Compound words
Whitespace
Whitespace is used in our blog posts and product content. For the sake of consistency, follow these conventions when using them:
| ✅ | ❌ | Example |
|---|---|---|
| nameserver | name servers | Change your nameservers to Cloudflare's. |
| hostname | host name | Add a *. SAN (wildcard) to the custom hostname certificate. |
| data center | datacenter | Cloudflare updates the new setting across all of our data centers around the world. |
| checkbox | check box | Select the Transfer lock checkbox before continuing the setup. |
When using compound words that have a preposition in them (think log in, or set up), they should be written as two separate words when they are verbs, and as one word when they are nouns.
See these examples:
Verbs
Now you can set up Centrify, OneLogin, and other identity providers with Cloudflare Access.
Learn how to start using SSO to log in to the Cloudflare dashboard.
Make sure to back up your data.
Nouns
Having DAGs that can run simultaneously requires an Airflow setup that has been built and configured to scale.
Share an account without sharing a login.
This allows you to restore your data from the backup.
Hyphenation
Certain expressions should be hyphenated depending on their position and role in the sentence.
As a general rule, when a compound word precedes a noun, it is called a modifier and should be hyphenated. When the same word comes after a verb, it has the role of an adverb and it should not be hyphenated.
Examples:
| Modifiers | Adverbs |
|---|---|
| Keep up-to-date passwords secured and safe. | Keep passwords safe by staying up to date |
| Day-to-day maintenance means any daily processes which must be implemented for the equipment. | The duration of a maintenance session will vary from day to day. |
| This allows us to implement state-of-the-art security for our customers. | This approach to authentication was the state of the art until a couple years ago. |