Formatting Guidelines / Checklist

These formatting requirements will be the same for all content.

• Body Font—Times New Roman, 12-point, left-aligned • Headings—Use headline-style capitalization (Please Google this if you do not know what it is) and should be bolded • Subheadings—At least 3-4 words long and bolded • Line Spacing Options—Single-spaced with “before” and “after” options set to 0. • Margins—Set to 1” on the top and bottom margins and 1.25” on each side • Zoom—Set to 100%. • Indentations—No indentations are used anywhere. • Paragraph Spacing—One blank line between each paragraph. • Blocks of Text—No block of text should be more than 6 lines • Sentence Spacing—Only one space after ending punctuation. • Bulleted Lists—All bulleted lists should be formatted exactly like the one for this guide. You do not have to bold the first words of the bulleted list if the bullet points are shorter. • Keyword Usage—Keywords should be used in content EXACTLY as they appear in guidelines • Title—Every piece should have an interesting title that engages readers and is bolded • Conclusion—Every piece of content should have a conclusion paragraph. • Quotation Marks—Curly quotation marks should be used with punctuation inside. Example: Our slogan is “Designer Handbags for Less.” • En Dashes—En dashes are used to show ranges (e.g., “Jan–March” or “8:00–10:00”). • Em Dashes—Em dashes are used as in this example; “She wanted a new handbag—a designer handbag, of course!” and should not have spaces on either side. Em Dashes are also used in bulleted lists like this one. • Contractions—For content with professional or formal style, please do not use any contractions but they are okay for informal. • Serial Comma—Please use the serial comma to avoid ambiguity, increase consistency, and follow our guidelines (This sentence uses serial commas). • File Names—Writers please save the file in this format: FirstName_Project Title (e.g., Mark_Where to Buy Designer Handbags).

NOTE: Please create a document that has all of these formatting settings in place so that you do not have to think about this every time you write a new piece. If you are not clear on how to set line spacing “before” and “after” to 0, how to create “En” and “Em” dashes, or any other aspect of these formatting guidelines, please Google this information as it may vary depending on your version of Microsoft Word and your operating system.

Headings with headline style capitalization and bolded Interesting and engaging title

Font is Times New Roman 12 pt

Subheadings at least 3 words and bolded No indentations

One line space between each paragraph

One space after each period

Bullet points follow same style as this guide No block of text more than 6 lines

Margin left and right set at 1.25” Em dashes used in bulleted lists

Conclusion paragraph Zoom 100%

Curly quotes used outside of punctuation Margin top and bottom set at 1”

Your formatting should look exactly like this for ALL content unless we provide a different formatting example for a specific task