Last week, this self-proclaimed editing geek stumbled upon an unexpected gift: a styleguide for web writing. At first look, it seemed to be what I had been hoping my beloved The Associated Press (AP) Stylebook would become.
Yahoo! has published its own web content style guide. However, it’s not the new guide I’m interested in. In browsing the Yahoo! Styleguide website, I came across the Yahoo! Word List, an alphabetical listing of all the words and phrases we aren’t sure how to spell or use properly online. To me, this is the true web styleguide. It was like receiving my first, very own spiral-bound copy of the AP Stylebook all over again.
The actual Yahoo! Styleguide doesn’t seem to be a web version of the AP bible. I think the use of the word “styleguide” is simply a clever marketing ploy—I know these things, now that I’m a marketer.
The “styleguide” is more of a “How to Write for the Web” textbook, with best practices on writing for the web, knowing your audience and developing a voice for your site. This could be helpful how-to information, but it was the Yahoo! Word List that caught my eye. The word list is where you can learn that “dpi” stands for “dots per inch” and that you should use the phrase “pull-down menu” instead of “drop-down box.” Or, that mashup is one word when used as a noun or adjective but two words—mash up—when used as a verb. I’ve always wondered what the plural was when discussing more than one computer mouse. Turns out, it’s mice, just like the fuzzy rodents.
I’ve already found a couple of entries that AP and I both disagree with, such as whether “data” is a plural or singular noun. AP and I say “data” is plural, even though it always sounds awkward. But Yahoo! is taking a stand and calling for a singular verb, saying it should be treated as a mass noun, like “information” as in, “The data/information is lost.” And for Yahoo!’s take on an ongoing debate? The word list calls for “website” and “email” as singular words, no hyphens, no capitals. Great decision! AP recently went lowercase for “website” also but, for reasons unknown to anyone, is sticking firm to “e-mail” with a hyphen.
Perhaps the best part about the Word List? Yahoo! encourages you to download it and add your own words to create your own personal Word List. Now, if an editing geek doesn’t have fun with that, there’s just no joy left.
So, what’s your take on these dueling stylebooks? What do you think of the new word list?
[image: vauvau]
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Why is it that I feel this signifies the crumbling of age-old standards?
Bill–how so? Are you afraid we’ll be writing LOL and BTW in our articles b4 2 long? I have that fear, as well! At first look, I think this stylebook could help answer some of the questions editors have had about words and phrases that AP and others don’t address.