A style guide is a short document that records your organisation’s logo, colours, fonts, style of photography and choice of words. When several staff members or volunteers edit your website, the style guide is what keeps every page recognisable as the work of one organisation.
Why does a website become inconsistent?
The website of an organisation is usually edited by several people over several years, often by volunteers who come and go. Each of them makes reasonable choices, such as a new shade of purple for a campaign, a different font for a poster, or ‘LGBTQIA+’ on one page and ‘queer’ on the next. None of these choices is wrong in itself. Together, however, they make the website look as though it was made by several organisations, which does not help visitors trust what it says.
What should a style guide contain?
Keep the style guide to one or two pages, as a longer document is rarely read. It should cover:
- the logo, with the versions that may be used
- the colours, with their exact colour codes, and which of them may be used for text
- the fonts for headings and body text
- the style of photographs, for example your own photographs of members and events rather than stock photographs
- the words you use for your community and your work
The last point is easily overlooked. Agree, for example, whether your organisation writes ‘LGBTQ+’, ‘LGBTQIA+’ or ‘queer’, and use that choice on every page and in every newsletter.
When you choose the colours for text, check that they are dark enough against the background. Our article Checking your website’s accessibility explains how.
How do you make sure the style guide is used?
A style guide only works when the people who edit your website know that it exists. Give the style guide to every new staff member or volunteer who will edit your website, and keep it where everyone can find it, such as your organisation’s shared drive. Review the style guide once a year and remove any rule that nobody follows, as a style guide that describes an old website is soon ignored.
Part of the style guide can also be built into your website. A WordPress theme can limit the colours and fonts that editors can choose to those in your style guide. Recurring content, such as a call to donate, can be saved as a synced pattern. When you edit a synced pattern, the change appears on every page where the pattern is used.
If you would like your WordPress theme to offer only the colours and fonts in your style guide, please email us at hello@fourteenrockets.com.
