import { Box, Icon, Heading } from '../components';
import DoDont from './DoDont';

<Meta title="Content/Grammar and Mechanics" />


<Box display="block">
  <Heading as="h1" size={{ base: 'xl', tablet: '2xl', desktop: '3xl'}}>Grammar and Mechanics</Heading>
  <Box as="p" fontSize={{ base: 'md', tablet: 'lg'}} color="grey-500">
    Certain rules of grammar and mechanics help keep our writing clear and consistent. This section will lay out our house style, which applies to all of our content unless otherwise noted in this guide.
  </Box>
</Box>

<Box width="100" direction={{ base: 'column', desktop: 'row'}} childGap={{ base: '0', desktop: '2xl'}}  margin="lg 0">

<Box width={{ base: '100', desktop: '33'}}>
<Box fontWeight="bold">Guidelines</Box>
<a href="#abbreviations-and-acronyms">Abbreviations and Acronyms</a>
<a href="#active-voice">Active Voice</a>
<a href="#capitalization">Capitalization</a>
<a href="#contractions">Contractions</a>
<a href="#emoji">Emoji</a>
<a href="#dates">Dates</a>
<a href="#decimals-and-fractions">Decimals and Fractions</a>
<a href="#money">Money</a>
<a href="#numbers">Numbers</a>
<a href="#percentages">Percentages</a>
<a href="#ranges-and-spans">Ranges and Spans</a>
<a href="#telephone-numbers">Telephone Numbers</a>
<a href="#temperature">Temperature</a>
<a href="#time-zones">Time Zones</a>
<a href="#unit-of-measurement">Unit of Measurement</a>
<a href="#years-and-time-periods">Years and Time Periods</a>
</Box>

<Box width={{ base: '100', desktop: '33'}}>
<Box fontWeight="bold">Punctuation</Box>
<a href="#ampersands">Ampersands</a>
<a href="#apostrophes">Apostrophes</a>
<a href="#colons">Colons</a>
<a href="#commas">Commas</a>
<a href="#dashes-and-hyphens">Dashes and Hyphens</a>
<a href="#exclamation-points">Exclamation Points</a>
<a href="#ellipses">Ellipses</a>
<a href="#parenthesis">Parenthesis</a>
<a href="#periods">Periods</a>
<a href="#question-marks">Question Marks</a>
<a href="#quotation-marks">Quotation Marks</a>
<a href="#semicolons">Semicolons</a>
<a href="#slash">Slash</a>
</Box>

<Box width={{ base: '100', desktop: '33'}}>
<Box fontWeight="bold">People, Places, and Things</Box>
<a href="#file-extensions">File Extensions</a>
<a href="#pronouns">Pronouns</a>
<a href="#quotations-and-tense">Quotations and Tense</a>
<a href="#states-cities-and-countries">States, Cities, and Countries</a>
<a href="#urls-and-websites">URLs and Websites</a>
<a href="#writing-about-palmetto">Writing About Palmetto</a>
<a href="#writing-about-other-companies">Writing About Other Companies</a>
<a href="#slang-jargon-and-figures-of-speech">Slang, Jargon, and Figures of Speech</a>
<a href="#text-formatting">Text Formatting</a>
<a href="#write-positively">Write Positively</a>
</Box>

</Box>



## Write For All Readers

Some people will read every word you write. Others will just skim. Help everyone read better by grouping related ideas together and using descriptive headers and subheaders.

- **Be Concise** - Use simple words and sentences. Avoid unnecessary modifiers.
- **Be Specific** - Avoid vague language. Cut the fluff.
- **Be Consistent** - Stick to the copy patterns and style points outlined in this guide.

Most importantly, Focus Your Message

- Create a hierarchy of information.
- Communicate one idea per paragraph.
- Lead with the main point or the most important content in sentences, paragraphs, sections, and pages.

Strive to create scannable content so readers can quickly access information they’re looking for.

