Splunk® Style Guide

Splunk Style Guide

The guidelines in the Splunk Style Guide establish best practices for writing technical documentation. Search docs.splunk.com to find documentation related to Splunk products.

Keyboard shortcuts

Follow these guidelines when writing keyboard shortcuts in Splunk documentation.

Operating system keyboard shortcuts

If the action a user takes on a keyboard is a well-known operating system command, focus on the outcome rather than the keyboard shortcut and use device-agnostic language. See Use device-agnostic language.

Do this Don't do this
Copy your token. Select Control+C to copy your token.


Splunk product keyboard shortcuts

If you're writing a keyboard shortcut that's specific to a Splunk product, follow these guidelines:

  • Use initial capitalization, plus ( + ) signs, and no spaces between key names and symbols.
  • Use capital letters to represent letter keys.
  • Don't format keys in bold or monospace font.
  • Spell out the name of the keys where space allows.
  • Don't use symbols instead of key names.

See the following examples:

Do this Don't do this
Command+Shift+Z ⌘ + Shift + Z
Control+1 Ctrl + 1


Writing keyboard shortcuts in a confined space

If you're working within a space constraint, such as in a UI or a table column, it's okay to abbreviate key names like Ctrl, Cmd, Del, and Esc.

Differences in Mac and PC keyboards

There are differences between Mac keyboards and PC keyboards, which are used for Windows and *nix, such as the Command, Control, Option, Alt, and Windows keys. Include both keyboard shortcut variations as a sentence or a table. See the following examples:

Correct as a sentence
Select Control+N for Mac or Alt+N for Windows or *nix.
Correct as a table 
You can use the following keyboard shortcuts in the playbook editor:
Action Mac Windows or *nix
Add block panel Command+B Control+B
Add prompt block Command+8 Control+8
Auto arrange playbook Command+Shift+F Control+Shift+F
Toggle Python editor Command+E Control+E
Show hotkeys Command+? Control+?
Last modified on 31 January, 2024
Example names and domains   Misplaced modifiers

This documentation applies to the following versions of Splunk® Style Guide: current


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