TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
I recently got into a debate about using two spaces or one space after a
period in a Word document, being told to use only one space. At my last
Technical Writing job my manager was adamant about using two spaces after a
period, and I have become accustomed to using two spaces. How does
everyone/anyone feel about this issue? Is there some sort of existing
rule? One of the reasons given to me was that because more and more
documents are converted to HTML or uploaded to the web in file
repositories, space is an issue, hence single spacing.
NOTE: I know that FrameMaker has a feature that disallows you from manually
double-spacing, and it makes up for the space ratio that should exist after
a period as opposed to a space between words. I have not worked much in
FrameMaker, but I have used Doc-To-Help with Word. I cannot really tell
whether a similar convention exists in word. It seems that the period
gives the illusion of a different space ratio, but I cannot tell for sure.
