DigitalOcean Products

Use the following rules when referring to DigitalOcean and its products in documentation and other written content. These guidelines ensure consistent naming, capitalization, and terminology across Product Docs.

Trademarks and First Mentions

• Use trademark (™) symbols only on the first mention of a product name in a page or document.
• On first mention, spell out the full product name. On subsequent mentions, use the approved acronym or short form if one exists.

Capitalization and Generic Terms

• Lowercase common nouns that are not part of an official product name. For example, load balancer, volume, and project.

• Capitalize official product names and branded features as defined under DigitalOcean Terminology.

DigitalOcean Usage

• Use “DigitalOcean” only when it adds clarity or distinguishes the product from a generic term. Avoid repeating “DigitalOcean” multiple times in the same sentence or heading.
• Use “we” when speaking as the company in first-person contexts.
• “DO” is acceptable only when the audience already understands the brand context. Prefer “DigitalOcean” in external-facing content.

DigitalOcean Terminology

This section defines approved terminology, capitalization, and naming conventions for DigitalOcean products and interfaces. Use these rules to ensure clarity and consistency across all documentation.

Control Panel Capitalization

Use “DigitalOcean Control Panel” or “Control Panel” to refer to the DigitalOcean web interface at cloud.digitalocean.com.

Capitalize “Control Panel” when referring to the DigitalOcean product or interface.

For example:

• “In the Control Panel, click Create.”
• “You can manage Droplets from the Control Panel.”

Use lowercase control panel only when referring generically to a non-DigitalOcean interface.

For example:

• “Many hosting providers offer a web-based control panel.”

Because most Product Docs refer to the DigitalOcean Control Panel, capitalization should be consistent by default unless the context is explicitly generic.

Capitalized Product and Feature Names

Capitalize the following:

• Anything preceded by “DigitalOcean”, such as:

  • DigitalOcean Control Panel
  • DigitalOcean Load Balancer
  • DigitalOcean Droplet Console

  An exception to this rule is “DigitalOcean support plan(s)”.

• 1-Click Application

• App Platform

• Cloudways

• Cloudways Academy

• Droplet

• Spaces

• Model Playground

• Agent Playground

Spaces Terminology

• Use “Spaces bucket” on first mention in a document.
• Use “bucket” on subsequent mentions.
• Use “Spaces Standard Storage” and “Spaces Cold Storage” to distinguish between storage classes.

Gradient AI Terminology

All AI products are part of the DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI Agentic Cloud.

• On first mention in a document, precede product names with “DigitalOcean Gradient™ AI” (include the trademark).

• Always pair “Gradient AI” with an approved descriptor:

  • Platform
  • Agentic Cloud
  • Playground

• Never use “Gradient AI” alone.

• Do not place “Gradient” and “AI” next to each other without a descriptor.

• Use “Gradient AI Platform” without the definite article.

Acronyms and Short Forms

In alignment with our acronym style:

• Spell out the following on first mention with its acronym in parenthesis:

  • DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS)
  • DigitalOcean Container Registry (DOCR)

• Use the acronyms only on subsequent mentions.

DigitalOcean or DO?

Internally, we often refer to the company as “DO”. Because this shorthand assumes familiarity with the brand, its use depends on audience and context.