Word List

This word list gives the preferred spelling, capitalization, and punctuation for commonly used Sumo Logic terms, including product components and features, along with usage conventions. It's a usage reference, not a glossary. For definitions of Sumo Logic terms, see the Glossary.

A

Acronym. See Acronyms in the style guide.

Aggregates tab. When referring to the Aggregates tab (where aggregate search results are displayed) the term Aggregates is capitalized.

Aka. Do not use. Write out "also known as" instead.

Ampersand (&). See Ampersands in the style guide.

Anomaly Detection. Always capitalize.

App. When referring to a Sumo Logic app, do not capitalize. No need to spell out application.

Autocomplete. One word, not two. The Sumo Logic feature is called Search autocomplete.

B

Backend. One word in Sumo Logic documentation. Do not use "back-end" or "back end."

C

Checkbox. One word. Do not use "check box" (two words).

Classic UI. Use this term to clarify that you're talking about the legacy UI.

Click. You click a UI element. Do not use "click on".

Collector. Lowercase. collector, hosted collector, and installed collector are descriptive terms, not product names, so they follow the same rule as "collecting events" or "data collection". Capitalize only in a literal UI label, such as the Add Collector button. Exception: OpenTelemetry Collector is a proper product name. Always capitalize it.

Color palette. Use the official Sumo Logic color palette when creating diagrams.

Column. When referring to a column in a dashboard, the term is not capitalized unless it's the only word in a line of UI (for example, in the Add to Dashboard dialog box, "Column" is capitalized). The word "column" does not appear in the main dashboard UI.

D

Dashboard. Lowercase when you mean a dashboard as a concept or a user-created dashboard. Bold and match the on-screen capitalization only when you name an on-screen label, such as the Dashboards page. See UI labels, below.

Dashboard Theme. Choose between light or dark themes for dashboards. Only capitalize Theme when you're referring to the UI element in the Dashboard Properties menu.

Dimension. Used interchangeably with tags.

Drill down. Drill down, as in a menu, or other filtering feature is two words, not one.

Dropdown. Use "dropdown" (one word, no hyphen) as an adjective before a noun: "dropdown list", "dropdown menu". Do not use it as a standalone noun. When possible, describe the action instead: "Select X from the list." Do not use "drop-down" (hyphenated) or "drop down" (two words).

E

E.g., i.e., and etc. Do not use these abbreviations. Use "for example" instead of "e.g.", "that is" instead of "i.e.", and avoid "etc." by listing items explicitly or using "such as." See Abbreviations in the style guide.

Em dash. Try not to use em dashes. Rewrite with a period, semicolon, colon, or parentheses instead. See Dashes in the style guide.

Email. Email is one word, lowercase. Do not use a hyphen, such as "e-mail". Do not capitalize if it is not at the beginning of a sentence.

En dash. Use the en dash (–) only for numeric and date ranges. See Dashes in the style guide.

Exclamation point (!). See Exclamation points in the style guide.

G

GB and Gbit. GB is the acronym for gigabytes. Gbit or Gb is the acronym for gigabits. Make sure to capitalize correctly. Do not use a space between the acronym and the number. (Example: 10GB or 15Gbit.)

Geo lookup operator. Geo lookup is two words.

Geolocation. Geolocation is one word. It is not capitalized unless used at the beginning of a sentence.

H

Hash rule. Hash rules replace a message with a unique, randomly-generated code to protect sensitive or proprietary information. You may want to hash unique identifiers, such as credit card numbers or user names. By hashing this type of data, you can still track it, even though it's fully hidden.

Hosted collector. Hosted collectors do not require installation or registration, nor do hosted collectors have physical requirements, since they're hosted by Sumo Logic in AWS.

I

Include rule. Include rules are a type of processing rule used to send only the data you'd like in your Sumo Logic account (an "allowlist" filter). This type of filter can be very useful when the list of log data you want to send to Sumo Logic is easier to filter than setting up exclude filters for all of the types of messages you'd like to exclude.

Installed collector. Installed collectors are deployed in your environment, either on a local machine, a machine in your org, or even an Amazon Machine Image (AMI). Installed collectors require a software download and installation. Upgrades to collector software are released regularly by Sumo Logic.

J

JavaScript. Always use camelCase.

L

Library. The Sumo Logic Library (formerly the Content Library) is now just the Library. Capitalize.

Lifecycle. One word. Do not use "life cycle" (two words) or "life-cycle" (hyphenated).

Login vs Log In. Login as one word is a noun or an adjective. Log in as two words is a verb. For example, "You can log in on the login page."

