Writer's Style Guide

Introduction
Abbreviations
Capitalization
Dates, Numbers, Places
Plurals & Possessives
Punctuation Primer
Sensitivities
Titles
Tech Talk
Tricky Words
Pet Peeves
Proofreaders' Marks

Tech Talk

New terms and variations emerge rapidly. In making some of these judgments, we have referred to “Wired Style: Principles of English Usage in the Digital Age,” from the editors of Wired as our guide.

We also have referred to the Style Guide created by the Information Technology Services Communications Group at The University of Texas at Austin.

Frequently Used E-terms

dial up (verb)	dial-up (adjective) account
e-mail (with hyphen)
Internet (cap “I”)
log in (verb)	login (noun)
log out (verb)	logout (noun)
multimedia (one word, no hyphen)
Net (cap “N,” no apostrophe)
offline (one word, no hyphen)	online (one word, no hyphen)
Web site (two words, cap “W”)

Web Words

Although references to the Web itself use a cap W, these Web-based words use a lower case w.

webcast	A live broadcast on the Web
webmaster	The creator of a site
webzine	Media of the Web and for the Web

Common Acronyms

CC	carbon copy (BCC - blind carbon copy)
CD	compact disc (plural CDs)
dpi	dots per inch (lower case, never spelled out)
EPS	encapsulated postscript
FAQ	frequently asked question
FPS	frames per second
FTP	file transfer protocol
GIF	graphic interchange format
GUI	graphical user interface (plural GUIs)
HTML	hypertext markup language
IP	Internet protocol
ISP	Internet service provider
JPEG	joint photographic experts group
LAN	local area network
OOP	object-oriented programming
RAM	random access memory
ROM	read-only memory
RSI	repetitive strain injury
TCP/IP	transmission control protocol/Internet protocol
TIFF	tagged image file format
WAN	wide area network

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