Tyler Style Guide

Updated May 18, 2018

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Tyler Style Guide The Tyler Style Guide provides a set of standards for the writing and design of published content (e.g., documents, collateral, webpages), and when implemented it provides uniformity in style of all written materials. In the software technology industry, we deal with a number of terms that are in flux. For consistency’s sake, it is important to agree on standards for our organization. There may be special displays, publications or materials where a choice is made to depart from these standards, but these choices should always be made with full recognition of the standards and deliberate reasons for departing from them.

This style guide includes both reminders of commonly encountered style issues in Tyler materials and guidance where we have agreed to differ from The Associated Press Stylebook, our primary reference, and so is divided into two sections:

1. Tyler Guidelines 2. Reminders

Suggestions for the style guide are welcome and topics are open for discussion. Please submit all questions and suggestions to Communications Specialist Adria Butcher.

References The current edition of The Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law (AP) and the online version serve as our primary style and usage reference; however, exceptions and clarifications to AP style are noted in the Tyler Style Guide. Either consult the Tyler Style Guide first, or check AP and then confirm with the Tyler Style Guide. If neither addresses your concern, contact Adria.

Other useful sources include:

• Tyler Brand Architecture and Tyler Brand Standards

• Grammar Girl, Quick and Dirty Tips for Writing

• The Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary

• The Microsoft Manual of Style

o The e-books for the Microsoft Manual of Style and Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking are available on Tyler SharePoint>Marketing>Corporate Communications>Writing Tools

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Tyler Guidelines

As stated, we adhere to AP style in our writing materials. However, reference this section first, which lays out our house style and, in some cases, may deviate from AP guidelines.

Topic Description

brand architecture Tyler brand architecture is composed of the following components: Solution Sub-solution Product suite Application Examples: Tyler Appraisal & Tax solutions Tax Billing & Collection (sub-solution suite) iasWorld® (product suite) Tyler Courts & Justice solutions Municipal Courts (sub-solution suite) Incode® (product suite) Incode Court Case Manager™ (application) Note: Where product groups have provided guidance on their naming standards, please refer to these documents. For example, A&T has a go-to-market strategy documents that defines licensed modules versus add-on features or integrated solutions.

bulleted lists Our rules for bulleted lists deviate from AP style in some cases. Use bullets instead of dashes. It is not always necessary to introduce a bulleted list with a colon, although it is most common. Never use an ellipsis to introduce a bulleted list. Capitalize the first letter of the first word of each bulleted item. Bulleted items should be parallel in construction. End all bulleted items that are complete sentences with periods (not semicolons or commas), but do not punctuate the end of fragments. Do not add a period at the end of the last bulleted item in a list in an attempt to end the section unless it is a complete sentence.

capitalization Avoid unnecessary capitalization. Capitalize proper nouns (e.g., Sally, America, Omaha, Ireland) and common nouns when part of a name (e.g., Missouri River, Culver City). When multiple names are used together, the common noun associated with them should be lowercase (e.g., York and Cumberland counties, the cities of Portland and Freeport, the states of Maine and California). Capitalize product names (Munis, Incode). For titles and page headings, consistently capitalize the main words. Prepositions of four letters or more should be capitalized when part of a headline or title.

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Professional titles should be capitalized when they appear before the name (e.g., Finance Director Susie Smith). Capitalize jurisdictions or entity in the copy when talking about the full official client name, but lower case when using only “county,” “city,” “town,” etc. Examples: Fulton County has saved time and money by using Tyler software. The county will attend Connect to discuss its return on investment story. Refer to the AP entry on capitalization for additional details.

city, county, town, district, authority, etc.

