---
title: "Controls"
canonical: "https://documentation.chaos.com/space/DOCSGUIDE/697630731/Controls"
format: markdown
---
This page provides details on writing microcopy for controls.
## **What are Controls?**
---
**Controls **let users make customizations and inform them of the extent and state of those settings. Controls can be toggles or checkboxes. There are usually at least two pieces of text to consider for any particular control: *name *and *state*.
The **name **should be a noun or a verb phrase that names or describes the control in a way that users using the experience will recognize.
The **state **of the control is whether the checkbox is checked, the position of a slider or whether a toggle is flipped left, right, up or down.
## **Rules**
---
- Similar controls must be grouped under the same heading.
Click here to see an example of similar controls grouped together...
This example shows a group of controls with similar functionality – all of them manage advanced light contribution. The control names follow a {verb} + {noun} pattern.
- Use parallel constructions whenever possible to reduce confusion. A set of similar controls should use a similar grammatical form, e.g. “Affect specular, Affect reflections, Affect alpha,” instead of “Affect specular, Affecting reflections, Alpha affected.”
Click here to see an example of failed usage of parallel constructions...
This example shows groups of similar settings that do not follow consistent constructions. Clarity and lack of ambiguity should be the priority. In some cases, parallel constructions cannot be used if they would reduce clarity. For example, here it is not possible to rename the second checkbox “Walkthroughs” because it wouldn’t be clear that ray-traced sun shadows are applied to walkthroughs.
- Use a {noun} or a {verb}, or a combination of {verb+noun} for the name part of the control.
Click here to see an example of controls using different patterns...
- Use sentence case with first word capitalized for multi-word controls in most Chaos products. Enscape is an exception to this rule, and each word in its controls is capitalized unless the name of the control is way too long.
Click here to see an example of capitalization
## **Common Patterns**
---
Common patterns usually are:
- {verb} [the] {noun} such as “Save payment info”
- {common setting name} such as “Notifications”
## **Examples**
---
Some common examples include the Sunlight toggle in Envision’s Environment parameters tab, the Enable Dynamic Texture checkbox in Envision’s Project Settings window, and many more.