Editorial style guide - W

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Web addresses

In print

Sheffield addresses should start with www, omitting the http://

Always type 'sheffield' in full. Never use the shortened www.shef.ac.uk version.

If a web address comes at the end of a sentence it should not be followed by a full stop. This avoids any confusion about whether the full stop is part of the address.

Within a text, web addresses should ideally be presented on a separate line, and highlighted for clarity. In print publications, designed in-house or by an approved agency, web addresses are underlined so addresses containing underscores should be avoided if possible.

Very rarely, a web address may be too long to fit on one line due to the set column width of a publication, and has to be continued on a second line. If no shorter alternative link is available, this is acceptable. Take care not to split any one element of the address over two lines.

Online

Use descriptive links on your web pages instead of writing out the web address in full. A descriptive link should tell the person browsing your site what to expect on the destination page. Avoid using 'click here'.

When writing a web address in an online document such as a PDF or Word document, always make it into a hyperlink rather than plain text, so the link can easily be followed.

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Web page

Two separate words, no hyphen.

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Website

One word, the w is lower case unless it begins a sentence.