Writing Specifications
This page notes any conscious decisions I have made with regard to how certain aspects of writing will be handled here at wion.com, whether it be articles in English or articles in French (which are in the future). To be clear, these guidelines do not mean to suggest proper English and French writing rules (which I generally try and abide by, at least in English) but rather only how certain things will be done here for convenience or clarity.
Editing Guidelines for English Content
No Capitalizations for Internet and Web When Used As Adjectives
For a long time now I’ve towed the line and capitalized the words Internet and Web whenever used in writing, whether as nouns or adjectives; however, from this point on at wion.com I will no longer capitalize these words when used as adjectives. For instance, no more writing Web site with the capitalized “w” on the word web, from now on it’s just web site (two words, no capitals).
This decision is based on similar decisions expressed elsewhere. For example, the MIT Libraries Guidelines for print and web content says capitalize Internet as a noun, but not as adjective (ex: ‘internet resources’)
and capitalize Web as a noun, but not as adjective (ex: ‘web site’),
but it’s their simple argument that does it for me: You will see others use ‘Web site’ but we feel the capitalization is distracting and that there is no risk of confusion without the cap.
I agree completely, and anyway, you can’t argue with the MIT Libraries.
A similar argument is presented by Tony Long, copy chief at Wired News. In his article, It’s Just the ‘internet’ Now, he writes, by lowercasing internet, web and net, Wired News is simply giving the medium its proper due.
I don’t know about proper due, but I like the idea of not having to hit the shift key for these words anymore than necessary.
Editing Guidelines for French Content
These will likely move to a French page when the time comes, but I’ll make note of them here as a reminder to myself if nothing else.
Capitalization of Titles and their Associated Abbreviations
When writing French titles and/or their associated acronyms, I will follow the same rules recognized in English writing and capitalize the first letters of the proper nouns, as well as use capitals in the corresponding abbreviation accordingly. For example, writing the title Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques will always be done just as I wrote it there, by capitalizing the words Institut, National, Statistique, Études, and Économiques, and it’s associated abbreviation, INSEE, will use capitals as well. I don’t know if that’s right or wrong, but apparently neither does most of the French population, which I will try to elucidate in a forthcoming article. Maybe you’ll find the article as curious as I found it to be therapeutic.
