Constant Content

Hi

In the new requests, there is a mistake in the form the customers complete. It now says "Lenght of Article", instead of "Length of Article".

Hayley

I just noticed that the word both is spelled boht on the newest blog entry.

Bonnie

On the Submit Article page, it says Pivate Request instead of Private Request.

Amy

David,

Just to help you with a couple of glaring errors in your great new blog post.

withing should be within

perspective should be prospective

There are some others but these are the ones that jump right out.

Hey, just joined up an hour or so ago.. .found this one.
http://www.constant-content.com/help/re ... customers/
Near the bottom, in very large text, actually...
"Using you Inbox to Track you Requests"

Both of these "you" 's should be changed to "your" 's

Hi - newbie here, being a know-it-all in my first post.

Here is the absolute worst error I've noticed. If I were a customer, I'm afraid it would make me find this site laughable. It's on this page: http://www.constant-content.com/about/faqs.htm

It is then reviewed for, grammar, word choice, readability and syntax.

Come on, guys. Of all the places to put an incorrect comma: between "for" and "grammar." lol.

Also, throughout the site commas are used following the second-to-last word or phrase in a list, like here: A combination of keywords, useful information, and uniqueness will give you ... While some style experts would argue this is technically correct, it's standard procedure not to use a comma before the "and" that heralds the last item in a list. So "...keywords, useful information and uniqueness" would be the way to go.

As I understand it, the publishing world and businesses in general are becoming increasingly conservative about comma usage - the fewer, the better. I think the text throughout this site could use a serious comma purge. Their overuse or misuse could really turn off potential clients.

Will grant you the first error, but the Oxford comma or serial comma is welcomed here.

Thanks,
Ed

Hi Ed,

In that case, shouldn't the Oxford comma (didn't know it was called that) be used consistently? You'll notice it isn't used in the first sentence I quoted - the one with the comma before "grammar." There are some places where the Oxford comma is used and others where it isn't.

Besides being ruthlessly trained to use the comma before the last "and", I find it brings clarity to the sentence, especially when a combination of items are being listed.

"The box was full of toys, books, clothing designed for both girls and boys, and crayons." is much clearer than
"The box was full of toys, books, clothing designed for both girls and boys and crayons." Perhaps I could rewrite this sentence to avoid this, but I prefer the tiny little comma to insure the clarity and integrity of my lists.

To paraphrase the immortal words of Charleton Heston, "You'll have to pry my comma from my cold dead hands!"

(unless Ed tells me otherwise, of course )

Debbi,

I agree with you in cases like that. I guess my personal preference is that the Oxford comma (I'll be using that term as much as possible now - makes me feel so smart) only be used in situations like the one you describe, but not be used for simple lists.

Generally, I think too many commas make writing feel fussy. But that's just my personal taste.

The site has been under constant development since day one, and for that reason, several individuals have written documents for the site. Yes, there are errors, but we cull them when they are identified. While I would like to say that I have personally reviewed and edited every document on the site, my priorities currently lie in reviewing articles submitted, and therefore not all documents have gotten the extra-special proofreading attention they deserve.

We do not currently have a particular style guide that we adhere to, nor do we have one style guide we expect authors to adhere to. Many writers choose not to use the Oxford comma. Some do. Both are accepted as correct, though I believe that the Oxford comma prevents potential confusion.

Thanks,
Ed

Ed,

Cool. I'd rather have you reviewing articles. But I think it's worth considering in a thread like this.

I looked up the Oxford comma (apparently called the serial comma and Harvard commas as well) and found that most college and professional style manuals (especially in the U.S.) require its use, while newspapers and other journalistic styles don't. Even when they don't require it though, those style manuals do advocate its use when an item in the list includes the word "and".

I wonder if newspapers and magazines stopped using the Oxford comma to save money on ink! I'm sure leaving out that little squiggle over billions of printed pages would save quite a few pennies.

Always learning something new,

Debbi

Indeed a typo!! Thanks for pointing that out ScottRC!

Fixed now. This page was just "touched up" yesterday so the errant comma must have crept in then!
-jrichards

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Constant-Content.com

Ed wrote:We do not currently have a particular style guide that we adhere to, nor do we have one style guide we expect authors to adhere to. Many writers choose not to use the Oxford comma. Some do. Both are accepted as correct, though I believe that the Oxford comma prevents potential confusion.

Thanks,
Ed

In regard to articles, be consistent. If you use the Oxford comma style in the first two paragraphs, stick to that. Ed pointed this out in a thread a while back. I then noticed that I too sometimes did it. I'd start out using the comma before and, and then slip away from it as the article progressed.