Stylebot new client checklist

Welcome to Stylebot! Stylebot is designed to make your editing workflow faster, easier and more fun. Once you have Stylebot installed, follow the steps below to get started. If you ever have questions or feedback, email [email protected] or [email protected].

1. Ensure you have access to the USC Annenberg Style Guide, which powers Stylebot, by starting a direct message with Stylebot and saying “hello.”
2. Ask your first question! Stylebot works best if you ask questions with one word or phrase, but you can also ask conversational questions such as, “Should I use homeless or unhoused?” If you don’t know where to start, try typing, “Help me avoid common writing mistakes.” That will show you some of Stylebot’s most popular entries and will give you reminders about commonly confused words.
3. Add Stylebot to channels: Where do people ask style guide questions or share copy for editing? Stylebot is a good addition to all those channels. Some channels that have worked for other organizations: copy editing, grammar and style, breaking news, style guide. You can add Stylebot by simply typing “@Stylebot” in the “Message” box, selecting the bot and hitting enter. You’ll get a message asking you to confirm you want to add Stylebot. Hit “Add to Channel,” and Stylebot will send its first message. But don’t worry, otherwise it won’t speak unless spoken to in channels 🤐
4. Use Stylebot in channels: Once you’ve added Stylebot to a channel, you can have it answer a question in the channel by typing “@Stylebot,” followed by your word or question. Try asking Stylebot, “@Stylebot When do I use person-first language?” for this step.
5. Try Stylebot in threads: If you’re a Slack user, you can use Stylebot in threads to respond to people’s questions.
6. Try buttons: Many of Stylebot’s answers have buttons that lead you to related style guide entries. If you haven’t seen any yet, try typing in “numbers,” then select one of the options below the answer, such as “fractions.”
7. Access Stylebot’s user guide: If Stylebot can’t answer your question, you should get a response that gives you further instruction, with a button that allows you to access our user guide. You’ll find more instructions about using Stylebot there. If you get an irrelevant answer using Stylebot, you can always type “that didn’t help” to get to this message.
8. Share your feedback! We always love to hear from our users. You can write, “suggestion box” at any time, and Stylebot will give you links to forms where you can share feedback with our team.
9. ~Surprise and delight~ your team: If you ever want to remind people about Stylebot and put a smile on their faces, try popping one of these entries into a channel by writing one of the keywords below:
   • gif
   • Hollywood
   • “Mean Girls” Day
   • meme
   • RSVP
   • scuba
   • Secret Service
   • squall

Happy editing!