- Headers should be descriptive and clear (not clever and vague)
- Use bulleted lists to identify key points or takeaways
- Use bold text to highlight key words


## Guidelines

### Abbreviations and Acronyms

Clean energy is filled with acronyms, but they can be confusing for people who don’t work in the industry. Spell out abbreviation and acronym the first time you use them, and specify the abbreviation in parenthesis. Then use the short version for all other references. (Note: For blog posts, it may be preferred to continue using both the acronym and long-form version of terms for SEO benefits.)

- First use: Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)
- Second use: SEIA
- First use: Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
- Second use: UTC

If the abbreviation or acronym is well known, like NASA or HTML, use it instead (and don’t worry about spelling it out).

### Active Voice

<DoDont
  doTitle="Active Voice"
  doExample="Marti logged into the account."
  dontTitle="Passive Voice"
  dontExample="The account was logged into by Marti."
>

  Use an active voice. Avoid a passive voice.

  In an active voice, the subject of the sentence does the action. In a passive voice, the subject of the sentence has the action done to it.

  Words like “was” and “by” may indicate that you’re writing in a passive voice. Scan for these words and rework sentences where they appear.

  If, however, you want to emphasize the action over the subject, passive voice may be preferred.

  Your feedback was received by our Customer Service Team.
</DoDont>

### Capitalization

We use a few different forms of capitalization. Title Case capitalizes the first letter of every word except articles, prepositions of four or fewer letters, and conjunctions, and should be used for all headlines, website section headers, titles, and buttons.

- The use of ALL CAPS is reserved for acronyms. To emphasize content, use bold font weights.
- Capitalize the first letter of department names or titles (example: Sales Member or Customer Care).
- Don't capitalize Random Words in the middle of sentences.

The following words should never be capitalized in a sentence. For more, see the [Word List](?path=/story/content-word-list--page).

- website
- internet
- online
- email

Always capitalize:

- Days, months, holidays, time periods, events (not seasons)
- Cities, countries, nationalities, languages


#### Headlines

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Title Case Headlines Are Good</li>
      <li>Only the first letter of a sentence should be capitalized when writing out longer content.</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>LEAD the world towards a clean energy future</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Sentence case capitalizes the first letter of the first word, and should be used for all in-app section headers and long-form writing.

When complete sentences are used in headers, it’s ok to only capitalize the first word of that sentence, especially if the header is a question.

There are exceptions. For example, you can capitalize every word if it helps with legibility.

</DoDont>

#### Website URLs and Email addresses


<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>palmetto.com</li>
      <li>hello@palmetto.com</li>
      <li>CustomerCare@palmetto.com</li>
      <li>#PalmettoCustomersRock</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Hello@palmetto.com</li>
      <li>#palmettocustomersrock</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

When writing out an email address or website URL, use all lowercase.

Email addresses and #hashtags with multiple words can use CamelCase capitalization to help with legibility.

</DoDont>



### Contractions

They’re great! Contractions give your writing an informal, friendly tone so use them when needed. Overuse of contractions can make your writing sound choppy. It’s helpful to read each sentence out loud and write both words when it aids the flow of content.

### Emoji

Emojis are a fun way to add humor and visual interest to your writing, but use them infrequently and deliberately. When in doubt, leave it out. 🙈


### Dates

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Saturday, January 24, 1989</li>
      <li>Sat, Jan. 24, 1989</li>
      <li>Jan 24, 1989</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>December 31st</li>
      <li>Sat, Jan. 1st, 1989</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Generally, spell out the day of the week and the month. Abbreviate only if space is an issue.

Don't use ordinal indicators, which are words representing position or rank in a sequential order (e.g. 1st, 2nd, 3rd).

</DoDont>

### Decimals and Fractions

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>2/3</li>
      <li>Sometimes: two-thirds</li>
      <li>10.34 kW</li>
      <li>Save 50% on your monthly utility bill</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>2 1/2 kW</li>
      <li>31.43151531</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Use fractions where they make the number easier to understand visually. You can also spell out the fraction or default to percentages if that aligns with the overall tone of what you’re writing.

For units of measurement, use decimals instead of fractions.

