Website Web Site Web Page

Website Web Site Web Page. It’s one of the reasons I started the Webmaster Wiki. I always said website, and my wife, whom used to be a technical writer, said web site. It’s what her style guide said, and who would argue with that. Typing the words web site a million times though, they just start blending together. It’s website, dang it.

Today’s Style Guide

Today’s most popular style guides now support me in my argument, but in her defense she was using APs guide, and at the time she was right. There are ton of items or arguments like this though (like webpage or web page), and they go way beyond vocabulary or a writing style guide.

A webmaster needs to consider many “standard” things. Should they use tables or divs while formating? What is the right way to use a table? Is mentioning a business entity without linking to them bad form? Should the link open a new window? It goes way beyond a writing guide. It’s writing, style, formatting, coding, it’s back-end server stuff, it’s even web usability. How is one to know what is a standard for all this stuff?

That is why I thought a wiki could help, and why I think a webmaster style guide should really be…a wiki.

Why Have Another Guide?

For me, consistency is key, and throwing in another set of rules or guides could actually make things worse. That is why I think using a wiki is the best way to go. With a wiki the rules are not set in stone. Anyone can edit it. It’s also readily made to expand infinitely. Their could be style guides for tables, divs, and all sorts of code. Guides don’t have to be limited to written style.

The webmaster guides and standards that are already out there, like W3Cs, are too focused. W3C for example, is all about code, and you will not find anything about whether the term website or web site should be used. No where on their site will you find if those terms should be in quotes while explaining them. If you use a webmaster style guide now, it is most likely in the form of a book, and let’s face it, that book is old. I say old because things change daily online. It’s all about keeping up, and consistent. I have yet to find a good webmaster style guide online. The closest would be Wikipedia itself. Unfortunately is is developed as an encyclopedia, making it a poor style guide.

Another reason I think a wiki style webmaster guide could be good is because many non-normal things could be standardized. An example of this would be a page on the wiki simply dedicated how much of margin a picture should have in general. Another example could be about the purpose of having a link open a new window, or if it should be done at all. It’s all about making something that involves the online world have some reasonable expectations.

It’s Up To You

The Webmaster Wiki is really up to you. I will always add little things to it here or there, but I’m just one guy. If you are up for influencing the direction of the web, now is the time. The wiki is nearly a blank slate, and unless someone else says otherwise your online reasoning could effect all those that read your web building standards. A link referencing the contributors of the wiki can be found on the home page.