Capitalize if part of a proper name (e.g., Kansas City, New York City), an integral part of an official name (e.g., Kansas City Maintenance Department), or a regularly used nickname (e.g., Sin City, City of Light). Once established within a document, use “the city” or “the county,” if you are referring to the proper noun. Lowercase elsewhere: a Texas county; the town government; the district Board of Education; and all city/county/town/ … of phrases (e.g., the city of Boston). Capitalize when part of a formal title before a name (e.g., City Manager Francis McGrath). Lowercase when not part of the formal title (e.g., city Health Commissioner Frank Smith).

clients vs. customers Tyler’s preference is to use client as opposed to customer. Why? The words are very similar and often interchangeable, but for our purposes we choose client for the following reasons:

• A client is one who seeks professional services and denotes a business relationship.

• A customer is one who pays for goods and services and denotes a consumer relationship (e.g., the public is often the customer to many of our clients).

These basic definitions are used to make a point: Tyler doesn’t want customers; Tyler wants clients. You don’t want people who buy from you once because you simply have the “goods” they need right now. You want ongoing relationships with people who use your professional advice and expertise — who buy from you because of how you help them, not what you hand them.

company name Legal: Tyler Technologies, Inc. All other: Tyler Technologies or Tyler Possessive: Tyler Technologies’ long history … Adjective: Tyler Technologies administrative assistant … Guidelines for use: The first time the company name is used in a document, the full name “Tyler Technologies, Inc.” or “Tyler Technologies” should be used. After that, it is acceptable to use “Tyler.” “Tyler Technologies, Inc.” is to be used on all official documentation where a legal name is appropriate. Never refer to the company as Tyler Technology or Tyler Technology’s.

dashes Use em dashes (—) to set off distinct thoughts within a sentence. An em dash should have a single space on either side. Be sure you are using an em dash and not an en dash (–) in copy.

department / team names

When the name of a specific department or team is used as a proper noun, without “the” preceding it or “department / team” following it, capitalize.

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Example: I got a call from Mark in Technical Publications.

If you are referencing the function of department or team, do not capitalize it. A general rule to follow is if you use an article before the department or team name or if the name is used as an adjective, use lowercase.

Example: He said the technical publications team does wonderful work.

do’s and don’ts Per AP style.

e- (electronic) Hyphenate for clarity, with the exception of email, which is always one word.

Examples (generic references): e-recording, e-payments, e-signatures, e-reader, e-book, e-business, e-commerce, e-card, e-file.

Example (official product name): Odyssey ePayment Manager™

Use lowercase for e-words in the body of a text and use initial capital letters in headings, titles and at the beginning of a sentence.

Examples: She preferred face-to-face interaction with customers rather than the faceless e-commerce business model. E-commerce is a profitable business model.

How to Succeed in E-Commerce (heading)

Counties Choose E-Filing (heading)

E-signatures are often used.

evergreen EverGuide

Do not capitalize “evergreen.” This is not an official product. Evergreen is an idea, a core philosophy at Tyler. It is not a product we sell, or a service a client has to purchase. Evergreen describes how we license many of our products — perpetual licensing. Evergreen is typically used in a phrase. In a sentence it is “evergreen philosophy.” The name of the initiative is EverGuide, with a capital “E” and a capital “G.” This differs from the product logo, which begins with a lowercase “e.”

Microsoft / Tyler General Relationship

Never describe Tyler Technologies as a “Microsoft partner” or “in partnership with Microsoft.” The correct phrasing to describe our relationship with Microsoft is as follows: “Tyler Technologies enjoys a multifaceted relationship with Microsoft® — Microsoft Partner Network, managed partner and member of a strategic development alliance. As a member of the Microsoft Partner Network, Tyler has earned several Microsoft competencies, including several Gold Competencies.

Microsoft Dynamics® AX Relationship

In 2007, Tyler Technologies and Microsoft announced a strategic alliance to jointly develop public sector accounting features for Microsoft Dynamics AX. As part of the Tyler-Microsoft alliance, Tyler agreed to become an authorized

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reseller of Microsoft Dynamics AX. Tyler also provides software support and other standard services.

module or application See guidance from divisions, if available, on how they refer to their products. When in doubt, ask. See brand architecture.

numbered lists Bullet points are preferred unless the exact order or the exact number of items is significant. Numbered lists follow the rules for bulleted lists.

on premise vs. on premises

“On premise” describes a statement supporting a conclusion. In this case, think ideas.

