The SETU Waterford writing style guide for communications
The SETU Waterford editorial style guide has been developed by the Communications & Content section of the Marketing & Communications Office to help people write text that will be used for communications purposes in a consistent manner.
| Why news? News stories are highly valuable as they showcase the breadth of what we do to stakeholders browsing our website. News stories also contribute to our SEO. If it’s on our website it can be found in a search engine and search engines love fresh, relevant content. It’s also a link to share on social media and bring people back to our website rather than sharing something in a social media silo. |
| Templates Our story templates are to help people compile basic components of a web story or press release. Download a Word document template. Send in via a portal at http://www.wit.ie/sendstory. |
| South East Technological University What's the SETU connection - make it obvious, give some information about what else is going on in this space at SETU. |
| Templates to help you Many stories have been told before - find one of our ready-made templates to help you |
| Scannable text People don't read online, they scan. This means breaking up you material into smaller chunks so it is easier to scan. |
| Structure and plain language Unlike other writing where a conclusion is at the end, and wordy phrases are welcome, the most important points are at the top of a press release or news article, and plain, uncomplicated language is best. |
| Interestingness and context What's the background? Is this the first of a kind - the biggest, the 5th time, the most recognised awards for X, Y, Z? Make it interesting. |
| Length A web news story should be minimum 150 words. There's no max. A press release should be max one page of a Word document - surplus information can be added in a section called Notes for editors. |
| Quotes It is always best to includes quotes attributed to somebody involved in the occurrence the story is about, as this is what makes the reader feel they are reading a real account. |
| Headline Explains what the article is about while also being interesting. Length: 60- 70 characters with spaces |
| Overview/teaser Find something additionally interesting from later on in the article, or sum up what the article is about. It is not your first sentence, rather another teaser. 140-150 150 characters with spaces. As a stylistic thing we don’t put a full stop after this, as it helps distinguish it from the first sentence. |
| First sentence This should act on its own separate to your headline and overview. This should really draw the reader in, it should be interesting, and encapsulate what the main point of interest is in a story. The first sentence should be a max of 30 words and include who, what, when, where, why. |
| Remainder of article You order the rest of the information with least important information at the end. Sentence length: Shouldn’t be more that 30 words. Always have a full stop at end. |
| Scannability Sub headings can be used break up your text on a web story with mini headings scattered throughout to help draw the reader’s eyes down through it. You don’t need a sub heading between every paragraph or line break. Spacing between sentences or paragraphs make it easier for people to scan rather than seeing big walls of text. |
| Links Hyperlink to other articles or material by selecting text and hyperlinking that text (short cut in Word is Ctrl+K). |
| Link text Never link to click here. Re-order the words and link from meaningful words e.g. Download the Higher Education in Flux PDF or Visit the Higher Education in Flux conference website. |
| How to use quotes Always use a quote and attribute it to someone (unless it is an opinion piece). It brings the news item alive, and necessary always for a press release to media. Use double quotes. “The quote is in double quotation marks normally, but we use single quotation marks to highlight an unusual or ‘weird’ word,” she said/says. The comma and full stop go inside the quote if it’s a full sentence. They go outside if you’re using a partial quote. When in doubt put the comma and full stop inside. “The quote is in double quotation marks normally,” she said. |
| How people read websites People don't read website content, they scan. And how they scan is in an F shape so it is important to your headline or heading and first sentence paragraph contains the most relevant information to them. Every two paragraphs or so use a sub heading to help bring the reader down further. Use bullet points where possible too to help break up text. |
