URLs and punctuation
Thread poster: Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:49
Spanish to English
+ ...
Nov 23, 2005

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, maybe we should have one about 'writing issues':-)

I have translating a website full of links, i.e. URLs.

What i am not clear about is punctuation. There are 2 possibilities:

1. no full stop when a link is at the end of a sentence

2. a full stop, which means that when you copy and paste the URL into a broweser, you have to remove the stop to retrieve the page.

So, a technically correct solui
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I'm not sure if this is the right forum, maybe we should have one about 'writing issues':-)

I have translating a website full of links, i.e. URLs.

What i am not clear about is punctuation. There are 2 possibilities:

1. no full stop when a link is at the end of a sentence

2. a full stop, which means that when you copy and paste the URL into a broweser, you have to remove the stop to retrieve the page.

So, a technically correct soluition (i.e. 1) versus a practical solution (i.e. 2).

Should we or should we not put full stops after URLs? Does anyone know if/wher I can consult style guides about this?

TIA:-)
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Timothy Barton
Timothy Barton
Local time: 09:49
French to English
+ ...
Why would one have to remove the full stop? Nov 23, 2005

Lia Fail wrote:

I'm not sure if this is the right forum, maybe we should have one about 'writing issues':-)

I have translating a website full of links, i.e. URLs.

What i am not clear about is punctuation. There are 2 possibilities:

1. no full stop when a link is at the end of a sentence

2. a full stop, which means that when you copy and paste the URL into a broweser, you have to remove the stop to retrieve the page.

So, a technically correct soluition (i.e. 1) versus a practical solution (i.e. 2).

Should we or should we not put full stops after URLs? Does anyone know if/wher I can consult style guides about this?

TIA:-)



When I select a link, I just select the link itself. I wouldn't select the full stop at the end.


 
Hynek Palatin
Hynek Palatin  Identity Verified
Czech Republic
Local time: 08:49
Member (2003)
English to Czech
+ ...
URLs Nov 23, 2005

You said you were translating a website. Why would anyone copy a link from a website to the browser instead of just clicking on it?

If the URL is part of a sentence, I would use the full stop. Just make sure not to put the full stop into the URL itself (if you are working with HTML tags, for example).


 
Timothy Barton
Timothy Barton
Local time: 09:49
French to English
+ ...
I assume she's working with unclickable links Nov 23, 2005

Hynek Palatin wrote:

You said you were translating a website. Why would anyone copy a link from a website to the browser instead of just clicking on it?

If the URL is part of a sentence, I would use the full stop. Just make sure not to put the full stop into the URL itself (if you are working with HTML tags, for example).


I was going to say the same, but I assume from her question that she's working with non-clickable links.


 
RHELLER
RHELLER
United States
Local time: 01:49
French to English
+ ...
these two sites advise against it Nov 23, 2005

I hope nobody minds me posting these links:

http://ezinearticles.com/blog/archives/2005/04/url_tip_no_dots.html

http://www.webfoot.com/advice/email.format.html?Email


 
Lia Fail (X)
Lia Fail (X)  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 08:49
Spanish to English
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
thanks all:-) Nov 23, 2005



Yes, my particular links are unclickable, but that's neither here nor there. Sometimes one copies and pastes links, and if not on the lookout, picks up the full stop at the end.

Thanks Rita, that's exactly what I was looking for:-)

Conclusion:

Avoid URLs at the end of sentences, and if absolutely necessary, exclude full stops after URLs (and commas, etc)!


 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 08:49
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Place the fullstop outside the hyperlink Nov 24, 2005

Lia Fail wrote:
I have translating a website full of links, i.e. URLs.


Place the full-stop outside the hyperlink:

<a href="http://www.foo.com/">www.foo.com</a>.

Or, if the hyperlinks are in a list, don't use full-stops at all.

Or, if the hyperlink is part of a sentence, rewrite it so that the hyperlink is not at the end of the sentence.

Or, if you're allowed to do it, encase the URL in angle or square brackets, with non-breaking spaces between the URL and the brackets.


 


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URLs and punctuation







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