Remove, delete, add, or create
Four words that are easy to mix up. Using them consistently tells people what will happen.
These words look interchangeable, but they tell people something different. Used consistently, they answer an important question before it is asked: can I undo this?
- Remove takes something away, but it still exists, or can be added back. Removing a user from a group, removing a card from a dashboard, removing a label from a device.
- Delete destroys something for good. It cannot be undone. Deleting an automation, deleting a backup, deleting a user.
If in doubt, ask: does the thing still exist afterwards? Then it is remove.
- Add puts something that already exists somewhere. Adding a device to an area, adding a user to a group, adding a card to a dashboard.
- Create makes something new from scratch. Creating an automation, creating a dashboard, creating a backup.
The words come in pairs. Something you add, you remove. Something you create, you delete.