to.

M

Use this rather than hamburger menu or kebab menu.

N

Node Exporter

When referring to the product, Prometheus Node Exporter, capitalize both words in the term Node Exporter. Don’t use Node exporter or node exporter.

When referring to the tool, use node_exporter. The text should always be pre-formatted (in “code” font).

Q

quickstart

Use the compound adjective without a hyphen whether the noun is implied or explicit. For example, you can use quickstart guide or just quickstart. If you are using the noun form, write as two words.

R

React

Use this rather than React.js or ReactJS.

README

When naming a file or making a general reference to READMEs, spell using all caps. When referencing a specific README file, match the same capitalization of that file.

S

SQL (Structured Query Language)

The article—a or an—that you use before the acronym SQL depends on how the word is pronounced.

When referring to the product Microsoft SQL Server, SQL should be pronounced “sequel”. In this case, use the article a, as in a SQL Server analysis.

When referring to the term in any other context, such as SQL databases, errors, or servers, SQL should be pronounced “ess-cue-el”. In this case, use the article an, as in an SQL error.

T

time series

Use this rather than timeseries for the noun form.

When you need to use the adjective form, use time-series rather than timeseries.