Example: The fundamental premise of the report.

“On premises” describes a house/building and the piece of land it is on. In this case, think location. Use a hyphen when used as a compound modifier.

Examples:

Clients may choose between cloud-based and on-premises software delivery.

We do not have IT staff on premises.

over vs. more than Over generally describes a spatial relationship, not a relative quantity or amount of something. Use more than when referring to greater numerical values and the like. This is a deviation from AP style.

Examples:

He threw a paper airplane over his cubicle wall.

Tyler has more than 13,000 clients.

percent In general, spell out. Use numerals when spelling percentages.

Example: The company allows its employees to use 5 percent of their time to volunteer.

Do not hyphenate when forming compound adjectival phrases.

Examples:

We have a 97 percent retention rate. We discovered a 30 percent drop-off.

The word percent can be abbreviated in graphs and charts.

Drop the first “percent” when providing a range.

Example: 25 to 35 percent

proposal vs. RFP Do not use interchangeably. Tyler submits proposals. Clients issue RFPs (request for proposal).

registered trademarks See trademarks and copyrights.

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self Per AP style, use a hyphen when forming words with self. Examples: self-contained, self-assured, self-defense, etc. However, if you are referencing a product name that includes “self” and the official name does not include a hyphen, do not add one. Example: Munis® Self Service When referencing an actual function, use a hyphen. Example: self-service site

software as a service (SaaS)

Use software as a service (SaaS) for the first reference. SaaS is acceptable for subsequent references. Use software-as-a-service when it modifies a noun. Example: Tyler Technologies has signed a seven-year software-as-a-service (SaaS) agreement with the city of Bristol, Tennessee. Never use ASP or Application Service Provider. You may also use hosted, hosted application, hosted software, etc. when describing our software solutions. Cloud-based, cloud-related and other similar constructions are acceptable as well. Refer to cloud-related key messages and documentation on Tyler SharePoint for additional details.

telephone numbers Use periods, not hyphens, in email signatures and documents. Example: 212.621.1500

trademarks and copyrights

In general, Tyler Technologies relies on common law and trade name protection for their intellectual property. However, we do have some registered intellectual property (e.g., Odyssey®, Munis®, Versatrans®, etc.). Refer to the regularly updated list of registered Tyler products on Tyler SharePoint. Any product that is not registered should be represented with the trademark symbol: ™. The ™ symbol should be placed at the end of the complete name of the product, with no registration mark included. Examples: Odyssey Judge Edition™, iasWorld Field Mobile™, Incode Court Case Manager™ Each product should be represented with a registration or trademark symbol (® or ™) in the first instance in a document or on a webpage. Subsequent iterations within the same document do not require the symbol. However, marks should not be included in headings, subheadings or headlines at any time. Example: Los Angeles County Expands Agreement with Tyler Technologies for EnerGov Platform Tyler Technologies, Inc. (NYSE: TYL) today reported that Los Angeles County, California, has expanded its agreement for Tyler’s EnerGov™ civic service solution. The first instance of the registered trademark will always be in the main body of the text and not in a sidebar, callout, caption, etc. However, if you have multiple trademarked products listed in an area outside the main body of text and only one of them also appears in the main body of the text, include trademarks with all of them. You should also then include the registered trademark symbol in the first occurrence of the main body of the text for the product that also appears in the sidebar. Exception: One exception to our rule about adding TM after all product names that are not registered is A&T’s iasWorld® SmartFile. (Registration mark after iasWorld and no ™ after SmartFile)

