Tips 

InfoTips

ToolTips

Status Bar Tips

A tip appears when the user positions the pointer over items such as buttons, icons, links, and menu commands. It can also appear in the status bar. All tips should be brief and provide useful information about the selected item.

InfoTips

InfoTips are short sentences or sentence fragments that describe what an item does or how it can be used. InfoTips appear when the pointer pauses on a menu command, link, or icon. Not every item requires an InfoTip, either because it is commonplace (for example, the OK button) or already clear (for example, See Also).

When you write an InfoTip, follow these guidelines:

• Be brief. An InfoTip ideally should be a short sentence or sentence fragment.

• Use sentence caps.

• Use ending punctuation.

• Make sure the InfoTip is helpful to the user. For example, a useful tip for the Display icon does not simply repeat the item name.

  Correct	Incorrect
  Change the appearance of your desktop, such as the background, screen saver, colors, font sizes, and screen resolution.	Change desktop.

• Use present tense, not future.

  Correct	Incorrect
  Install or remove programs or Windows components.	Will install or remove programs or Windows components.

  Start the tip with a verb. Use a second- or third-person singular verb, depending on the action that takes place when the user clicks the item.
  For items that user can manipulate upon opening, use a second-person singular verb, such as manage, and describe what the user can do with the item. This is the most common type of InfoTip.

  Correct	Incorrect
  Create and edit documents.	Opens Word

  For items that have an automatic action (one that requires no user manipulation) upon opening, use a third-person singular verb, and describe the function of the selected item.

  Correct	Incorrect
  Shows recently opened files and folders.	Show files and folders

• If the item has multiple functions, you can list them: "Install or remove programs or Windows components."

• If an acronym, such as DHCP, is the name of a service or snap-in, spell out the name in the InfoTip—for example: "Implement Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol."

• Use parallel construction.

• On the Start menu, apply InfoTips only to menu items that don't have submenus. For example, in the following illustration, no tip is required for Administrative Tools because it has a submenu, but a tip is required for Component Services.
  

• If an item displays both a status bar tip and an InfoTip, all text associated with that item should be identical.

ToolTips

ToolTips are short descriptions of a graphical toolbar button or its function. ToolTips appear when the user positions the pointer over a toolbar button.

• Be very brief. A ToolTip is usually no more than one or two words, typically matching the button's corresponding menu command.
• Use title caps.
• Do not use ending punctuation.

Status Bar Tips

Status bar tips display information about the activity in the window, describe a menu command, or indicate progress or other feedback about an ongoing process such as printing, saving a file, or working offline. Status bar tips appear in the area at the bottom of a window.

For more information, see Status Bars.

See Also

Concepts

Capitalization
Status Bars