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Punctuation

Minimalist punctuation

Always consider whether necessary

! Exclamation mark for high-level warnings only!

? Question mark only if necessary

: Use colons: especially to introduce lists

. Full stops at the end of all full sentences

. Full stops before all file extensions: .csv .txt .zip

. Consistent use of full stops throughout the application

Ellipsis only for transitional text: Upload…

' Single quotation mark for possession: Customer’s role (single), customers’ roles (plural)

No quotation mark or brackets for plurals: PDFs

& Avoid ampersands unless in a product or company name: Siemens & Halske AG

* Avoid asterisks in applications

( Avoid brackets ( ) and [ ]

; Avoid semi-colons

: Avoid and remove colons whenever possible, for example Username instead of Username:

Formats

  • 12-hour clock: 11am and 11pm or 11AM and 11PM

  • 24-hour clock: 11:00 and 23:00

  • Date: Monday, January 12, 2021

  • Money: $400,456.50

  • Measurement and quantities: 30 mm

  • Hyphen for ranges: 10-40%

  • Numbers: Use No. as an abbreviation for number, no spacing between abbreviated No. and number: No.8

11am
11 a.m.
Monday, January 12, 2021
Monday, 12 January 2021
€999.50
€999,50
€2.5 million
€2,5 million
$400,456.50
$400.456,50
£320
320£
30 mm
30 mms
10 oz
10 oz.
10-40%
10–40%
No.7
#7
Number 7
Num 7

Spacing

  • No space before %

  • No space before colon, semi-colon, ellipsis

  • Add a space after colon or semi-colon

  • Add a space before and after equation marks, hyphens and em dashes

  • Add a space before unit of measurement

50%
50 %
11am
11 am
Tuesday: no data
Tuesday: no data
Browse…
Browse …

Lists

  • Consistent use of full stops in lists / bullet points

  • If lists / points are not full sentences, do not use full stops

  • Use fragments or full sentences in lists, not both

  • If a bullet / list item has two sentences, use full stops for this point and all others

  • Make lists parallel, i.e. all items / bullets have the same look, length, feel, punctuation, capitalization

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