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iasWorld Field Mobile™ and iasWorld Public Access™ follow our regular convention of adding ™ only after the product name. When referencing third party products such as Oracle®, SAS® and others, be sure to assign the proper registrations and trademark symbols following the same guidelines above. Information on trademarks and their usage is generally available on a company’s website. Example: Microsoft® Outlook® The first reference to a Microsoft technology or product should include the corporate name. Subsequent references do not need Microsoft before them. Examples: First reference: Using Microsoft® Windows® technology … Subsequent references: Our Windows-based user interface … Use the following as Tyler’s standard copyright notice where applicable: © 2016 Tyler Technologies, Inc., All rights reserved

Tyler Cares / Tyler Foundation

For details on usage, review “Tyler Foundation Tyler Cares Messaging” on Tyler SharePoint.

Tyler Community Visit Tyler SharePoint for details on how to reference Tyler Community.

Tyler Divisions There are six major divisions in the Tyler family; however, the Schools group is sometimes referred to as a separate division, even though organizationally it is grouped with ERP. These division names are primarily for internal reference only, but are reflected to external audiences when referenced as part of someone’s title. For example, Dane Womble’s business card would read: President, Local Government Division. Every product line aligns with one of these five groups: Appraisal & Tax Division Courts & Justice Division ERP & School Division Local Government Division Public Safety Use an ampersand rather than “and” for Appraisal & Tax Division, Courts & Justice Division, and ERP & School Division. It is acceptable to say Tyler’s ERP & School Division rather than list the full company name.

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Tyler Solutions There are eight distinct solution suites that represent how we communicate externally to current and potential clients. Multiple product lines and lines of business may be represented under one solution suite. Refer to the Brand Architecture Guide for more information. Appraisal & Tax Civic Service Courts & Justice Data & Insights ERP | Financial Public Safety Records & Documents Schools Use an ampersand (&) rather than “and” as noted in the above solutions. In copy, when referring to functions of the solution, spell out the word “and.” Example: Offices of any size can handle all essential appraisal and tax functions from Orion’s intuitive, tightly integrated solution. Tyler’s courts and justice solutions serve a third of the U.S. population. Note: Public Safety Division not New World Public Safety Division When referencing solutions in the body of text, the solution is lower case. Example: Tyler’s courts and justice software solutions help agencies share data among all of the offices in the justice system. Clients choose Tyler’s public safety solutions because of the importance of what is at stake.

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Reminders

We’re all creative and captivating writers, but when to use a comma, for example, may warrant a periodic Google search. Use these reminders when memory eludes you.

Topic Description

acronyms On first use, spell out the acronym; on second and all subsequent references, use the acronym. Use all caps for acronyms of two to four letters, except for letters that represent prepositions or determiners (a, an or the).

Example:

International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) for the first reference and simply IAAO for subsequent references.

In general, use initial caps for acronyms five letters and longer.

Example: Nasdaq

affect vs. effect Affect, as a verb, means to influence: The game will affect the standings. Affect, as a noun, is best avoided. It occasionally is used in psychology to describe an emotion, but there is no need for it in everyday language.

Effect, as a verb, means to cause: He will effect many changes in the company. Effect, as a noun, means result: The effect was overwhelming. He miscalculated the effect of his actions. It was a law of little effect.

Tip: The majority of the time use affect with an a as a verb and effect with an e as a noun.

a.m., p.m. Follow AP, which specifies that a.m. and p.m. be lowercase, with periods.

check-in vs. check in Check-in (noun, adjective) and check in (verb)

colons Use a single space after a colon.

Capitalize the first word after a colon when it introduces a complete sentence or if it is a proper name.

Text slates used in client videos have some AP style wiggle room. If a colon improves clarity, then it may be used.

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collective nouns A group of individuals acting as a single unit takes a singular verb; i.e. “Galveston County Public Schools is developing a new curriculum…” or “Staff is responsible…”

companies as singular entities

There are many examples of referring to a company as they or who. This is usually incorrect.

Standard practice in the United States is to treat collective nouns (e.g., Tyler Technologies) as singular. Also, companies should not be personified.

compose vs. comprise Compose means “to constitute or make up,” while comprise means “to include, consist of or be made up of.”

