One Space Between Sentences

Avoid the 'bullet hole' look.

Opinion page by Duane Alan Hahn.

This image from Sticker Giant is used with permission.

Did you know that it's correct to use just one space between sentences on our web sites? Using two spaces was correct when we used monospaced typewriters and old computers, but now word processors and web sites use proportional fonts, so it's unnecessary and incorrect to use two spaces between sentences.

I've seen with my own eyes that many web site owners still don't know that we should be using one space. Their pages are hard to read because they are full of irritating bullet holes. It looks like someone shot up the place. If you want your web site to look more professional, use one space between sentences.

You might say, "but browsers ignore extra spaces." That's normally true, but many WYSIWYG web editors will leave as many spaces as you insert (because they use  ). Put two spaces, you'll see two spaces in the browser window. Put fifty spaces, you'll see fifty spaces.

For more detailed explanations about why we should use one space, check out the related links on the right side of this page.

From Two Spaces to No Spaces?

There seems to be a growing number of people who don't put a space after punctuation marks. If they can manage to scrape up enough energy to put spaces between the words, how hard could it be to also put a space after commas, periods, question marks, and so on? And how about putting a space before and after parentheses?