Punctuation Guide
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by AnthonyPvanDuyn (talk | contribs) at 00:14, October 13, 2026. It may differ significantly from current revision.
This page is dedicated to being a brief explanation of ASCII vs Unicode punctuation and even how to type them.
Hyphens and Dashes
- Hyphen (-)
- The standard ASCII hyphen. Safe for all Conservapedia pages and required for Conservapedia's Original Source Project.
- En-dash (–)
- Important: A user cannot type an en-dash directly on a US keyboard. It only appears through special key combinations or automatic substitution by software.
- Windows: Hold ALT + 0150, or use the Character Map
- Mac: Hold Option + Hyphen
- Linux: Press Compose key then - then -
- HTML/MediaWiki: Type –
- The en-dash is a Unicode character used for ranges (e.g., 1914–1918). It must not be used in Conservapedia's Original Source Project pages.
- Em-dash (—)
- A longer Unicode dash used for breaks in thought. Must not be used in Conservapedia's Original Source Project pages.
- Minus sign (−)
- A mathematical Unicode minus symbol. Visually similar to a hyphen but distinct. Must not be used in Conservapedia's Original Source Project pages.
Quotation Marks
- Straight quotes (" ")
- Smart quotes (“ ”)
Apostrophes
- Straight apostrophe (')
- Typographic apostrophe (’)
Ellipsis
- Three periods (...)
- Unicode ellipsis (…)
Other Unicode Pitfalls
- Non‑breaking space
- Curly brackets
- Long arrows
- Mathematical symbols
ASCII‑Only Requirement
Explanation of why OS Project pages must use ASCII.
How to Check for Unicode
Tips for editors.
See Also
Links to OS Project Style Guide, Internal Links, etc.