| What to include A website shouldn’t contain information just because the writer thinks it should. You are writing for your reader and it's a good idea to put yourself in their shoes rather than what you want to highlight when putting information together. A website shouldn't reflect organisational design; it is about how the task the user wants to carry out on that page, and how easy it is for them to do that, and how good they feel by the ease-of-use and friendliness of words. |
| How to prepare Here are the things you need to consider before writing motivational web content
Structure and plain language Unlike other writing where a conclusion is at the end, and wordy phrases are welcome, the most important points are at the top of a press release or news article, and plain, uncomplicated language is best. |
| SEEEO tabs Title and Description will appear in Google search results; OG in Facebook and LinkedIn; Twitter on Twitter. When writing these think what would someone want to see in a search result or on social to click on this? Title: Length: 60- 70 characters with spaces Description: 140-150 150 characters with spaces. |
| On the page Break up your text mini headings scattered throughout to help draw the reader’s eyes down through it. Spacing between sentences or paragraphs make it easier for people to scan rather than seeing big walls of text. |
| First sentence This should be clear and easy to read with the most relevant information concisely explained. |
| Sentence length Shouldn’t be more that 30 words. Always have a full stop at end. |
| Links Hyperlink to other articles or material by selecting text and hyperlinking that text (short cut in Word is Ctrl+K). |
| Link text Never link to click here. Re-order the words and link from meaningful words e.g. Download the Higher Education in Flux PDF or Visit the Higher Education in Flux conference website. |
| How to refer to SETU correctly The name of the university is South East Technological University, or SETU. Its Irish name is Ollscoil Teicneolaíochta an Oirdheiscirt. The “an” issentence case, while all other words begin with a capital letter. SETU is pronounced by saying the individual initials rather than an acronym (S pause E pause T pause U). Please avoid referring to it as THE South East Technological University. It is also SETU, rather than South East TU. There is no hyphen between “South” and “East” in South East Technological University. There are no full stops between the letters of SETU. The university is referred to in the singular (“it”, rather than “they”). You may want to use the acronym “SETU” in communications for brevity. In these cases, we recommend referring to the university by its full name on the first occasion, with the acronym in brackets. Then you can use the acronym from that point. For example: “Welcome to South East Technological University (SETU). SETU is…” When referring to the previous institutions, “Waterford Institute of Technology” and “Institute of Technology Carlow” are abbreviated to “WIT” and “IT Carlow”. |
| How to refer to people correctly Use a person’s first name and surname when they are mentioned first, as well as their job title and an academic title. Academic titles Dr not Dr. or Doctor Prof rather than Prof. or Professor (The use of . in Dr. may be commonplace however it is an Americanisation and unnecessary) Job titles Capitals are fine in job titles that are specific – but are not used if you are being general (eg a science lecturer) Mr/Ms If a person does not have an academic title we do not use Mr or Miss/Ms/Mrs |
| Times and dates Our preferred use for simplicity and a clean look is 17 March 2017 Or Friday, 17 March 2017 Things to avoid: adding th and so on after a date writing out dates phonetically the 1st of March Putting the number after the month eg March 17 – this is an Americanism Times 10am or 6pm. 10.15am or 5.15pm There is no need for dots or spaces or adding in extra zeros (10.00 a.m.) When issuing an embargo on a press release please use 12.01am rather than 12am to denote midnight and avoid confusion. You can say something will take place from 9-5pm or between 9am and 5pm. |
| Numbers For consistency we ask that people use: One to nine are spelled out 10 upwards is in numbers Numbers at the start of a sentence are always spelled out. If you don’t like the look of this – word your sentence so it doesn’t start with a number. Place a comma in numbers over 1,000 % / per cent / percent. Please ensure you use one style throughout your text, and stick to it. |
| School, Department, Course titles Please check correct School, Department and Course titles. |
