Here are some of the
common agreed rules for using
Internet-based
terms from
The Everyday Writer and
Wired.
- Email addresses in your prose:
- When an email address is to be used in a writeup, and it is not an actual link for sending email, italicize it.
- If the email address is a parenthetical object, include parenthesis around the italicized address. For example: "Send mail to Rancid_Pickle (rancid_pickle@everything2.com)".
- When email addresses don't fit in a sentence, do not break them up and add a hyphen. Attempt to just push it to the next line using the <br> tag. If you must break up the address, break it before the @ sign or in the letters. Don't break where there are periods, it may confuse the reader.
- Using URLs:
- Italicize your URLs. It helps to separate them from the normal text.
- Domain names are normally lowercase.
- If a URL is very long, do not break it at a hyphen, a protocol tag (http://, ftp:// or even gopher://) or after a punctuation mark (~, -, _, /, \, |, .). You can break before a punctuation mark and carry it to the next line.
- Avoid using redundant terms:
- CD disc (translates to compact disc disc).
- PIN number (translates to personal identification number number).
- DOS operating system (you get the idea).
- LCD display.
- RAM memory.
- Use jargon correctly:
- Browser: Software for viewing pages on the World Wide Web.
- Internet: Always capitalized and preceded by "the" unless it is a modifier. Includes the World Wide Web, newsgroups, forums, etc.
- World Wide Web, the Web: Always capitalized. The Web is an application running on the Internet.
- Always use acronyms that are appropriate to the audience, or explain them the first time they are used.
I hope these help you with your writeups.