Parts compose the whole: Several thousand employees compose the union. The whole comprises the parts: The union comprises several thousand employees.

compound modifiers Per AP, when a compound modifier — two or more words that express a single concept — precedes a noun, use hyphens to link all the words in the compound except the adverb “very” and all adverbs ending in “ly:

Example: A first-quarter touchdown, a bluish-green dress, a full-time job, a well-known man, a know-it-all attitude, a very good time, an easily remembered rule

dashes, parentheses and commas

Use dashes to highlight words. You can use em dashes to enclose fragments or whole sentences, but make sure your words are worthy of dashes. Dashes interrupt your sentence in a way that parentheses or commas don't.

Use parentheses to surround something that seems a bit out of place in the sentence — an aside, a clarification, additional information or a commentary.

Use commas when the words you’re enclosing are a natural part of your sentence. Commas are generally used for appositives. Commas are also used to set off nonrestrictive elements such as “which” clauses. More on comma usage can be found here: https://terriblywrite.wordpress.com/terribly-right-writing-for-the-web/top-5-comma-errors/

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decimals Place a 0 before decimals less than 1. Example: 0.32. In describing quantities in millions, use one decimal place at most. Example: $3.2 million or $3.2M. In describing billions, use no more than two decimal places.

dollars Abbreviate with a dollar sign ($) when used to describe an amount. Spell out (dollars) only when discussing the type of currency itself.

ellipsis Following AP, think of an ellipsis as a three-letter word with a single space on either side of it. See AP for examples and details.

email AP now recognizes the use of email without the hyphen. Do not use e-mail.

ending a sentence with a preposition

Most grammarians agree that it is fine to end sentences with a preposition in some cases.

It's OK to end sentences with prepositions when the preposition isn't extraneous. Example: What did you step on? The sentence does not work if you leave off the preposition.

When you could leave off the preposition and it wouldn't change the meaning, you should leave it off. However, it is not necessary to rewrite every sentence to avoid ending with a preposition, especially if it causes the sentence to sound awkward, or unlike everyday speech. Example: “I want to know where he came from.” works better than the awkward rewrite “I want to know from where he came.”

fewer vs. less Use fewer with nouns you can count, such as dollars or minutes, and use less with mass nouns, such as money or time.

headlines, subheads, etc.

In a heading or title, capitalize all the elements except articles, short prepositions and conjunctions. Short means fewer than four letters.

If a headline includes a hyphenated word, capitalize the word and the first letter that follows the hyphen.

Example: Tyler E-Filing Finds Success

his/her Use the third-person masculine form (his, him, he) when an indefinite antecedent is male or female.

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Example: A good reporter protects his sources.

It is preferable, however, to rephrase a sentence to avoid this construction.

Example: Good reporters protect their sources.

home page Use two words.

i.e. vs. e.g. Both are abbreviations for Latin terms*:

• i.e. stands for id est and means “that is” or “in other words.”

• e.g. stands for exempli gratia and means “for example.”

Always follow both with a comma.

(i.e., Marsha, Jan and Cindy) and (e.g., cards and board games)

*Any Latin terms used in text should always be italicized.

internet Do not capitalize.

log in, log on, log off When used as a verb, use two words. As a noun, use “login,” “logon” and “logoff.”

Similar words include:

• Back up (verb) and backup (noun, adjective)

• Set up (verb) and setup (noun, adjective)

marketplace One word

market share Two words

measurements Spell out. Do not use a single quotation mark (") for inches or an apostrophe (') for feet. Spell out the following:

• Inches

• Feet

• Miles

• Pages

• Pounds

• Yards

million, billion One million is equal to 1,000,000, and can be abbreviated by M.

Example: Sandy’s Pizza Co. took a $12M accounting charge in 2003.

