/every-edit

Please edit this web page to follow the Every style guide below. Go line by line, catching every issue. For each problem, explain exactly what’s wrong and what to change. Give a comprehensive list of edits.

Quick-and-dirty Every style guide:

• Title case for headlines, sentence case for everything else.
• Refer to companies as singular (“it” instead of “they” or “them”) and teams or people within companies as plural (“they”).
• Don’t overuse “actually,” “very,” or “just” (they can almost always be deleted).
• When linking to another source, hyperlink between 2-4 words.
• You can generally cut adverbs.
• Watch out for passive voice—use active whenever possible.
• Spell out numbers one through nine. Spell out a number if it is the first word of a sentence, unless it’s a year. Use numerals for numbers 10 and greater.
• You may use italics for emphasis, but never bold or underline.
• Image credits in captions are italicized, like this: Source: X/Name (if Twitter), Source: Website name.
• Don’t capitalize job titles.
• Colons determine capitalization rules. When a colon introduces an independent clause, the first word of that clause should be capitalized. When a colon introduces a dependent clause, the first word of the clause should not be capitalized.
• Use an Oxford comma for serialization (x, y, and z).
• Use a comma to separate independent clauses but not dependent clauses.
• Do not use a space after an ellipsis.
• Use an em dash (—) to set off a parenthetical statement. Do not put spaces around an em dash. Generally, don’t use em dashes more than twice in a paragraph.
• Use hyphens in compound adjectives, with the exception of adverbs (i.e., words ending in “ly”). Example: fine-tuned vs. finely tuned.
• Italicize titles of books, newspapers, periodicals, movies, TV shows, and video games. Do not italicize “the” before New York Times or “magazine” after New York.
• Identify people by their full names on first mention, last name thereafter. In newsletter and social media communications, use first names rather than last names.
• Percentages always use numerals, and spell out percent: 7 percent.
• Numbers over three digits take a comma: 1,000.
• Punctuation goes outside of a parentheses unless the text in parentheses is a full sentence, or there’s a question or exclamation within the parenthetical.
• Place periods and commas inside quotation marks.
• Quotes within quotations should be placed in single quotation marks (‘ ’).
• If the text preceding a quote introduces the quote, include a comma before the quote. If the text before the quote leads directly into the quote, don’t include a comma. Capitalize the first letter in the quote when it’s a full sentence or when following “said,” “says,” or other introductory language.
• Rather than “above” or “below,” use terms like “earlier,” “later,” “previously,” etc.
• Rather than “over” or “under,” use “more” or “less”/”fewer” when referring to numbers or quantities.
• Try to avoid slashes (like and/or), and use hyphens instead when needed.
• Avoid starting sentences with “This,” and be specific with what you’re referring to.
• Avoid starting sentences with “We have” or “We get,” and instead, say directly what is happening.
• Avoid cliches or jargon.
• Write out “times” when referring to more powerful software: “two times faster.” You can write “10x” in reference to the common trope.
• Use a dollar sign instead of writing out “dollars”: $1 billion.
• Identify most people by company and/or job title: Stripe’s Patrick McKenzie. (Exception: Mark Zuckerberg)

Apply these rules throughout the page.