Use decimal points for compound fractions , ex: 1.37 or 47.2. In most cases it isn’t necessary to use more than two decimal places.

</DoDont>


### Money

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>$20</li>
      <li>$19.99</li>
      <li>$5K</li>
      <li>$1.2M</li>
      <li>$999 USD</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>USD$10,000</li>
      <li>$10kUSD</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

When writing about US currency, use the dollar sign before the amount. Include a decimal and number of cents if more than 0.

For large, round values, it’s ok to shorten and abbreviate with a symbol.

When including currency with a price, the currency should come after the amount.

</DoDont>


### Numbers

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Ten new employees started on Monday, and 12 start next week.</li>
      <li>I ate three donuts at Coffee Hour.</li>
      <li>Meg won 1st place in last year’s Walktober contest.</li>
      <li>We hosted a group of 8th graders who are learning to code.</li>
      <li>She is 5 years old, 4 feet tall, and walked 8 miles to school.</li>
      <li>6 kWh</li>
      <li>999</li>
      <li>1,000</li>
      <li>150,000</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>150000</li>
      <li>I ate 3 donuts at Coffee Hour</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Spell out a number when it begins a sentence. Spell out any whole number between zero and ten unless used to indicate age, depth, height, length, width, or distance. Otherwise, use the numeral. This includes ordinals.

Where numbers are linked to a unit of measurement (example: 6 kWh), use the numeral even if the number falls between zero and ten.

Numbers over 3 digits get commas

Write out big numbers in full, but you can abbreviate them if there are space restraints, as in a tweet or a chart: 1k, 150k, 5m.

When using an expression typically written in spelled-out numbers, leave them that way.

- A friendly welcome email can help you make a great first impression.
- That is a third-party integration.
- Save money with the all-in-one energy management platform that grows with you.
- After you send your newsletter, Chris will give you a high-five.

</DoDont>

### Percentages

<DoDont
  doExample="89% offset"
  dontExample="89 percent offset"
>

Use the % symbol instead of spelling out "percent”.

</DoDont>

### Ranges and Spans

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>20-30 days</li>
      <li>This type of solar panel was produced between 1998 and 2008.</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>20 - 30 days</li>
      <li>This type of solar panel was produced between 1998-2008.</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Use a hyphen (-) or en dash to indicate a range or span of numbers. There should be no space on either side of the hyphen.

If using from or between to introduce a range, do not use a hyphen.

</DoDont>

### Telephone Numbers

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>(555) 867-5309</li>
      <li>+1 (404) 123-4567</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>1-(555)-8679</li>
      <li>555.867.5309</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Use parentheses around the area code, and dashes (without spaces) between numbers. Use a country code if your reader is in another country.

</DoDont>


### Temperature

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>98°F</li>
      <li>3K or 3 kelvin</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>98 degrees</li>
      <li>3° KELVIN</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Use the degree symbol and the capital F abbreviation (with no space between) for Fahrenheit. Temperatures should always use Fahrenheit, not Celsius, and be written in numerals. Do not use “degree” or degree symbol with kelvin.

</DoDont>


### Time

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>7:00am</li>
      <li>7:30pm</li>
      <li>3pm</li>
      <li>7:00am - 10:30pm</li>
      <li>8am - 9pm</li>
      <li>2-4pm</li>
      <li>7:45 - 9:00am</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>10am this morning</li>
      <li>4 - 7pm</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Use numerals with am or pm: lower case, no periods, no space in between. It is ok to write out noon and midnight.

Use a hyphen between times to indicate a time period. Add a space on either side of the hyphen when joining entities that are not the same. When entities are the same, you can omit both am or pm on start time and the spaces surrounding the hyphen.

</DoDont>


### Time Zones

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Your appointment is schedule for 7:30pm Eastern</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Your appointment is schedule for 7:30pm</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

- Specify time zones when writing about an event or something else people would need to schedule.
- Since Palmetto’s home is in Charleston, SC, we default to Eastern Time.
- When referring to international time zones, spell them out: Nepal Standard Time, Australian Eastern Time.
- If a time zone does not have a set name, use its Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) offset.

