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On a web link or address (printed or online version)

Case 1)

If I have a reference for a link on a web page inside a paragraph, like this same example http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com. <= Should I use this period?

Or after this http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com I should not use a comma or period or anithing.

Case 2)

If I have several links http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com, http://photo.stackexchange.com, etc. Is it ok to use the comma?

Case 3)

I'm posting this example: http://photo.stackexchange.com. Is it wierd to use the colon ":" twice?

Case 4)

In programming, the use of CamelCase capitals and lowercase letters is usefull to read a complex word.

If I have a complexnameexamplewebsite.com Is it correct to write ComplexNameExampleWebSite.com to facilitate the typing? In web domains the names are case insensitive.


Are this cases diferent on a web page vs. a printed version? On a website I can just let the punctuation mark outside the actual link, just as this page did automaticly, and people just klick it. But on a printed book?

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    I think this is just a matter of opinion. I use punctuation, but ensure they are not part of the actual link. And I use CamelCase for URLs always.
    – Scott
    Commented Feb 20, 2015 at 0:31

1 Answer 1

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Overall, treat websites just like any other word. Sentences still require the same punctuation in the same places as before even if there is a website in them. It's better to, and more ascetically pleasing to just link out to a website in almost all cases. This also takes care of all of your questions, however in the case of printed materials, this is not always possible.

A small side note, in printed material, it is best to use a Tiny URL (or similar service) to shorten urls. It not only looks better, but there's almost a 0% chance that a user will type out:

https://www.google.com/search?q=wowza!&espv=2&biw=1440&bih=702&source=lnms&sa=X&ei=ScrmVKqpN-_fsASltoD4Bw&ved=0CAUQ_AUoAA&dpr=1#q=hot+damn+that%27s+interesting

http://tinyurl.com/mwhnpfg is less frightening looking and users might type it out. Onto the cases!

Case 1

If I have a reference for a link on a web page inside a paragraph, like this same example http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com. <= Should I use this period?

Yes you need the period to close the sentence. Without it, it's unclear that the sentence has ended. You can avoid ending on a link (or email) if you don't like the ascetics of it though. You can also just type the name / description of the website and link out there instead. Like this example of Graphic Design: Stack Exchange.

Case 2

If I have several links http://graphicdesign.stackexchange.com, http://photo.stackexchange.com, etc. Is it ok to use the comma?

It's not only ok to use coma but you need them, for grammer's sake and readability. It's hard to distinguish multiple sites in a row, without the comma it becomes a wall of blue that a user might not know has multiple site names in. You could make it a list like so:

This makes it even easier to read, makes it clear as to how many items are in the list and it's easy to tell where one url ends and another starts.. but it's up to you which way you prefer.

Case 3

I'm posting this example: http://photo.stackexchange.com. Is it wierd to use the colon ":" twice?

It is not weird at all! A reader will see the colon and know it's part of the url. There's nothing you can do about it as the writer, and it would seem wrong to omit the colon in the sentence.

Case 4

In programming, the use of CamelCase capitals and lowercase letters is useful to read a complex word. If I have a complexnameexamplewebsite.com Is it correct to write ComplexNameExampleWebSite.com to facilitate the typing? In web domains the names are case insensitive.

According to Google, "domain names are not case sensitive". So yes, it is correct to type the name of the website using camelCase. I'd recommend it. If for some reason you believe a domain to be case sensitive, test it out before hand and see.

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