snipgeek-blog-tone

SnipGeek Blog Writing Tone & Style Guide

This skill defines the writing standard for all SnipGeek blog articles — ensuring every post feels human, consistent, and alive regardless of how minimal the input was.

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Core Concept: Outline → Full Article

The author provides only a brief outline or key points. The AI's job is to expand that into a complete, publish-ready article. The output should never feel like a padded outline — it should read like a real person sitting down and sharing something they genuinely discovered or experienced.

Input from author: bullet points, rough notes, a few key facts, maybe a screenshot path Output expected: a full MDX article with natural flow, personality, and structure — in both English and Indonesian

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Language Strategy

The blog is bilingual. Every article must be produced in both languages.

	English	Indonesian
Status	Primary language	Secondary language
Locale path	en/	id/
Tone	Conversational, clear, slightly casual — like a developer sharing a personal discovery	Same warmth, adapted naturally to Indonesian — not a direct translation
Technical terms	Keep as-is	Keep English terms, italicize if needed: offline, trial, rendering engine

Important: The Indonesian version is not a literal translation of the English. It should be re-narrated naturally in Indonesian. The meaning is the same, but the phrasing should feel native to the language — not translated.

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Voice & Personality

All articles are written in first person ("I" in English, "saya" in Indonesian), as if the author is sharing a real personal experience.

The reader is addressed as "you" (English) / "kamu" (Indonesian) — friendly and direct, not formal.

Character of the writing:

• Honest and personal — tell what actually happened, including doubts or surprises
• Informative without being preachy or lecturing
• Relaxed but trustworthy — casual tone, clean structure
• Never filler — every sentence should earn its place

What to avoid:

• Generic openers like "In this article, we will discuss..."
• Robotic transitions like "Furthermore," "In conclusion,"
• Repeating the same point in different words just to add length
• Bullet-point-ifying everything — prose flows better for narrative sections

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Article Structure

Scope: The structure rules below apply to Blog Posts (_posts/). Technical Notes (_notes/) skip the personal opener and go directly to the technical finding or problem statement. Notes are compact and factual, not narrative.

Opening (Blog Posts only)

Start with personal context — why the author tried this, what problem they were solving. Pull the reader in before introducing any technical details.

Good opening (English):

"I've been using SketchUp to plan home renovations for a while now, and it's been genuinely useful. But since I'm not a professional designer, paying for the Pro version felt unnecessary."

Good opening (Indonesian):

"Saya sudah cukup lama pakai SketchUp untuk merencanakan renovasi rumah — dan memang sangat membantu. Tapi karena bukan desainer profesional, rasanya tidak perlu bayar untuk versi Pro-nya."

Bad opening:

"SketchUp is a popular 3D design software. This article will explain how to download it."

Body

• Use ## and ### headings to break up long content
• Each section follows a rhythm: context → information → personal insight
• Weave in personal reactions between technical facts — this is what separates a blog from documentation
• Use <Expandable> for secondary technical content (specs, comparisons) that doesn't need to be immediately visible. NEVER use <details>/<summary>.

Closing

End with a light call to action — invite comments, mention an alternative, or express a simple hope. Keep it brief and warm.

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MDX Format Reference

Headings

## Main Section Title
### Subsection

<Callout variant="warning" title="Note on Licensing">
  The **Make** version is for **non-commercial** use only...
</Callout>

Blockquote — Updates & Addendums

For information added after initial publish:

> **Update:** After the 30-day trial expired, the software continued to work normally under the SketchUp Make 2017 User license.

Collapsible Technical Content

Use the custom <Expandable> component. NEVER use raw <details>/<summary> — it is not a valid MDX component in SnipGeek and will cause rendering issues.

<Expandable title="Minimum System Requirements" icon="info">
  - 2.1+ GHz Intel Processor
  - 4GB RAM
  - 512MB VRAM
</Expandable>

Icons available: info, help, folder, warning, tip.

Images

![Short descriptive alt text](/images/path/to/image.webp)
*Caption (optional): add only when the image needs context or source attribution.*

Image caption style rules:

• Do not caption every image. Over-captioning makes articles feel noisy.
• If image is externally sourced, include a short credit line (example: Source: OMG Ubuntu).
• If image is your own screenshot, optional context line is enough (example: Screenshot from my test setup).
• Keep captions small, factual, and brief. Avoid repeating alt text.

Links

Use descriptive link text — never "click here":

[Download SketchUp Make 2017 (via Mediafire)](/download/sketchup-make-2017)
[SketchUp for Web](https://app.sketchup.com/app)

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Output Format

When generating a bilingual article from an outline, always output in this order:

## English Version (Primary)

[Full English MDX article]

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## Indonesian Version (id)

[Full Indonesian MDX article — re-narrated, not translated]

Both versions should have the same structure and cover the same points, but each should feel natural in its own language.

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Transformation Example

Input outline from author:

- SketchUp 2017 Make = last free offline version
- Specs: min 2.1GHz Intel, 4GB RAM, 512MB VRAM / rec 2.8GHz, 8GB RAM, discrete GPU
- Not for commercial use — need Pro license for that
- Thought it had a 30-day trial, but after 30 days it still works fine
- Download link available
- Alternative: SketchUp for Web

Expected English opening:

"I've been using SketchUp for home renovation planning for a while — and it's been genuinely helpful. Since I'm not a professional designer though, the paid Pro version always felt like overkill. After some digging, I found that SketchUp 2017 Make is the last officially released version that's both free and works fully offline."

Expected Indonesian opening:

"Sudah cukup lama saya pakai SketchUp untuk bantu perencanaan renovasi rumah — dan memang sangat membantu. Tapi karena bukan desainer profesional, rasanya tidak perlu bayar untuk versi berbayarnya. Setelah riset sebentar, saya menemukan bahwa SketchUp 2017 Make adalah versi gratis terakhir yang dirilis resmi dan bisa dipakai sepenuhnya secara offline."

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Pre-Publish Checklist

Before considering an article done, verify:

• Opening is personal, not generic
• No sentences that repeat the same point with different words
• Technical terms are consistent (capitalization, italics)
• Headings help the reader scan, not just divide content
• Callouts are used only for truly critical information
• Article has a proper closing — not cut off abruptly
• MDX is valid — all tags closed, no broken syntax
• English version reads naturally (not translated from Indonesian)
• Indonesian version reads naturally (not translated from English)
• Both versions cover the same content and structure

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Additional Notes

• Short and dense beats long and repetitive — don't pad
• If the author provides additional notes or updates after the initial draft, weave them into the narrative naturally — don't just append at the end
• Inline updates in existing articles (via blockquotes) are preferred over writing a new article for the same topic