1About this style guide

The Opera Style Guide provides language and usage rules for the products and services of Opera Software ASA and its affiliated companies. These rules should be followed in all promotional, marketing, and other documents produced for public use.

This guide is based primarily on The Chicago Manual of Style, but also draws on other sources, such as the W3C, and internal discussions.

This resource is collaborative and we want to make it as useful and accessible as possible. Please don't hesitate to tell us what you think. Feedback can be submitted to the Language Services and Documentation team.

1.1The basis for Opera style

We base our style of writing on The Chicago Manual of Style. The Chicago Manual gives guidelines for spelling and punctuation and discusses the treatment of numbers, quotations, illustrations, tables, foreign languages, mathematical symbols, abbreviations, and so on. Whenever in doubt, this manual should be consulted.

For product development documentation, The Chicago Manual of Style takes precedence.

For press releases and marketing material, however, the Associated Press Stylebook should be followed. Some basics of AP style can be found on Purdue's Online Writing Lab website.

Translators and writers that produce localized documents for Opera should use local, appropriate style guides.

1.2Opera's official business language

Opera uses U.S. English as the source for all external communication, product strings, and documentation. This applies to all aspects of grammar: spelling, syntax, and vocabulary.

U.S. English can have different spellings and syntax uses from British English. For more information on what to do if you are unsure of British or U.S. usages, please refer to section 4.1 British versus U.S. English.

1.3Common dictionary for defining and spelling words

For answers to questions about word definitions and spellings, please consult the Merriam-Webster dictionary or ask the Language Services and Documentation team for assistance.