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Procedural content type

In this article

Procedural content gives context on how a task fits into someone's larger goal.

Important

Articles in the "Contributing to GitHub Docs" section refer to the documentation itself and are a resource for GitHub staff and open source contributors.

Procedural content helps people complete a task from start to finish while they are using GitHub.

We create procedural articles and procedural sections within larger articles.

How to write procedural articles

For the procedural content template, see "Templates."

  • Follow the style guidelines for procedural steps in "Style guide".
  • Procedural content can get repetitive––look for opportunities to group related content into a single longer article.
    • Group multiple related procedures into a single article unless there's a reason not to.
    • If disabling a setting or undoing a task requires the same steps and has no special implications, do not write a separate procedure.
    • If disabling a setting or undoing a task requires different steps or has important or special implications, create a longer article to contain both procedures. Use an agnostic title.
  • Tell readers the expected outcome of the procedure.
  • Include troubleshooting tips as frequently as possible.

Titles for procedural content

  • Procedural articles or procedural sections within articles are task-based and begin with a gerund.
    • Use: "Applying for a student developer pack"
  • Use active and specific verbs (brainstorm or use a thesaurus when needed).
  • Titles specifically describe the task contained within the article or header, but are general enough to reflect all of the content.
  • Article title length: maximum 80 characters, 60 if possible.

Examples of procedural content