Internet, Web, and Other E-Issues

Q. According to CMOS, computer menu items are capitalized. The editors I work with insist that a menu item from a specific website (such as yours) should also be placed in quotation marks. Here’s an example: Click on “About the Manual” to learn about changes made to the recent edition. I think the quotation marks are unnecessary. What do you think?

A. I think they’re fine, especially when the item consists of several words. Otherwise it could be confusing, especially if the sentence contains words that must be capped but that aren’t part of a menu item name. In a given document, if all menu items are single words or familiar phrases (such as Page Down), then caps are enough. If some items require quotation marks, however, then all should have them.