| Capitalisation It’s commonplace (but wrong) to uppercase words unnecessarily to denote importance. Best practice to ease the reader experience is to lowercase words unless they are proper nouns i.e. a proper name for something. Headlines and subheadings should never be written like this: National Award for School of Engineering Lecturer Instead words that are not official titles should be lowercase like so: National award for School of Engineering lecturer When in doubt, take the capital letter out. Full writing style guide A-Z Addresses Ensure that 'County' or 'Co' is used to indicate a county as follows: 'Co' is to be used in addresses.Do not use full stop after 'Co'. 'County' is to be used within body text. You can refer to the 'a county player' or 'across the county'. Ampersand (&) Do not use unless it's part of an official course/company title. Use 'and' in normal text. Apostrophes 1990s, 1980s etc do not take an apostrophe. Be careful in general about misuse of apostrophes, eg omitting them when they are necessary ('Its one of the best courses') or using them when not necessary ('it's beautiful surroundings make it special'). Only plurals end with 's' for the possessive ('tourists’ cars', 'visitors’ feedback'). But for one visitor, the apostrophe goes before the s ('visitor’s feedback'). Where 's' is the last letter in the word ('James') add on the apostrophe s at the end ('St James’s Street', 'William Butler Yeats’s poetry'). Capitalisation Don't overuse. Only use for proper nouns. Don't capu up all the words in a headline. DO NOT WRITE SENTENCES ALL IN UPPERCASE as it is more difficult to read online. It’s commonplace (but wrong) to uppercase words unnecessarily to denote importance. Best practice to ease the reader experience is to lowercase words unless they are proper nouns i.e. a proper name for something. Headlines and subheadings should never be written like this: National Award for School of Engineering Lecturer Instead words that are not official titles should be lowercase like so: National award for School of Engineering lecturer When in doubt, take the capital letter out. Commas Use two commas, or none at all, when inserting a clause in the middle of a sentence NOTE: In some cases using two commas to create a sub-clause is still incorrect. You know it is incorrect if, when you remove the sub-clause entirely, the sentence does not make sense Company titles Omit 'Ltd', 'plc' etc – it is not necessary Comprises Do not follow with 'of' Dates Use format: Tuesday, 3 February 2009. Note comma after the day. Easter Uppercase E.g. Use full stops for consistency. No hyphen, lower case unless at start of sentence ('Email us at' but 'You can email us at'). Etc No full stop Euro Lower case unless at start of sentence. Exclamation marks Keep to a minimum. Ezines No hyphen, lower case unless at start of sentence. Festivals Use upper case for full titles, lower case for other references ('The Imagine Arts Festival takes place in October. The festival attracts visitors from...'). Figures Use words for nine and under except with addresses, distances, percentages, weights and measures ('three years', 'four mountains' but '1km', '8kg', '3m' (metres), '5m2' (BUT '3 square miles')). Use figures for 10 and over ('27 years ago', 'over-60s'). Same rule applies for 'seventh, ninth, 21st'. Exception: any number used at the start of a sentence should be written out in words even if it is 10 or over ('Seventy-five visitors attended the exhibition'). If using millions or billions, use the full word not 'm' or 'bn' and do not write out the full figure including all the zeros ('8.7 million units', £1.5 billion'). For large numbers, use commas ('2,996' not '2996'). Forward slashes ('/') Do not insert a space before or after ('Waterford / Dungarvan' should be 'Waterford/Dungarvan'). 'Founded' No need to ever use word 'originally' before this. Group Lowercase if used in a general way or to describe part of something larger ('project working group') but uppercase if part of the title of a major organisation ('Kerry Group'). H Words beginning with 'h' take 'a' when the stress is on the first syllable ('a history', 'a hospital') but 'an' when the stress is on the second ('an hotel', 'an historic occasion'). Hyphens Include when two words are tied together to make an adjective ('top-class accommodation’, 'business-oriented approach). Also, a building is three years old but it is a 'three-year-old building’. i.e. Use full stops for consistency Italics Avoid where possible, as they are harder to read on screen. Job titles In most cases the person’s title will take precedence to their name, so putting title first and then name is usually most appropriate ('WIT Job Title Firstname Surname today said'). Uppercase job titles 'Chief Executive’ unless talking about 'chief executives' in general, which would be lowercased. Key An overused word ('this project will be a key focus for 2018'). Try: 'this project will be a focus for 2018'. Keywords All one word. Less v fewer Use 'fewer' when referring to individual items grouped together ('fewer events’), otherwise, use 'less' ('less space'). Licence/license The first is a noun ('a licence'), the second is a verb ('licensing the premises'). 