Note time zones within the continental United States as follows:

- Eastern Time: Eastern
- Central Time: Central
- Mountain Time: Mountain
- Pacific Time: Pacific


</DoDont>

### Unit of Measurement

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>6 kWh</li>
      <li>1,800 Watts</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>6kWh</li>
      <li>1,800Watts</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

When writing out a unit of measurement, add a space between the numeral and the unit. In most cases, you can omit the space when using a number plus a unit of measurement in a table.

</DoDont>

### Years and Time Periods

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>the 1900s</li>
      <li>the 1890s</li>
      <li>the ‘00s</li>
      <li>the ‘90s</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

- Abbreviate decades when referring to those within the past 100 years. Do not add an apostrophe before the s.
- When referring to decades more than 100 years ago, be specific

</DoDont>



### Punctuation

#### Ampersands

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Permits and Inspections</li>
      <li>Ben & Jerry’s</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Permits &amp; Inspections</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Don't use ampersands unless one is part of a company or brand name.

</DoDont>




#### Apostrophes

The apostrophe’s most common use is making a word possessive but there are variations on how and when it is used.

Add apostrophe s to singular and plural nouns not ending in s:

- The donut thief ate Sam’s donut.
- The donut thief ate the women’s donuts.

Add an apostrophe to singular and plural nouns ending in s. If it’s a name that ends in s, it’s ok to use an apostrophe s.

- The donut thief ate Chris’s donut.
- The donut thief ate the girls’ donuts.

For compound possessive or joint possessive phrases, use the rules above for the word closest to the object possessed.

- The donut thief ate the attorney general’s donut.
- The donut thief ate the world presidents’ donuts.
- The donut thief ate Lori and Jared’s donuts.

Do not add an apostrophe when using possessive pronouns.

- its, hers, whose, ours, yours, theirs.

Do not add an apostrophe when plurals are not possessive.
- All homeowners want to add solar.

Do not add an apostrophe to form plurals.

- The 2020s are going to be full of donuts.
- He received all As.
- I earned four PhDs before joining the company.

Apostrophes can also be used to denote that you’ve dropped select letters or numbers usually for brevity, humor, or emphasis. This is fine in the ‘20s, but do it sparingly. V’ry sparingly.

#### Colons

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Erin ordered 3 kinds of donuts: glazed, chocolate, and pumpkin.</li>
      <li>You were right: The grass is greener in North Carolina.</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Use a colon (rather than an ellipsis, em dash, or comma) to offset a list, but try to avoid using them in sentences.

You can also use a colon to join 2 related phrases. If a complete sentence follows the colon, capitalize the 1st word.

</DoDont>

#### Commas

<DoDont
  doExample="David admires his parents, Oprah, and Justin Timberlake."
  dontExample="David admires his parents, Oprah and Justin Timberlake."
>

- When writing a list, use the serial comma (also known as the Oxford comma).

- Use commas to enclose parenthetical expressions and before a conjunction introducing an independent clause.

- Do not use a comma to join independent clauses. Instead, use a period, a semicolon, or a colon.

- When all else fails, use common sense. If you’re unsure, read the sentence out loud. Where you find yourself taking a breath, use a comma.

</DoDont>

#### Dashes and Hyphens

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>first-time user</li>
      <li>Monday-Friday</li>
      <li>Palmetto Protect&mdash;just one of our new products for homeowners&mdash;can help protect your solar power system.</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>first - time user</li>
      <li>Monday - Friday</li>
      <li>Palmetto Protect - just one of our new products for homeowners - can help protect your solar power system.</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

- Use a hyphen (-) without spaces on either side to link words into a single phrase, or to indicate a span or range.
- Use an em dash (—) without spaces on either side to offset an aside. Always use a true em dash, not hyphens (- or --).

</DoDont>

#### Ellipses

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>&hellip;</li>
      <li>“Where did all those donuts go?” Christy asked. Lain said, “I don't know&hellip;”</li>
      <li>"You know, I just think &hellip; I just think that the sun is going to power this whole planet one day."</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>. . .</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

Ellipses (...) can be used to indicate a pause in speech, or that you’re trailing off before the end of a thought.

