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Interactions with web UIs

These are the correct terms to use when describing interactions with web UI controls.

Select​

"Select" is a device-agnostic equivalent for "click" and "tap" that is applicable in the vast majority use cases for web UI interaction. If you know for certain that the user in your use case will only interact using a mouse, use "click" or "double-click." If you know for certain that the user will only interact via touchscreen, use "tap." However, in nearly all cases, "select" is the simplest and recommended option.

Also use "select" when referring to picking an item in Dynatrace Hub.

Entities that can be selected include:

  • Hyperlinks
  • Option buttons
  • Checkboxes
  • List values
  • Menu items
  • Keyboard keys and keyboard shortcuts
  • Text
  • Code snippets
  • An app, technology, or extension in Dynatrace Hub

✅ To override the default resolution, select a different resolution from the list.
✅ Edit the name and then select Save.
✅ To choose a different metric from a multi-metric query, select the letter next to the metric you want to visualize.
✅ You need to select Single value to display this type of visualization.
✅ Select Save.
✅ Select Ctrl+Alt+Del.
✅ Select the Home link.
✅ Select the snippet and copy it to the clipboard.
✅ In Dynatrace Hub, select Carbon Impact.
❌ "Click" Save.
❌ "Tap" the preferred screen resolution.

Go to​

"Go to" describes navigation to a website, file path, or tab.

Also use "go to" to describe navigation to and from a top-level menu item or app in Dynatrace.

✅ Go to the Operating systems tab.
✅ Go to dynatrace.com.
✅ Go to the Product ideas forum in the Dynatrace Community.
✅ Go to Multidimensional Analysis. (Dynatrace web UI example)
✅ In Dynatrace, go to Settings and select Dashboards > General settings.
✅ Go to Workflows > Settings > Authorization Settings. (Dynatrace web UI example)
✅ Go to the user menu in the lower-left corner of the Dynatrace web UI.
❌ Navigate to the Settings page.
❌ Locate the Settings page and select Save.
❌ Open the Operating Systems tab.
❌ Open dynatrace.com.
❌ Open the Settings page.

See, see also​

When referring the user to related content, use "see" rather than "go to."

✅ For complete details, see <Blog post title>.
✅ For installation instructions, see <Documentation page title>.
❌ For complete details, go to <Blog post title>.
❌ For installation instructions, go to <Documentation page title>.

> (greater-than symbols)​

Use a greater-than symbol (>) to separate steps in a sequence of consistent UI navigation actions.

  • Don't use for sequences of mixed actions (for example, going to a location, selecting an option, and saving).
  • Apply bold format to each UI location in the sequence, but don't apply bold format to the > symbols.
  • Insert a space before and after each > symbol.

✅ Go to Settings > Preferences > Management zones.
✅ From the application settings, select General > Data privacy.
✅ On the host details page, select Settings > Edit.
✅ In Dynatrace, go to Settings and select Monitoring > Host naming.
❌ Go to Options > select More > choose an option.

Open​

"Open" describes the display of a UI element following user interaction.

Entities that can be opened by users include:

  • Desktop or mobile applications
  • Dashboards
  • Files
  • Folders
  • Browser tabs and windows
  • Terminal windows

Don't use "open" for commands, menus, tabs, or webpages.

✅ To open your new dashboard, select it from the list.
✅ Open the config file.
✅ Open a new terminal window.
✅ Open a new browser tab.
✅ Select a service name to go to the Service overview page.
❌ Launch Excel.
❌ Launch a new terminal window.
❌ Open the Operating systems tab.
❌ Open the webpage.
❌ Go to your web browser.

Close​

Entities that can be "closed" via user interaction or system behavior include:

  • Desktop or mobile applications
  • Dialogs
  • Files
  • Folders
  • Notifications
  • Alerts
  • Tabs

✅ Save and close the file.
✅ Close any open applications.
✅ Once resolved, detected problems are closed automatically.
✅ When a parent action is closed, OneAgent automatically closes all child actions of the parent action.
✅ You need to close resolved Jira issues manually.
❌ The application shut down when the error was encountered.
❌ Exit the dialog.
❌ Leave the folder and navigate to your desktop.
❌ Exit the application.
❌ Quit the application.

Clear​

Use "clear" to describe:

  • Removing items or entries, such as browser cache or cookies.
  • Removing a selection from a checkbox.
  • Deleting the contents of a folder.
  • Creating an empty state.

✅ Clear your browser's cache so that all cached items are removed and downloaded again.
✅ Select Reset text value if you want to clear the captured credential.
✅ Select or clear checkboxes as needed to add or remove account and environment policies for the group.

Choose​

Use "choose" to instruct the user to make an explicit choice or set a preference from available options.

✅ Choose the right performance metric based on your goals.
✅ Choose the chart type that best visualizes your data.

Sign in, sign in to​

Use "sign in" as a verb in place of "log in" and "log in to."

It's fine to use "login" as a noun to describe a user identification and authentication process for an online system.

✅ Sign in to your Dynatrace account.
✅ Once you've entered your user credentials, select Sign in.
✅ Each user login is logged with a timestamp.
❌ Sign into your Dynatrace account.
❌ Log in to your Dynatrace account.

Switch, turn on, turn off​

"Switch" is a verb that means to change from one option, mode, perspective, or position to another. A user doesn't "toggle" between options.

A toggle is a web UI control that can be turned on or turned off to switch between options. As with buttons, it's best to refer only to the toggle label and not include the word "toggle."

✅ Review the limitations that go into effect when you switch to the latest version.
✅ Go to the Hosts tab to access the toggles that turn on monitoring for individual entities.
✅ Turn off Monitoring for the selected entity.
✅ Build your query on the Build tab and then switch to the Code tab to see the underlying query.
✅ Turn on Automatic updates.
✅ To use the autoupdate feature, ensure that Automatic updates is turned on for the ActiveGate.
❌ Switch off Automatic updates.
❌ Toggle the Automatic updates switch to the On position.

Enter​

Use "enter" to instruct the user to type or paste an input value within a UI or terminal window.

✅ Enter your query in the Search field.
✅ Enter your access key.
✅ Enter the prefix that should be used for issues detected by Dynatrace.
❌ Paste in your access key.
❌ Type your query in the Search field.

Move, drag​

Use "move" to describe the repositioning of something in a web UI, either automatically via program functionality or manually, via user cut and paste. To describe user navigation across or within product pages, use "move through."

Use "drag" only in the context of drag-and-drop functionality where the user selects an on-screen object, drags the object to a new location, and releases the object.

✅ To move multiple tiles, select the area around the tiles with your mouse. Then drag the selected tiles to a new location.
✅ If the current storage location is on a shared volume, you can move the data to a dedicated volume.
✅ You can move rules up and down in the list to change the order in which they're executed.
✅ To add a custom name, drag the Header tile onto your dashboard.
✅ Select and drag Move to drag the selected tiles to a new location.
✅ Select and drag the lower-right corner of the tile to change the size and shape of the tile.
✅ Select the Up and Down arrows to move through the list.
✅ Use the navigation controls to move through the application.
❌ Move the tiles off your dashboard using your mouse.

Zoom, zoom in, zoom out​

Use to describe the action of increasing or decreasing magnification of an on-screen map or chart detail.

✅ Zoom in to the timeline to focus your analysis on the event timeframe.
✅ Zoom in to reduce the analysis timeframe or zoom out to expand it.
✅ Use your browser's zoom feature to expand the view.
❌ Magnify the timeline to focus your analysis on the event timeframe.
❌ Click the + button to magnify the region.