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One billion is equal to 1,000,000,000, and can be abbreviated with a B ($12B).

none

None can behave like a contraction for either "not any" or "not one," depending on context, and takes singular or plural verbs accordingly.

When used to indicate "how much," none means "not any," and is singular. Example: None of the soda was left.

When used to indicate "how many," none often means "not any," but is plural. Example: How many companies are going to participate in the layoffs? None of them are (going to participate in the layoffs).

When none is meant to indicate “not one,” it is singular. Example: None of them is bigger than any other.

numerals Spell out numbers zero through nine. Use figures for 10 through 999,999. Above 1 million, spell out million, billion, trillion, etc.

Do not go more than one decimal place when spelling out the magnitude in millions, and two decimal places for billions.

Where describing a range, use “to”, not a dash.

Spell out all numerals (except for years) that begin sentences. Example: Thirty units were delivered. 2001 was a very good year.

Always use numerals in addresses.

Always use numerals for measured quantities. Example: He was driving 10 mph. The PC ships with a 5 GB hard drive.

offline Always one word, no hyphen.

on-site vs. on site on-site (adjective)

Example: She is an on-site vendor.

Use “on site” when referencing location

Example: She is the only Tyler employee on site.

on to Do not shorten to “onto” unless the combination is used to mean “end up on top of.”

Examples:

Let’s move on to better things. She jumped onto the boat.

online One word in all instances related to internet connection.

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Online is worth avoiding much of the time because it can be interpreted ambiguously. Online is now generally understood to refer to the internet, but in such contexts it is better to be specific. It is also used to refer to data that resides on a computer. If you must use online, especially in the sense of data that resides on a computer, be explicit about your meaning so that your readers cannot misunderstand you.

Preferable Many support services are available on the World Wide Web. Many products include documentation on the CDs in the package.

Acceptable Many support services are available online.

Incorrect Many products include online documentation.

PC (personal computer) Use all caps. Add a lowercase “s” to form the plural (PCs).

period Use a single space following a period at the end of a sentence.

pronouns

Do not presume maleness in constructing a sentence, but use the pronoun his when an indefinite antecedent may be male or female.

Example: A reporter tries to protect his sources. (Not his or her sources, but note the use of the word reporter rather than newsman.)

Frequently, however, the best choice is a slight revision of the sentence: Reporters try to protect their sources.

publication names Italicize the names of newspapers and magazines in print, and follow AP style. Websites, such as Forbes, are not print publications.

Example: Italicize the name of the Portland Press Herald, but not pressherald.com.

punctuation and quotation marks

Follow AP style.

self-service

Hyphenate when referring to software/websites allowing a person to make his or her own changes

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sentences Use a single space between sentences.

Two spaces were standard practice prior to the advent of word processing software and automated kerning (the space between characters). On a typewriter, the same amount of space is allotted to a “W” as to an “I.” Automated kerning made the extra space between sentences unnecessary.

serial comma Use commas to separate elements in a series, including the Oxford comma before the conjunction in a simple series; this deviates from AP Style.

Example: The flag is red, white, and blue.

Put a comma before the concluding conjunction in a series, if an integral element of the series requires a conjunction.

Example: I had orange juice, toast, and ham and eggs for breakfast.

Use a comma also before the concluding conjunction in a complex series of phrases.

Example: The main points to consider are whether the athletes are skillful enough to compete, whether they have the stamina to endure the training, and whether they have the proper mental attitude.

set up vs. setup Set up (verb) and setup (noun, adjective)

software titles Capitalize, but do not use quotation marks around such titles as WordPerfect or Windows. Use quotation marks for computer games (e.g., “Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?“)

states Spell out U.S. state names in the main body of a text.

Use AP abbreviations — not postal codes — in sidebars, lists, photo captions, tabular material, etc.