'Meet with' Just use 'meet'. Same applies to 'sell off' – just use 'sell'. Minister Uppercase for noun whether full title or generic ('The Minister for Education, 'Government Ministers') but not adjective 'ministerial'. Money €10 not €10.00. Mr, Mrs, Miss, Ms, Dr, Prof No full stop after. Same goes for 'St Stephen’s Green' – no full stop after 'St'. Northern Ireland Write as written here. Numbers See Figures. Online All one word. Same goes for 'website'. Over Often used when 'more than' would be better ('more than 60% of visitors' not 'over 60% of visitors'). Per cent Use symbol ('1%'; '15 to 20 %'). Or at least stay with the one style whatever you opt for. Period of time Just use 'period' or replace with the actual length of time ('several years'). Pluralisation United States is a plural so 'The United States are'. But most other entities - countries, companies etc - are singular, so treat as such (‘the organisation was planning’ or ‘WIT is on hand to’). WIT is singular. President Uppercase if referring to the President of a country; otherwise lowercase. Quotations Use single quotation marks - In headlines, sub headings and picture captions For a quote within a quote (The Chief Executive said: “This is a big improvement on what was described in the report as ‘an inefficient system’.”) Otherwise use normal, double quotation marks. If omitting some text from the middle of a quote, use three stops and a space after ('He said: "It filled me with optimism that young people can develop skills… to move forward in their careers in tourism.”) Regions Lowercase and separate e.g. south east Report Use uppercase for the name of a report, but lowercase otherwise Representatives Takes 'of' not 'from' after ('representatives of'). Spacing Ensure there is one space after every full stop before start of next sentence. Titles (of plays, books etc) Avoid italics and quote marks. Just say 'Ulysses by James Joyce', 'Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett'. Lowercase words such as 'a', 'an', 'and', 'at', 'for', 'from', 'in', 'of', 'the', 'to' unless they are the first word of the title/sentence. Under way Two words. US spelling Do not use. So 'modernize' should be 'modernise'. Use s instead of z. Similarly, 'remodeled' should be 'remodelled' and 'meters' should be 'metres'. Remove the dot after Dr. Vitally important Just use 'vital'. Web Lowercase unless at the start of a sentence. Webpage All one word and lowercase unless at the start of a sentence. Website All one word and lowercase unless at the start of a sentence. Which/that/who 'Which' or 'that' for things [including the Government, companies, councils, etc]; who for people. So 'the company that has worked hard' but 'the employees, who have worked hard'. While Not 'whilst'; if you mean although, use 'although'. |
Carlow |
Kilkenny Road Campus |
| South Sports Campus Kilkenny Road Carlow R93 V960 |
| Wexford |
| Wexford Campus Summerhill Road Wexford Y35 KA07 |
| Hill SHill Street Campus School of Art and Design Townparks Wexford |
| Waterford |
| Cork Road Campus Waterford X91 KOEK |
| College Street Campus Cork Road Waterford X01 YO74 |
| Granary Campus Merchants6 Quay Waterford X91 FF86 |
| West Campus R710 Carriganore Waterford X91 XD9 |
| West Campus Arc Labs Rsearch and Innovation Centre Waterford X91 P2OH |
| Applied Technology Campus IDA Industrial Estate Browne's Road Waterford X91 TX03 |
Vikings is the SETU sports brand. Please make sure when referring to it you are referring to as per the below.
SETU Vikings Sport
SETU Vikings Societies
SETU Vikings Sport Scholarship Programme
UPMC SETU Waterford Vikings Elite Sport Scholarship
SETU Vikings Sport Scholarship Tier 1
SETU Vikings Sport Scholarship Tier 2
SETU Vikings Graduate Sport Scholarship
SETU Vikings Emerging Talent Programme
SETU Vikings Rising Star Programme
SETU Vikings Esports Scholarship Programme
SETU Vikings GAA Club
SETU Vikings Basketball Club
SETU Vikings Athletics Club
SETU Vikings Rugby Club
SETU Vikings Soccer Club