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Content guidelines for Help and Support

Introduction

Welcome to the Thomson Reuters help content writing style guide. This guide is for writing self-help content about our products; it's not for Reuters News.
Our goal is to keep things simple and clear so everyone can understand, no matter their ability. Our help content is available in the same languages as our applications.
We write in plain language - like people talking to people. We remain positive and are here to support our customers.
Ultimately, TR's goal is to make it easy for customers to use our products with as little help as possible. But we know our products can be complex, so our help content focuses on what people need to do, not how the product works. For most people, time is money and time spent trying to get help is not the way you make money!
Our self-help content strategy and design aligns with our overall TR brand guidelines.

Our principles

Keep it simple.
  • Break content down so everyone can follow along.
  • Start with the benefit, then show them how to get there.
  • Use active (rather than passive), confident, and positive language.
  • Get to the point. Don't beat around the bush.
Be conversational.
  • Use "we" and "our" to sound more human.
  • Stick to plain language. Skip the jargon.
  • Use contractions. Write like you speak!
  • Don’t worry about ending sentences with prepositions if it keeps things simple.
Connect the dots.
  • Structure content in manageable parts that help readers move through the information.
  • Make the next step clear.
  • Focus on what we can do, not what we can't.
  • Don't split up processes across different articles or products.
Write for everyone (including AI).
  • If it's not accessible, it's not useful.
  • Avoid visual cues like referring to colors or directions on screen.
  • Avoid idioms, metaphors, and words that are hard to understand or translate.

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