Wording

At Shopware, tone of voice plays a central role in our brand identity. Through a consistent and authentic tone, we aim to resonate with our users, establish trust, and create memorable experiences that reflect our commitment to innovation, reliability, and customer-centricity.

Writing goals

Empower: Help people understand Shopware by using language that informs them and encourages them to make the most of our products.

Respect: Treat readers with the respect they deserve. Put yourself in their shoes and don't patronize them. Be considerate and inclusive.

Educate: Tell readers what they need to know, not just what we want to say. Give them the exact information they need, along with opportunities to learn more.

Engage: Write to engage the reader, capturing their interest with relevant content and a conversational tone.

Our approach

Clear: Understand the topic you're writing about. Use simple words and sentences.

Useful: Before you start writing, ask yourself: What purpose does this serve? Who is going to read it? What do they need to know?

Friendly: Write like a human. All of our content, from website copy to system alerts, should be warm and human.

Appropriate: Adapt your tone depending on who you're writing to and what you're writing about.

Active voice

You should (almost) always write in the active voice. In active voice, the subject does the action. In passive voice, the action is done to the subject.

Tip: Words like "was" and "by" often indicate passive voice. Scan for these and rework sentences where they appear.

When to use passive voice:

• To avoid referring to yourself or Shopware, for example, "Invoices are created monthly and emailed to you" avoids an unnecessary Shopware subject
• To make it clear you didn't personally take an action
• When the object is more important than the subject

Inclusive language

We champion people-first language: keep the individual as the most important part of the sentiment and don't concentrate on characteristics like gender, sexual orientation, religion, or ability unless it's relevant.

Race and ethnicity

Gender

Sexual orientation and gender identity

Abbreviations and acronyms

Write in plain language. If there's a chance your reader won't recognize an abbreviation or acronym, spell it out the first time you mention it. Then use the short version for all other references.

Tip: If the abbreviation is well known (like API or HTML), use it directly without spelling it out.

Capitalisation

Shopware feature names are capitalised in every context. They need to stand out whenever they are mentioned.

Examples: Rule Builder, Sales Channel, Flow Builder, B2B Components.

Capital letters are used at the beginning of every sentence. Subsequent words within a sentence are generally not capitalised unless they are proper nouns or feature names.

Buttons

Button labels should be as short as possible. Use a verb that describes the action.

If the context alone does not make the action clear, add a noun and, if necessary, a preposition.

Do not use articles.

Addressing users

In English, use "you" and "your" for all audiences.

In German, use the informal address for users. In the Shopware Admin, Du, Dich, Dir, and Dein are capitalised as a sign of respect, even though standard German grammar does not require it.

Example: Speichere das Produkt, bevor Du die Seite verlässt.

Glossary

For a full reference of approved English and German terms, see the Glossary page.