My web styleguide

This styleguide is a work-in-progress and therefore subject to change. I appreciate any feedback.

Basis:
The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law will serve as the basis for my online styleguide. While I will make a few changes, I will adhere for the most part to the guidelines in the AP stylebook, because it is the one most journalists use. Since the stylebook was intended to serve print journalists, however, I think some modifications can be made for online journalism. The guidelines for writing about the internet have changed frequently as well, so I will be listing my own guidelines for certain terms. (For instance, internet will be lowercase, and website will be lowercase and one word.) A special section on internet terms will be included.

Target audience:

Since I will be critiquing the websites of newspapers, I want to write in a style that their employees will recognize. These journalists make up my key target audience. The AP stylebook is used by most newspapers, making it recognizable to both journalists and regular newspaper readers. I plan to submit my final paper to a conference, so I will also have to take into consideration an academic audience. I think that a majority of academics would be familiar with AP style, though, and this consideration will have little influence on the style I use for my blog.

"mindset" of the audience:

The mindset of the audience I would like to reach is utilitarian. They will not be searching for ways to amuse themselves or pass the time. If they work in a newsroom environment, most likely they have little time to sift through long passages or wait for pictures to load. They will want to get in, get the information they need and get out. I will need to organize the information in a way that will allow them to scan or search for specific topics. I would like my blog to serve as a model for the types of Web strategies I will be advocating.

Tone: A straight-forward, businesslike tone will probably work best. Humor should be used sparingly, if at all. Though many journalists have good senses of humor, I think sarcasm and humor could too easily be misunderstood, especially if read by an international audience.

Hyperlinks:
I would like to provide them with links to the Web sites of newspapers, as well, to see examples of the things I will be critiquing.

Font size:

Headings should be written in 20 point font and bold. Only the first word of headings and subheads will be capitalized. Subheads will be italicized and in 16 point font. All text will be black and in Times New Roman, except for hyperlinks, which will be in blue and underlined.

Lists:
All lists will follow the regular format, but will be vertical and bulleted. If an item in a list serves as a hyperlink, it will follow the guidelines for hyperlinks. Items in a list will not be followed by a period unless written in sentence form. Example:

Athletes can do three things to avoid injury:
1. Stretch before and after exercising
2. Hydrate before, during, and after exercising
3. Warm up properly before exercising

If you have trouble getting up in the morning, you can
1. go to bed earlier,
2. avoid exercise before bedtime,
3. or set an alarm clock across the room.

Navigation elements:
I would like to place navigation elements near the top of the screen on my blog, so they are visible and easy to use. I would like to incorporate a search function, so that content can be found easily, without scrolling through pages of text.

Internet terms:

blog – a weblog. AP stylebook says to explain that it means Web log or Web journal. Blog is acceptable on first use for the purposes of this stylebook.

email – instead of e-mail, or electronic mail.

internet – lowercase

internet addresses – do not use the http:// or ftp:// protocol unless necessary. Websites should be hyperlinked to the sites.


PC – personal computer.

Mac – a personal computer produced by Apple Computers. Short for Macintosh.

webmaster – usually the person at a company or organization who designs and manages the website for that company or organization. Gender neutral.

website – lowercase and one word