M

Manipulate. Avoid. Use "work with", "handle", or "use" instead.

Markdown. Always capitalize. It's a proper noun (the name of the markup language).

MB and Mbit. MB is the acronym for megabytes. Mbit or Mb is the acronym for megabits. Make sure to capitalize correctly. Do not use a space between the acronym and the number. (Example: 10MB or 15Mbit.)

Menu. When referring to a menu in the UI, use "menu" or "dropdown menu." Do not use "list" or "selector."

Messages tab. When referring to the Messages tab (where non-aggregate search results are displayed) the term Messages is capitalized.

Multiline. Should be one word, not two, or hyphenated.

N

Numbers. Spell out zero through nine in prose; use numerals for 10 and up. Always use numerals for measurements, versions, percentages, and UI or code. See the style guide's Numbers section.

O

Operators. "Operators" can refer to log search operators or metrics operators. When the context is ambiguous, use the full phrase. When referring to an operator by name in prose, capitalize only if it begins a sentence; otherwise write the name lowercase in backticks: `where`, `if`.

Org / Organization. Use “org” instead of “organization”, as it sounds more conversational and is the term more commonly used by our customers.

P

Page. When you name a page in the UI, bold the page name, match its on-screen capitalization, and keep the word "page" lowercase and outside the bold: the Search page. Do not use "pane" or "tab" for a page. A tab appears inside a page. (Example: The Messages tab appears on the Search page.) See UI labels, below.

Panel. Lowercase. Put the type right before "panel": "area chart panel", "text panel". Write "dashboard panel" only when the dashboard context is not already clear.

Please. Avoid using please. You're making recommendations on how to use software and services; it's not an inconvenience to the user.

Plugin. Plugin is one word, not two, and no hyphen.

Q

Quotation marks (" " or ' '). Do not use in error or warning messages, or in UI text unless necessary to avoid confusion with situations where " " or ' ' are required.

R

Real time / real-time. Two words as a noun: "Data updates in real time". Hyphenate as an adjective before a noun: "real-time alerts", "real-time dashboard".

Repo. Short for repository. No need to spell out repository as our audience is technical enough for this to be clear.

S

Saved search. Lowercase in prose. Capitalize only when used as a literal UI label.

Scheduled search. Lowercase in prose. Capitalize only when used as a literal UI label.

Search. Search is not capitalized, unless you are referring to the Search page.

Setup vs Set up. Setup as one word is a noun or an adjective. Set up as two words is a verb. For example, "You can set up your collector using the setup procedure."

Source / Sources. Lowercase "source" because it's the generic word for the category, not part of a source's name. Capitalize the service or type name in front of it, matching the Add Source list, and leave source lowercase:

• Local File source
• Remote File source
• Syslog source
• Local Windows Event Log source
• Remote Windows Event Log source
• Script source
• Amazon S3 source
• Amazon S3 Audit source
• HTTP source

Capitalize "Source" only where it's the literal UI text, such as the Add Source button or the Source Templates tab. See UI labels below.

Space bar. Two words, not one.

Sumo Logic. For all references, always use "Sumo Logic," never "Sumo" alone, including in the possessive. This helps our SEO, which is essential for a SaaS offering. To be more conversational, "we" is also fine.

T

Tab. When you name a tab in Sumo Logic, bold the tab's name, match its on-screen capitalization, and keep the word "tab" lowercase and outside the bold. (Examples: Welcome tab, Search tab, Status tab.) See UI labels, below.

Text box. Use text box, not field. A field is a special part of a query.

Third party. Hyphenate as an adjective, not as a noun. For example, "We use third-party scripts" is hyphenated. But "Scripts are written by a third party" is not hyphenated.

Time range. Time range is two words, not one.

Time series. Time series is two words, not one.

Time slice. Time slice is two words, not one.

Time zone. Time zone is two words, not one.

Timeline. Timeline is one word, not two.

Timeout / time out. Use "timeout" as a noun or adjective in computing contexts. Use "time out" as a verb. Do not use "time-out."

Timestamp. Timestamp is one word.

U

UI labels. See Bold and Capitalization in the style guide.

V

Very. Avoid. Filler words like "very", "really", and "quite" do not add information for the reader. See Concise, human phrasing in the style guide.

W

Web Application. Avoid using where possible. "Sumo Logic" or "our product" should be sufficient. If you need to refer to our web application to distinguish from API, do so. Do not capitalize.

Website. Website or websites is one word.

Wildcard. Wildcard is one word.