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Hornet Weekly Style Guide

Welcome to the Hornet Weekly Style Guide.

The following guidelines and rules should be followed when submitting for and editing Hornet Weekly. Many of these style guidelines are similar to Sac State Style, but some differ, so this should be treated as an exclusive guide for Hornet Weekly.

Voice for Student Audience

Most items should use a casual, fun, conversational voice for a student audience. However, for top-level, policy-based or formal items, use a professional voice and serious tone.

Item Character Counts (Body)

The SharePoint and Trumba forms ensure Character Counts adhere to strict guidelines. These guidelines keep Hornet Weekly from being longer than it needs to be and keep items to the point.

  • SharePoint: News and Announcements, Know Your Resources, and Grad Corner (non-Event) - 500 characters including spaces
  • Trumba: Events - 350 characters including spaces. A link to the full event listing is included automatically.

SharePoint Body Editor

The WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor in SharePoint has many formatting options we do not use in Hornet Weekly. When submitting or editing HW body copy, the ONLY acceptable formatting options are as follows:

  • Link embedding
    • Link type: URL, email
    • Ensure https:// is selected under “protocol” (it will do this automatically if you paste in a link that has it, but it's best to double check)
  • Bullet points (do not use number lists)

All other formatting will be reverted and will not appear in Hornet Weekly.

For SharePoint-submitted items, links may be embedded within the body editing block. All embedded links MUST use descriptive, specific text, not simple words.

  • Example: Embed link in “Register to attend this year's Carnival on the Quad”; NOT “Register” nor “Click here to register”
    • Note: This is for screen readers/accessibility because every embedded link is supposed to have unique text. If you use something like "Register" or "Sign up" on every link, you'll have multiple links embedded in similar text.
  • PLEASE AVOID links using tiny url or other link shorteners, previous Hornet Weekly links from published newsletters (EMMA converts them to specialized links and this causes issues when it converts them again in a new newsletter) or link types that aren't direct links (redirects, etc.).
  • All links should use https:// and not http:// per Sac State policy.
  • Links to SharePoint-hosted files are not recommended. Links should be to publicly hosted webpages for the widest accessibility.

Event Style and Formatting

For Events, which are now submitted via Trumba, all proper formatting, and style for date, time, location, bold/italicized text, etc. will be automatically applied.

For the Short Description on the calendar submission form, which acts as the body of your Event item, please follow any applicable guidelines in this Style Guide.

Date, Time, Location

  • Note: This mostly applies to Events, which will be automatically formatted properly by Trumba. However, follow these guidelines if including date, time, location in SharePoint-submitted items.
  • For Hornet Weekly, follow this order (Date, Time, Location); Sac State style is normally Time, Date, Location.
    • Examples: (1) Tuesday, March 24, from 1-2 p.m. in the University Union Ballroom (2) Wednesday, March 25, from noon-4 p.m. at The WELL
  • Days: Spell out days and ALWAYS include the day(s) of the week. Tuesday, Sept. 1, NOT Sept. 1.
  • DO NOT use st, th or rd
    • Example: April 4, NOT April 4th
  • Months: Should be formatted as follows when pairing with a full date: Jan., Feb., March, April, May, June, July, Aug., Sept., Oct., Nov., Dec.
  • If a month stands alone, always spell out.
    • Example: A new program is launching this October; BUT A new program launches Thursday, Oct. 1.
  • Time: Use a.m./p.m. NOT AM/PM or any other variation.
  • Separate time ranges with a hyphen (not an en or em dash), no spaces (1-2 p.m. or noon-5 p.m.).
  • There is no need for zeros for on-the-hour times (2 p.m., NOT 2:00 p.m.)
  • Format midday and midnight as: noon, not 12 p.m., and midnight, not 12 a.m. Also, noon and midnight are not usually captilized unless starting a sentence or part of a proper name.
  • Years: Don’t include unless it’s a new year (usually just for January) or you’re referencing a different year than the current one; in other words, only needed for clarity
  • Location: At or on a location (at the University Union; on the Quad) and in a room (in Lassen Hall 3014)
  • When indicating floor, use words, not figures and put them in parentheses.
    • Example: (third floor) NOT 3rd floor, floor 3 or any other variant.

Headlines

  • Automatically formatted as bold when entering into SharePoint (note: it will show as non-bold text, but it'll be bold when it shows up in HW)
  • Max 72 characters including spaces
  • Headline/sentence style – only first word, proper nouns capitalized, no period
    • Example: Join us for the El Centro Serna Open House this week
  • Descriptive, catchy, conversational, attention-grabbing
    • Example: Graduating in May? Tell us what’s next for a chance to win!
  • Do NOT just use the name of the event.
    • Example: 'Join us for Hornet Nest Fest' NOT 'Hornet Nest Fest'
  • Do NOT include dates, times, locations or specific details in titles.

"Submitted by" line

  • Submitted by text is automatically added and this line will be italicized. (Note: it will show as non-italic text, but it'll be italicized when it shows up in HW.)
  • The submitted by line does not have a character count limit, in case multiple areas co-sponsor an item, but please keep them as concise as possible.
    • Example: Submitted by the Career Center and University Union
  • Add “the” when needed.
    • Example: Submitted by the Career Center; NOT Submitted by Career Center
  • Avoid “Office of” unless needed for clarity.
  • Use Department of, not NAME Department (unless part of a proper name - Ex: Police Department) AND only use when needed for clarity.
    • Example: Department of English; NOT English Department
  • Items MUST be submitted by an office, department, center, group or University-recognized organization.
    • Items MAY NOT be submitted by individuals or those outside of the University.
    • We DO NOT accept items directly from students, but they may work with an official campus representative to submit items on their behalf.

Colorful Punctuation/Emojis

Occasional emojis, exclamation marks, etc. are OK as additions to text, never as replacements for words. Do not overuse.

  • Please note: Some of the submission platforms and fields may not accept emojis or colorful punctuation.

Phone Numbers

  • Always use this format: 916-123-4567

Call to Action

A Call to Action is not required for all non-event items, but it is HIGHLY recommended. Hornet Weekly should ask students to participate, engage and take actions rather than just share information, but that's OK, too.

SharePoint: For most news, announcements and resource items, please include a call to action of some sort. Links may be embedded in the body within SharePoint.

  • CTA examples: Link to register or learn more, email contact, deadline and link to apply, etc.

Important: A Call to Action does NOT need to be a link, but links are recommended. They can be something like a text-based invitation to join, a save the date, a request to stay tuned for more information, etc.

Trumba: All events will automatically link back to the full Trumba listing. You will not be able to add additional links within the Short Description (body). The link to the Trumba listing is sufficient for a Call to Action as you can add further links, maps, images, etc. in the full listing.

All Other Styles

For all other style questions, please follow the official style guide hierarchy: Sac State Style Guide > CSU Style Guide > AP Style Guide (subscription or physical book required).