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The Elements of
ATI Style

by John Bullitt


Although I have found traditional editorial tools (see the References) indispensible, the peculiarities of HTML and the ideosyncrasies of this website call for something more: hence this style sheet. These notes summarize some of the trickier points of style that I've had to address in my work on Access to Insight, plus a few basic matters of style that I always seem to forget. These notes were originally intended for my own use (I refer to them often), but just in case anyone else might find them useful, here they are.

Here and there I include references (in bold) to pertinent sections or pages in the References.


Three Principles:


HTML basics

For the most part I use a very limited subset of HTML 3.2, for several reasons:

1. The simpler the HTML, the easier it is to develop and manage a large website.

2. The simpler the HTML, the less likely that compatibility problems will arise with any particular browser software.

3. These texts are meant to be read. There's no need to spice them up with all the latest HTML bells, whistles, and other cute distractions.

4. Some people like to reformat HTML files into other text file formats (such as plain, unformatted ASCII). It's a simple matter to strip off the HTML tags. But what happens, for example, to "ordered lists" (<ol>...</ol>)? When the HTML disappears, so do the numbers. This can make the converted ASCII files hard to read. Nowadays there are lots of programs for converting HTML into all sorts of other formats, but never assume that everyone has access to these programs.


Spelling

Use American English (color, flavor, practice, etc.) throughout (6.3CMS13). Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (W9) is usually my referee (see 6.1CMS13), although sometimes the OED is a helpful background tool. Where W9 gives two or more spellings for a word, I use the first (preferred) spelling. Spellings are never altered in proper names (e.g., "International Meditation Centre" and The Splendour of Enlightenment: A Life of the Buddha).

British American Notes and tips
arbour
behaviour
colour
endeavour
favour
fervour
flavour
harbour
honour
humour
labour
odour
savour
splendour
arbor
behavior
color
endeavor
favor
fervor
flavor
harbor
honor
humor
labor
odor
savor
splendor
Be careful when making global changes -- you don't want to change devour, nourish, flourish, etc. And watch for prefixes and suffixes (dis-, un-, -able, -ite, -ing, -ably, etc.).
practise practice  
analyse analyze Beware of analyses (pl. of analysis)
authorise
criticise
memorise
authorize
criticize
memorize
Search for oris.
skilful
fulfil
skillful
fulfill
 
centre
centring
lustre
meagre
metre
center
centering
luster
meager
meter
Don't change centred to centerd!
cheque check  
learnt learned  
plough plow  

Other words to watch out for:


Pali words


Alphabetizing


Punctuation


Block quotations

Block quotations (usually verse), are not enclosed by quotation marks, since the context usually makes clear that it is an utterance (10.28CMS13). Where there is a dialogue taking place within the verse, however, quote marks are used.

If the translator uses square brackets to attribute a verse passage, the attribution should be italicized. Example (SN IX.6):


They don't know bliss
who haven't seen Nandana,
abode of the eminent devas,
    glorious,
of the Thirty-three.

[Ven. Anuruddha:]

You fool, don't you know
the arahants' maxim? --
...


White space


Sutta reference in an index.html file


Sutta file names


Sutta subheadings

Use left adjusted <h4>, preceded by two blank lines, followed by one blank line (for friendly tag-stripping). Text in the subheading is Title Case, in parens.

... here is the end of the previous section.


(This is a Subheading)

And here we begin a new section...


E.g., DN 12. (Note: MN 125 also uses <h5> sub-subheadings.)

Glossaries

In Glossaries, entries should be in bold, followed by a colon:
Abhidhamma (Pitaka): The third of the three collections forming the Pali Canon...

Arahant: A "worthy one" or "pure one," i.e., a person whose heart no longer...


Lists


Translator's notes


End notes

...
and so therefore thus and henceforth it was, nonetheless, "such-and-such."[1] On the other hand, therefore, in conclusion, it should be said, however, that, thanks to the obfuscatory possibilities of language,[2] the absence of sense is the sine qua non of nonsense.
...

Notes

1. This should not be confused with "this-and-that." [Go back]

2. Not to mention that which is unworthy of mention. [Go back]



"See also"


Miscellany


References

The Chicago Manual of Style. 13th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982. ("CMS13")

The Compact Oxford English Dictionary. 2d ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1991. ("OED2")

O'Connor, Patricia T. Woe is I: The Grammarphobe's Guide to Better English in Plain English. New York: Riverhead Books, 1996. ("PTO")

Strunk, W., Jr. and E.B. White. The Elements of Style. 2d ed. New York: Macmillan, 1972. ("SW2")

Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1983. ("W9")


Revised: Wed 10 April 2002
http://world.std.com/~metta/tech/style.html