Mandatory Style Elements

Introduction to the forum software and its feature. You can use this for test postings. This is not a boating forum
jimh
Posts: 11659
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
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Mandatory Style Elements

Postby jimh » Sat Sep 08, 2018 2:50 pm

The forum has mandatory style elements in order to make the text presentation more readable, to conform to conventions used in simple writing for centuries, and to avoid wearisome and generally annoying practices. Concise and clear writing is preferred over sloppy and ambiguous writing.

Posting to the forum should conform to a few very simple style elements, typically taught as common practices in English writing in elementary school education and usually learned by grade three.

CAPITALIZATION--use a capital letter for the first letter of the first word of a sentence; use a capital letter in proper names; capitalize the personal pronoun "I."

Examples:

PROPER USAGE: I have a Boston Whaler boat.
INCORRECT USAGE: i have a boston whaler.

PUNCTUATION--mark declarative sentences with a period. Mark interrogative sentences with a question mark. Do not use repeat punctuation marks.

Examples:

PROPER USAGE: The boat is a new model. Has anyone been aboard one?
INCORRECT USAGE: The boat is a new model???? Has anyone been aboard one...

An ellipsis can be used in quoted material to indicate an omitted section of the original material.

NOMENCLATURE—the name of elements of a boat or engine should use the proper nomenclature.

Examples:

PROPER USAGE: The anti-ventilation plate is running just at the waterline. The engine trim tab is straight. The bow has damage.
INCORRECT USAGE: The cavitation plate is running just at the waterline. The little metal gizmo is straight. The front has damage.

For words with variant spellings, the spelling used by Boston Whaler is preferred.

Example: gunwale in preference to [gun-whale, which otherwise would be automatically corrected].

In general, misspelled words will be corrected without annotation.

REFERENCES TO PRONOUNS: avoid using "it", "he", "them", "they", and similar pronouns, especially when no antecedent noun has been used.

To designate a year use four digits.

jimh
Posts: 11659
Joined: Fri Oct 09, 2015 12:25 pm
Location: Michigan, Lower Peninsula
Contact:

Re: Mandatory Style Elements

Postby jimh » Fri Nov 09, 2018 8:58 am

Posts will be routinely edited to:

--correct misspellings or errors in grammar;
--change sentence order, positon, and construction to more direct, more simple, and more concise expression
--to eliminate questions which propose surveys of knowledge, such as "Does anybody know if...";
--to replace pronouns "it" and "they" with the actual antecedent nouns; this is done to improve search results. No one searches for the terms "it" or "they";
--to begin sentences with an initial capital letter of the initial word;
--to end sentences with a period, unless those sentences ask a question;
--to eschew use of exclamations unless truly necessary;
--to use initial capital letters for proper nouns and terms of art which otherwise might be confusing;
--to use a capital letter for the personal pronoun "I";
--to remove the punctuation mark "?" from sentences that are not questions;
--to add the punctuation mark "?" to sentences that are questions;
--to use standard nomenclature; and,
--to remove punctuation marks used as units for dimensions and replace them with the unit name.


Changes to correct spelling, grammar, and punctuation are generally not denoted. Other changes are usually indicated by the square brackets, a practice in publishing that goes back several centuries.