- Use ellipses sparingly.
- Don’t use them for emphasis or drama, and don’t use them in titles or headers.
- Do not add space between the periods in an ellipses
- Use the ellipses character, not three periods

Ellipses can be used to indicate a pause within a quote. When using in this way, add a space on both sides of the ellipses, but no spaces between the periods.

"You know, I just think ... I just think that the sun is going to power this whole planet one day."

Ellipses, in brackets, can be used to show that you're omitting words in a quote. If the omission falls at the end of a complete sentence, include the ending punctuation followed by a space and the ellipses.

“When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, [...] a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.”

In short:
- ... = Pause or trailing off thought
- [...] = Omission

</DoDont>

#### Exclamation Points

<DoDont
  doExample="Use exclamation points sparingly!"
  dontExample="Too many exclamations!!!"
>

Use exclamation points sparingly! And never use more than one at a time. They’re like high-fives: A well-timed one is great, but too many can be annoying (and a misplaced exclamation point can feel like a swing and a miss).

Exclamation points go inside quotation marks. Like periods and question marks, they go outside parentheses when the parenthetical is part of a larger sentence, and inside parentheses when the parenthetical stands alone.

Never use exclamation points in failure messages, alerts, or buttons. When in doubt, avoid!

</DoDont>

#### Parenthesis

Parenthesis can be used to contain incidental information such as examples or background details. Punctuation goes inside the parentheses only when the parenthetical expression can stand alone.

#### Periods

Periods go inside quotation marks. They go outside parentheses when the parenthetical is part of a larger sentence, and inside parentheses when the parenthetical stands alone.

Christy said, “I ate a donut.”
I ate a donut (and I ate a bagel, too).
I ate a donut and a bagel. (The donut was Sam’s.)

Leave a single space between sentences.

At times, it is ok to punctuate a word or phrase as a sentence to create emphasis. Use this technique sparingly. Very sparingly.

#### Question Marks

Question marks go inside quotation marks if they’re part of the quote. Like periods, they go outside parentheses when the parenthetical is part of a larger sentence, and inside parentheses when the parenthetical stands alone.

#### Quotation Marks

Use quotes to refer to words and letters, titles of short works (like articles and poems), and direct quotations.

Periods and commas go within quotation marks. Question marks within quotes follow logic—if the question mark is part of the quotation, it goes within. If you’re asking a question that ends with a quote, it goes outside the quote.

Use single quotation marks for quotes within quotes. Capitalize the first letter of a quote only if the quote is a complete sentence (or if it follows a colon).

Who was it that said, “A fool and his donut are easily parted”?
Brad said, “A wise man once told me, ‘A fool and his donut are easily parted.’”

#### Semicolons

Avoid semicolons if possible. They usually support long, complicated sentences that could easily be simplified. Try an em dash (—) instead, or simply start a new sentence.

#### Slash

Slashes are sometimes useful in pairing terms (and/or, pass/fail) but can give writing a terse, choppy quality so should be used sparingly. When using a slash, do not add space on either side.

### People, Places, and Things

#### File Extensions

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>GIF</li>
      <li>PDF</li>
      <li>HTML</li>
      <li>JPGs</li>
      <li>slowclap.gif</li>
      <li>MCBenefits.pdf</li>
      <li>ben-twitter-profile.jpg</li>
      <li>ilovedonuts.html</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

- When referring generally to a file extension type, use all uppercase without a period. Add a lowercase s to make plural.
- When referring to a specific file, the filename should be lowercase. CamelCase should be used only if the file name contains an acronym.


 </DoDont>

#### Pronouns

If your subject’s gender is unknown or irrelevant, use “they,” “them,” and “their” as a singular pronoun. Use “he/him/his” and “she/her/her” pronouns as appropriate. Don’t use “one” as a pronoun.

