Style Guide

This website should follow the CSU Writers Style Guide. When adding or editing content, keep in mind these issues that occurred in previous versions of the site:

  • Abbreviations: Use etc. to mean “and so forth.” Use an ellipsis only to omit material from a quotation.
  • Acronyms: Plurals of acronyms are formed by adding an s, with no apostrophe unless possessive, e.g. LTIs, TAs. (But plurals of letter grades use an apostrophe, e.g. A’s and B’s.)
  • Ampersands: Use and instead of & except in navigation where there is a space constraint.
  • Capitalization:
    • Only use title case in main headings (h1, h2) which are not sentences or more than a few words.
      • Do not capitalize short words like a, an, and, in, on, or, the, to.
    • Seasons and semesters: Capitalize only when part of a specific name or time, e.g. Fall 2018, summer session, next semester.
    • Do not capitalize these words and phrases in general use: college, department, freshman, sophomore, website
    • To use correct capitalization and spacing for names and acronyms, refer to the website where they are defined.
      • CSU ID, eID, eName, ePassword, RamPoint, RAMweb, ARIESweb, Canvas Gradebook, SpeedGrader, Echo360, Unizin, Cidi Labs, TILT, noncredit
  • Compound words: When these are used as a verb, use two words; when used as a noun or adjective, use one word:
    • Verb: log in, sign up, check out, time out, set up
    • Adjective/noun: login, sign-up, checkout, timeout, setup
  • Dates: Unless there is a space constraint or for alignment in a table column,
    • Spell out day and month names.
    • Do not abbreviate March, April, May, June or July.
  • Emphasis: Avoid exclamation marks and limit use of bold and all caps, which may be perceived as shouting.
  • Lists: Use numbers only when order matters. Otherwise, use bullets. Don’t use a hyphen or asterisk as a bullet.
  • Simple words: Never use a long word when a short one will do, e.g. utilize use, assist(ance) help.
  • Times: Use a.m. and p.m. and omit minutes if zero, e.g. use 5 p.m. instead of 5:00 PM.
  • Typography:
    • Replace double spaces with single spaces.
    • Use all caps sparingly.
    • Italics: Use instead of underlining (to avoid confusion with hyperlinks).