A question on formatting that may sound very strange to you

[tayiper]

Yeah it's true, this thread is more or less the result of me being obsessively overly pedant, and additionally being a kind of a "formatting maniac" ...


For instance, consider my software.html page. As you can see, in all cases where I link to some program's website, I use the colon character after the "strong" closing/ending tag. But the thing is that on the very same page, I also use it the other way, i.e. use the colon char before the closing tag so that it's itself bold too.


An example of one such program's link:

... <strong>BartPE</strong>: <a href="http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder" onclick="target='_blank';">http://www.nu2.nu/pebuilder</a> ...

An example of one such navigational text:

<strong>My various blogs:</strong>

<strong>TinyURL:</strong>

<strong>Disclaimer 1:</strong>

So since, as mentioned, I am a "formatting maniac" (and therefore I like things being consistent through the site/page), I've decided to use the same formatting in both cases (i.e. in case of programs and these navigational etc. texts), therefore I am curious: by various written or un-written design "standards", which option is better, and which one would you prefer personally.


thanks in advance, tayiper

[House of Haus]

In one of my sites, I use

<em>something</em>;

a lot, and I always put the semicolon after the closing tag.

[tayiper]

OK, thanks much for sharing your experiences/choices ...


tayiper

[toicontien]

If you want screen readers to read the colon in the "stronger emphasis" or "emphasis" voice, place it inside the STRONG or EM tags. Otherwise, you normally can't see a difference in how they look, save for large text sizes maybe. I mix and match.

[NogDog]

For what it's worth, all the print style guides I've dealt with in the past would specify that the colon should have the same type style/weight as the word that it adjoins, so in the above examples it would be included within the 'strong' elements.

[tayiper]

Ehmm, now I got so many different opinions (also on other forums) that I am even more confused than previously, lol ...


tayiper

[NogDog]

If it makes you feel any better, even the Chicago Manual of Style is kind of wishy-washy about it:

6.3 Punctuation and font: primary system

All punctuation marks should appear in the same font—roman or italic—as the main or surrounding text, except for punctuation that belongs to a title or an exclamation in a different font. This departure from Chicago’s former usage serves both simplicity and logic.

Smith played the title role in Hamlet, Macbeth, and King Lear; after his final performance, during which many in the audience wept, he announced his retirement.
Many editors admire Wired Style: it is both elegant and easy to use.
An Apache Life-way: The Economic, Social, and Religious Institutions of the Chiricahua Indians
Are you saying the wound was self-inflicted?
She is the author of What Next?
For light entertainment he reads King Lear!
The manual Online! is always at my elbow.
We heard his cries of “Help!”

6.5 Punctuation and font: alternative system

According to a more traditional system, periods, commas, colons, and semicolons should appear in the same font as the word, letter, character, or symbol immediately preceding them if different from that of the main or surrounding text. In the first example in 6.3, the first two commas and the semicolon would be italic. Question marks and exclamation points, however, should appear in the same font as the immediately preceding word only if they belong to a title or an exclamation (see examples in 6.3).

[tayiper]

Thanks much "NogDog" for the link and pasted text !!


tayiper