Limit the use of state postal codes to situations where the state name appears with a full address. Avoid deviation from AP style unless there is an unusual situation where space is at a premium (e.g., signage). In such cases, use of postal codes may be acceptable.

symbols

The following list of common symbols can be entered, no matter what font you are using, with the following keyboard commands:

Symbol Description Keyboard Commands

– en dash, preferable to hyphen

ALT+0150

— em dash ALT+0151

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| pipe symbol ALT+0124

‘ ’ smart quotes ALT+0145, ALT+0146

“ ” smart quotes ALT+0147. ALT+0148

¢ cent sign ALT+0162

© copyright ALT+0169

® registration mark ALT+0174

° degree ALT+0176

† and ‡ ALT+0134 and 0135

• bullet ALT+0149

… ellipses ALT+0133

¼ ALT+0188

½ ALT+0189

¾ ALT+0190

™ trademark ALT+0153

time zones Use of abbreviations for time zones (e.g., EST and CDT) are fine on first reference for zones within the continental United States, Canada and Mexico if accompanied by a time.

Example: 9 a.m. PST

Per AP, capitalize the full name of the time observed within a zone.

Example: Eastern Standard Time, Eastern Daylight Time, Central Standard Time, etc.

title abbreviations Accepted abbreviation: CEO

Acceptable abbreviations after defining the first reference: CFO, COO and CTO

Unacceptable abbreviations: VP

titles A title is not capitalized if it does not appear with a person’s name.

Example: The president called for action.

A title is uppercase if it precedes the person’s name, but not when it follows it.

Examples:

• John Doe, senior support representative, enjoys working with clients.

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• Senior Support Representative John Doe enjoys working with clients.

Exceptions: Exceptions are made in formal graphic context, such as when the title appears in a signature, on a list or on business cards or in a slide presentation. In those instances, the uppercase format should be observed.

touch screen vs. touch-screen

Touch screen (noun) and touch-screen (adjective)

underlined text URLs

Do not use the underline style for emphasis with type. Underlined text generally indicates hyperlinks. It is more effective to use bold type as well as italics to draw attention to words or phrases.

Do not use www when it’s a major site or standalone URL.

Example: tylertech.com

Use your discretion and keep in mind SEO when applicable.

Versus Per AP style, spell it out in ordinary speech.

Example: The proposal to allow employees to bring their dog to work versus allowing employees to bring cats to work has become a highly debated topic at the company.

In short expressions, AP permits the use of the abbreviation.

Example: The issue of chocolate vs. vanilla is nothing new.

Versus is a preposition. When used in a title or headline, prepositions of four letters or more should be capitalized.

web Do not capitalize web.

Examples:

• web address

• web browser

• webpage

Additionally, for compound words, use lowercase.

Examples:

• webcam

• webcast

• webmaster

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• website

Normal rules of capitalization apply in titles and at the beginning of a sentence.

web addresses Follow the style for website (domain) names when referring to the site as a whole.

webpage One word, lowercase.

website One word, lowercase.

which vs. that Use that with a restrictive element and which with a nonrestrictive element.

A restrictive element is a part of a sentence that you can’t get rid of. A nonrestrictive element is something that can be left off without changing the meaning of a sentence. A nonrestrictive element is simply additional information.

If you aren’t sure which to use, if you can safely throw out the “which” clause without changing the meaning of the sentence, use “which” proceeded by a comma.

who vs. whom Use who when you are referring to the subject of a clause and whom when you are referring to the object of a clause. If we think about people, the subject of the sentence is the person doing something, and the object of the sentence is having something done to them.

Grammar Girl’s Quick and Dirty Tip Like whom, the pronoun him ends with m. When you're trying to decide whether to use who or whom, ask yourself if the answer to the question would be he or him.

That's the trick: If you can answer the question being asked with him, then use whom, and it's easy to remember because they both end with m. For example, if you're trying to ask, “Who (or whom) do you love?” The answer would be “I love him.” Him ends with an m, so you know to use whom. But if you are trying to ask, “Who (or whom) stepped on Squiggly?” the answer would be “He stepped on Squiggly.” There’s no m, so you know to use who.