| Ampersand (&) | Spell out "and" whenever possible. Use & sparingly in headlines or areas that are limited on character counts. |
|---|---|
| Ellipsis | • Always use the ellipsis character, not 3 periods. Spacing and font can vary the size and distance between the dots. |
| • Never add spaces between the ellipsis character and surrounding text. This saves space on UIs. | |
| • Use to show missing text in a quote. | |
| • Use sparingly in long form content to show a pause or trailing off of a thought. | |
| • Use to indicate truncation in specific scenarios such as pagination and article thumbnails. | |
| • Don’t use in placeholder text to indicate an entry is needed. | |
| • Don’t use to indicate activity or waiting. Always provide a realistic time instead. | |
| • Don’t use to indicate more information is available. The text should stand on its own. | |
| Exclamation Point | Use very sparingly. For example, when a user gets an approval for financing the first time it's ok to celebrate the moment. In other mentions, skip the the extra punctuation. |
| Oxford Comma | Use the serial, or Oxford comma, for items in a list unless character counts are very limited. |
| Example: Search our nationwide inventory of new, used, and Certified Pre-Owned cars. | |
| Exception: Do not use serial commas in phrases that use & (ampersand) in place of "and” | |
| Parenthesis | Periods should always be outside of a parenthesis, unless the parenthetical is an entire sentence (related mostly to editorial). |
| Hyphen (-) | Use for compound words only. Example: • eye-opener • check-in • free-for-all | | --- | --- | | En dash (–) | Mac: option + hyphen (-) Windows: alt + hyphen (-) Use to show ranges of numbers. The 2010–2011 season was our best yet. You will find this material in chapters 8–12. The professor holds office hours every Wednesday, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm | | Em dash (—) | Use in place of commas, parenthesis, or colons. It should be set off with spaces, per AP style. • Mac: shift + option + hyphen (-) • Windows: alt + shift + hyphen (-) • Example: And yet, when the car was finally delivered—nearly three months after it was ordered—she decided she no longer wanted it, leaving the dealer with an oddly equipped car that would be difficult to sell. |
| Between sentences | Use a single space |
|---|---|
| Forward/Back slash | Don't use spaces, ex. "and/or” |
| Ellipsis | Do not use a space between text and the ellipsis character. |
| Example: From the fuel-efficient Ford Mustang… |
Include the possessive apostrophe if it would be used when the word was spelled out in full.