Should the word “Web,” as in “World Wide Web” be capitalized? Is it common enough to be “web,” or should it be “Web” because it’s a shortened version of the proper noun “World Wide Web.” I’m collecting opinions on the subject, and I’ll add them here whenever I find them.
Looking in the refer logs, we get a LOT of traffic to this article from people searching for information on this topic. I looked over this, and it's just excerpts, so I want to add another two cents here (and perhaps the most obvious):
"Web" is a proper noun. It's a shortened form of "World Wide Web." Like "Internet" is a proper noun, but "net" just refers to a general network. Same concept. "Web" is refering to something specific.
As for "Web site" being one word or two...I say two. Why? Just looks better to me.
Out of the four ways in which it can be written, I think, 'web site' is definitely wrong because 'Web' being a proper noun (standing for World Wide Web or WWW), the 'W' needs to be capitalized. So, if it's two words, it has to be 'Web site'. Continuing with closed forms like homepage, online, and printout, 'Website' seems to be accepted more and more every new day. But I think the real fight is between 'Web site' and our fourth contender, 'website', as people argue that 'website' not being a proper noun, the 'w' need not be capitalized: like in "Sun being a star". So, is 'website' a common noun? Not yet, at least. So, for the time being, we can stick to using 'Web site' which seems to be the most correct form... :)
Check out the page: http://www.stcsig.org/te/newsletter/supplement/mar2003_decpollresults.asp
That's a good page. For the record, it's split between "Web site" and "website." I still maintain that "Web" is short for "World Wide Web," a proper noun, hence the capitlization.
Check out this WordBiz.com page where 65 percent of the readers voted for website and 35 percent for Web site. The vote is still open though...
I view the word "website" in the same way I view the words "address" and "location."
If designing an ad for a bank. I may say 'come see us at our new location' or 'come see us at our new Roadname Rd location.' Thus it is a small step to tell customers to 'find additional information on our website.'
I suppose others could use the same argument to say that capitalizing "Roadname" means we should split "Web" and "site."
I find it funny that some use both "Web site" and "website" in the same ad; so that their site is a "Web site" but competitors only have "websites" in the same way that that Bible translations differentiate between "God" and "gods." More than a little pretentious dontchathink?
I capitalize the following on my website: Web, Intranet and Internet. It is reassuring to find that at least capitalizing Web is correct.
Another good gauge of what is most suitable is a Google search using quotes. Searching for "website" results in 1.15 billion pages, while "web site" results in "only" 927 million. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out a way to get Google to differentiate between "Internet" and "internet."
I don't think anyone will argue that the Web should be capitalized. However, a "website" is just a "site" on the Web. As a comparison, do we capitalize sunspot? Of course not. A sunspot, while a spot on the Sun, is not a proper noun and should not be capitalized. Another example is earthling. This is a habitant of the Earth and is not capitalized. Similarly, a website may be part of the Web, but it is not a proper noun itself.
Josh, I think you've got that spot-on (pardon the pun)!
Sorry, but I don't see why "Web" should be capitalized. If you say "World Wide Web," then that is a title, a proper name. Web is a subset of that title and doesn't need the caps treatment. We don't capitalize "Radio", "Televsion", "Phone Book", what makes "Web" any different.
