From 7d8a4d47b95c8c8810e548828ef4974a5637f3e5 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: Suzanne Selhorn <sselhorn@gitlab.com>
Date: Tue, 4 Mar 2025 10:51:11 -0800
Subject: [PATCH] Adding rule for self-referential phrases

---
 .../documentation/styleguide/_index.md            | 15 +++++++++++++++
 1 file changed, 15 insertions(+)

diff --git a/doc/development/documentation/styleguide/_index.md b/doc/development/documentation/styleguide/_index.md
index edcecb88a6331..b70fa6e24f640 100644
--- a/doc/development/documentation/styleguide/_index.md
+++ b/doc/development/documentation/styleguide/_index.md
@@ -214,6 +214,21 @@ Instead, focus on facts and achievable goals. Be specific. For example:
 - You can use this feature to save time when you create a project. The API creates the file and you
   do not need to manually intervene.
 
+### Self-referential writing
+
+Avoid writing about the document itself. For example, do not use:
+
+- This page shows...
+- This guide explains...
+
+These phrases slow the user down. Instead, get right to the point. For example, instead of:
+
+- This page explains different types of pipelines.
+
+Use:
+
+- GitLab has different types of pipelines to help address your development needs.
+
 ### Capitalization
 
 As a company, we tend toward lowercase.
-- 
GitLab