When using possessive pronouns, follow the rules listed under apostrophes. Always make sure that possessive pronoun calls for a contraction. Look out for:

its - possessive / it’s - contraction of it is
your - possessive / you’re - contraction of you are
their - possessive / they’re - contraction of they are

#### Quotations and Tense

When quoting someone in a blog post or other publication, use the present tense.

“Using Palmetto has helped our business grow,” says Jamie Smith.

#### Names and Titles

The first time you mention a person in writing, refer to them by their first and last names. On all other mentions, refer to them by their first name.

Capitalize the names of departments and teams (including the word "Team" or "Department").

- Marketing Team
- Customer Experience Team
- Support Department

Capitalize individual job titles when referencing a specific role. Don't capitalize when referring to the role in general terms.

- Our new Marketing Manager starts today.
- All the managers ate donuts.

Don't refer to someone as a “ninja,” “rockstar,” or “wizard” unless they literally are one.

#### States, Cities, and Countries

<DoDont
  doExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Charleston, SC</li>
      <li>Seattle</li>
    </Box>
  }
  dontExample={
    <Box as="ul"padding="0 0 0 lg">
      <li>Charleston</li>
      <li>SEA</li>
    </Box>
  }
>

- Spell out all city and state names.
- If using a city and state name together, you can abbreviate the state name if the city is well-known.
- Don’t abbreviate city names.
- On first mention, write out United States. On subsequent mentions, US is fine. The same rule applies to any other country or federation with a common abbreviation (European Union, EU; United Kingdom, UK).

Per AP Style, all cities should be accompanied by their state, with the exception of: Atlanta, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Honolulu, Houston, Indianapolis, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, Milwaukee, Minneapolis, New Orleans, New York, Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington.

</DoDont>

#### URLs and Websites

Capitalize the names of websites and web publications. Don’t italicize.

Avoid spelling out URLs, but when you need to, leave off the http://www.

#### Writing About Palmetto

Our company's legal entity name is "Palmetto Solar, LLC". Our trade name is "Palmetto". Use "Palmetto Solar, LLC" only when writing legal documents or contracts. Otherwise, use "Palmetto".

Refer to Palmetto as “we” not “it”.

Capitalize branded terms, like Palmetto Protect or the Palmetto App.

Don’t capitalize descriptive product or feature names, like email or landing pages.

templates
Palmetto’s mobile app
Essentials plan

#### Writing About Other Companies

Honor companies’ own names for themselves and their products. When in doubt, go by what’s used on their official website.

- iPad
- YouTube
- Yahoo!

Refer to a company or product as “it” (not “they”).

#### Slang, Jargon, and Figures of Speech

Write in plain English. If you need to use a technical term, briefly define it so everyone can understand.

Palmetto's Operations Team is constantly scaling our servers to make sure our users have a great experience with our products. One way we do this is with shards, or partitions, that help us better horizontally scale our database infrastructure.

Similes, idioms, and figures of speech should be used cautiously as they can muddle the meaning of your content. In some cases, it can be fun to play on well-known, well-understood figures of speech but, before going willy-nilly, ask yourself:

Might it be confusing for anyone who is not a native English speaker?

Avoid internet slang and acronyms: brb, asap, cool af, afaik, etc. Even if placing FAQs, it is preferred to spell out Frequently Asked Questions when space allows.

#### Text Formatting

Use italics to indicate the title of a long work (like a book, movie, or album) or to emphasize a word.

- _Dunston Checks In_
- Brandon _really_ loves _Dunston Checks In_.

Use apostrophes when referencing button and navigation labels in step-by-step instructions:

- When you're all done, click ‘Send’.

Don’t use underline formatting, and don’t use any combination of italic, bold, caps, and underline.

Left-align text, never center or right-aligned.

Leave one space between sentences, never 2.

#### Write Positively

<DoDont
  doExample="To get a donut, stand in line."
  dontExample="You can’t get a donut if you don’t stand in line."
>

Use positive language rather than negative language. One way to detect negative language is to look for words like “can’t”, “don’t”, etc.

</DoDont>
