Online Style Guide: Terms, Usage, and Tips

Rating:
Summary: Relevant and useful
Review: I admit that because of the publication date being a couple years old, I was skeptical that this reference book would help me. I thought it might be outdated with all the changes in the Internet. While there are some terms that are new since this book was published, and some of the "names" of software or companies have changed, I found the book to still be very useful and surprisingly current. It has helped my editorial team stay consistent with terminology and usage. The grammar section is awesome--great tips that I have shared with our writers! The emoticons are fun. And the netiquette and style sections gave me lots of ideas for our company style guide. I especially appreciate the layout of the book--the tabs make it really easy to find what I need and it lays flat next to the computer--something the others don't. Minor points, maybe. But overall, I rate this a good buy compared to similar books on the market that I've used.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Grammar and Word Choice Section
Review: I use the Grammar and Word Choice section of this book all the time. It has very easy definitions and examples of parts of speech and punctuation. There is a list of commonly misspelled words (properly spelled for you) and the appropriate usage of common confusing words (when to use affect vs effect, anticipate vs expect, discrete vs discreet, and so on). There is also a series of lists of correct abbreviations, for example, academic degrees, professional titles, latin abbreviations, and mailing and state abbreviations.

I point out this section because it may not be evident that there would be such an excellent resource inside an online style guide. But this grammar section is so easy to reference and has very simple examples -- I use it ALL the time! I recommend you buy this book even if all you need it for is common day-to-day writing do's and don'ts.

Rating:
Summary: Answered lots of 'Net questions my other stylebooks ignore
Review: Managing Editor. Find myself reaching for this handy resource daily. Confusing words section (continual/continuous) is a lifesaver. Documentation section helped me meet deadline last week (answered vexing question of how to properly reference a Web site). Emoticons & online shorthand section is a nice surprise. Now I can decipher all those BFN (bye for now) and ;) (wink - light sarcasm). Fun... I've used some of these to get credibility with some of the "techies" I work with.

Overall, Online Style Guide is a winner. Clear, concise writing, conveniently presented (love the section tabs and lay-flat binding). Ordered one for both assistant editors.