Friday, 15 May

Situation

Three real entries from Ableton release notes. Unclear which tense rule applies to which.

1. "The filter decay in Drum Sampler's 8bit effect can now be disabled by turning the decay parameter all the way up."
2. "Parameter naming for the delay sections across devices has been improved."
3. "Added new Audio Effect Racks (Vocal Strip Complete, Guitar Amp Stack)."

Task

Build a tense map — when do we use which form.

Action

Entry 1 → Release note. Present tense. "can now" = new user capability. ✓

Entry 2 → Past passive. Vague. "has been improved" doesn't say what changed for the user. Better: "Delay section parameter names are now consistent across devices."

Entry 3 → Past participle. "Added" = changelog bullet style. Weaker than user-facing. "You can now use Vocal Strip Complete and Guitar Amp Stack Audio Effect Racks." is stronger.

Bug/fix entries → passive voice is standard here. "Fixed an issue where X was Y." Not the same as doc passive — it's the required form for fixes. Prominently passive, intentionally.

Release notes = user perspective first. "Added X" = product side. "You can now use X" = user side. Always the second.

Result

Tense map:

• Bug / Fix → past tense, passive is standard. "Fixed an issue where..."
• Release note → present tense, user-first. "X can now Y." / "On [Platform], it is now possible to..."
• Changelog bullet → past participle. "Added X." / "Improved Y." / "Updated Z."
• Manual / instruction → imperative or present. "Select X", "Click Y", "Use X to Y"

Key rule: release notes frame from the user's perspective, not the product's.

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