UI Copy

Write or review UI copy for the following: $ARGUMENTS

Apply the UI copy rules from the content style guide below.

UI Copy Rules

General UI Principles

• Sentence case everywhere: capitalize first word and proper nouns only
• No periods in UI text unless it's a full sentence (body text, descriptions, help text)
• No articles (a, an, the) in labels and short UI strings — use them in full sentences only
• Active voice, present tense
• Clear, concise — users scan, they don't read

Headings & Subheadings

• Informative and descriptive: tell users what they'll find in the section
• Single sentence maximum
• Sentence case
• No punctuation (no periods, commas, semicolons)
• No articles unless essential

Sentences / Body Copy

• Start with an imperative verb when telling users what to do: "Add your first item…"
• Do NOT use permissive language like "you can"
• ✅ "Add your first item and see how it looks in the list."
• 🚫 "You can add your first item so you can see how it looks."

Buttons

• Lead with a strong verb
• Formula: {verb} + {noun} — "Add secret", "Upload photo", "Start quick launch"
• Common actions are exceptions: "Done", "Close", "Cancel", "OK"
• Sentence case, no period
• ✅ "Add action" 🚫 "Add Action" or "Upload a photo"

Links

• Describe where the user will go or what they'll see
• Never use "click here" or "here" as link text
• In sentences: link only the descriptive text, not the whole sentence
• Outside sentences: use {verb + noun} pattern — "Learn more", "View details"
• No trailing punctuation (except question marks when needed)
• ✅ "Get started with our guide to Nextflow."
• 🚫 "Want to learn more about Nextflow? Click here."

Dropdown Menus

• Actions follow {verb} + {noun} pattern
• If context is clear, verb alone is fine
• ✅ "Rename", "Duplicate" 🚫 "Duplicate this order so that you can make edits"

Lists

• Introduce with a colon or heading
• Each item starts with a capital letter
• If any item has 2+ sentences, punctuate all items; otherwise no punctuation
• No commas or semicolons at the end of list items
• Consistent tense and structure across all items

Error / Alert Messages

• State: "No [items] are [verb in past tense] yet." e.g., "No pipelines are configured yet."
• Item available but unused: "No [item] in use."
• Search result: "No [item] found."
• Unavailable: "No [item] available."
• Error: be specific and plain — "Sign-in error: You entered an incorrect password"
• 🚫 "System error (code: #1235): An authentication error has occurred"

Confirmations

• Title: concise {verb} + {noun} question, sentence case, question mark only, no articles
  • ✅ "Delete workflow?" 🚫 "Are you sure you want to delete the workflow?"
• Body: one line, plain language; clearly state if irreversible. Don't start with "Are you sure?"
• Buttons: one-word CTAs are fine in context — "Cancel" / "Delete"
• Always give option to confirm or cancel

Tooltips

• Short, no period
• Sentence case

Placeholder Copy

• No ellipses ("Search files" not "Start typing to search for files…")
• No period

Empty States

• Explain what's missing and what the user can do
• Start with an imperative verb or a brief description

Output Format

Provide the UI copy for each component requested. For reviews, list issues and fixes using:

Issue: [quote] Rule: [rule violated] Fix: [corrected copy]