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- publishing standalone government documents - they are date-stamped, and usually not updated when once published
- white papers, strategy documents and reports
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- when you should be adding an attachment to another content format
- for meeting minutes (these should be attached to the correct governance page)
- for videos
Writing and formatting for publications
Content should follow the GDS style guide and guidance on writing for GOV.UK:
- titles should be short and user-friendly
- titles should be front-loaded, with the most important words at the start of the sentence
- the summary should be short (up to 160 characters) and end with a full stop
- body copy should describe the publication in plain, neutral language
Additional considerations when creating publicationsYou should also consider if:
- publication pages should be short and straightforward
- users need to know if they should open the document, and if the information meets their needs
- relevant keywords and phrases should be included for search and SEO purposes
HTML publications are presented on GOV.UK just like other document formats (such as PDFs) except they are created in HTML format.
Using collections
Document collections can be used to group content together if:
- there's a real user need to view that set of documents in one location
- there is a need that cannot be met by another format, for example topic pages or policies
Collections function as an index, that helps users to explore content that must exist in one place.
For example, a collection of road traffic statistics.
Collections should not be used :
- to group documents that are only linked by a common theme - in this case a topic page or policy is appropriate
- to group parts of a single document - instead, all the attachments can be added to a single publication page
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How to ensure pages display correctly in search engines
Titles of documents should be 65 characters in length, maximum.
This is because when the page appears in search, Google will only display up to 65 characters from the title.
If the title is longer than 65 characters, the title will be shortened in the search results.