TitleCaser

Transform any text to proper title case format using popular style guides such as APA, AP, Chicago, NYT, Wikipedia, and British. Customize options to achieve greater flexibility and consistency.

• TitleCaser
  • Demo
  • CodePen Demo 1
  • CodePen Demo 2
  • Table of Contents
  • Introduction
  • Key Features:
  • Installation
  • Usage
  • Usage in the Browser
  • Options
  • Methods
  • Examples
    • Basic Usage
    • Customizing Word Replacements Method
    • Customizing TitleCaser
    • TitleCaser with Default Word Replacement
    • TitleCaser with Possessive Noun and a Colon
  • Build Process
  • Test
  • Resources
  • Report Bugs

Overview

The comprehensive Language Conventions and Style Library is specifically designed to assist web content developers in adhering to the latest style guides and English language conventions. This all-inclusive library has various features, including support for numerous style guides such as AP, APA, Chicago, NY Times, Wikipedia, and British styles and customizable preferences to tailor to individual needs. TitleCaser is a component of this library, and LCSL is set to be open-sourced by the end of 2023

To streamline workflow, modules are available in both browser and node environment versions and include a command-line interface for building, testing, and minimizing the module. Additionally, it features a filter ability that allows users to ignore certain phrases containing short words, preventing the module from mistakenly flagging instances where short words are used as part of a larger term or phrase.

The module has been designed to handle various capitalization scenarios, including hyphenated words, prefixes, suffixes, reserved words, Roman numerals, proper nouns that contain lowercase letters, and words that require capitalization in specific contexts. This ensures that your content meets the appropriate style and formatting guidelines, regardless of the context. It also offers word replacement capabilities, as well as ignored phrases to create consistency in cases where certain terms may be capitalized differently depending on the context.

Whether you're developing web content for a major news organization or simply looking to improve your writing skills, this module is an essential tool that can help ensure your work is accurate, consistent, and conforms to the latest style guidelines.

Key Features:

• Support for popular style guides and customizable preferences
• Advanced capitalization handling for suffixes, prefixes, hyphenated words, and reserved words
• Support for proper capitalization of Roman numerals and exclusion of specific words and phrases from title capitalization
• Word replacement capabilities for consistency in capitalization Command-line interface for building, testing, and minimizing the module
• Pre-defined word lists for articles, conjunctions, prepositions, and non-capitalized words in titles
• Exclusion of common phrases from title capitalization

Get Started

You can install this module via npm:

npm i @danielhaim/titlecaser

Usage

The package can be imported and used in both Node.js and browser environments using the following syntax:

import "./path/to/@danielhaim/titlecaser";

const options = {
  style: 'chicago'
};

const titleCaser = new TitleCaser(options);

const input = 'the book   of     life';
const output = titleCaser.toTitleCase(input);

console.log(output); // 'The Book of Life'

Usage in the Browser

The function can also be used in a browser environment by including the TitleCaser.amd.js script in your HTML file:

Here's an example of how to use the modulate function:

<script src="./path/to/TitleCaser.amd.js"></script>

After that, the toTitleCase() function can be accessed in your JavaScript code like this:

const options = { 
  style: 'apa'
};
const input = 'the future of devops: the next era';
const output = input.toTitleCase(options);

console.log(output); // The Future of DevOps: The Next Era

Example 2

<h2>nodejs development on aws: an in-depth tutorial on server-side javascript deployment</h2>
<h2>the iphone's impact on modern communication: a sociolinguistic analysis</h2>
<h2>back-end and front-end</h2>

function applyTitleCaseToH2Elements(options = { style: "apa" }) {
  try {
    const h2Elements = document.querySelectorAll("h2");
    h2Elements.forEach((h2) => {
      const innerHTML = h2.innerHTML;
      const modifiedContent = innerHTML.toTitleCase(options);
      h2.innerHTML = modifiedContent;
    });
  } catch (error) {
    console.error(
      "An error occurred while applying title case transformation:",
      error
    );
  }
}

applyTitleCaseToH2Elements();

Options

The {options} parameter is an object that contains the settings for the conversion process.

• style: determines the specific title case style to be applied. Permissible values include: ['ap', 'apa', 'british', 'chicago', 'nyt', 'wikipedia']
• articlesList refers to the words that should be treated as articles in title case.
• shortConjunctionsList pertains to the words that should be treated as short conjunctions in title case.
• shortPrepositionsList relates to the words that should be treated as short prepositions in title case.
• neverCapitalizedList contains the words that should never be capitalized in title case.
• wordReplacementsList is a map of terms that will be replaced during the title case conversion process.
• smartQuotes boolean value that determines whether quotes should be replaced with smart quotes.

Methods

• setReplaceTerms(terms): Updates the wordReplacementsList with new term-replacement pairs. It accepts an array of objects, each containing a single key-value pair representing the term and its replacement.
• removeReplaceTerm(term): Removes a replaced term from the wordReplacementsList array in the option object of the TitleCaser instance. Throws an error if the term is not found in the array, otherwise removes it from the array and updates the option object.
• addReplaceTerm(term, replacement): Adds a single term-replacement pair to the wordReplacementsList. If the term already exists, it updates the replacement value.
• addExactPhraseReplacements(newPhrases) - This method allows adding an array of exact phrase replacements to the TitleCaser class. Each item in the array should be an object with a single key-value pair, where the key is the phrase to be replaced and the value is the desired replacement.
• setStyle(style: string): Sets the style option in the object of the TitleCaser instance. The method takes a string argument style that specifies the style to use for the title casing. If the argument is not a string, the method throws a TypeError. Otherwise, it updates the style option in the object.
• smartQuotes(smartQuotes: boolean): Specifies whether to replace straight quotes with smart quotes during title casing. Provide a boolean argument smartQuotes to enable or disable this feature.

Examples

The example below demonstrates how to use the TitleCaser class to convert a string to title case with custom options.

Customizing Word Replacements Method

In the example below, we create a new instance of the TitleCaser class with the APA style option. We then set multiple replacement terms using two separate calls to the setReplaceTerms() method. Descriptive variable names are used for the input string and expected output. We call toTitleCase() to convert the input string to a title case.

import "./path/to/@danielhaim/titlecaser";

const titleCaser = new TitleCaser({
  style: 'apa'
});

// Set multiple replacement terms using two separate calls to setReplaceTerms()
titleCaser.setReplaceTerms({ 
  'hello world': 'Hello World', 
  'replace me': 'Replace Me' 
});
titleCaser.setReplaceTerms({ 
  'apa': 'APA' 
});

// Use descriptive variable names for the input and expected output
const inputString = "hello world, replace me!";
const expectedOutput = "Hello World, Replace Me!";

// Call toTitleCase() to convert the input string to title case
const outputString = titleCaser.toTitleCase(inputString);

Customizing TitleCaser

The example below demonstrates how to use the TitleCaser class to convert a string to a title case with specific settings.

import "./path/to/@danielhaim/titlecaser";

// Set the options object
const options = {
  style: "nyt",
  wordReplacementsList: {
    "nodejs": "Node.js",
    "javascript": "JavaScript",
    "mongodb": "MongoDB"
  }
};

// Instantiate a new TitleCaser object with the options
const titleCaser = new TitleCaser(options);

// Set the input string to be tested
const input = "the basics of nodejs development with mongodb";

// Set the expected output
const expectedOutput = "The Basics of Node.js Development with MongoDB";

// Call the toTitleCase method and store the result in actualOutput
const actualOutput = titleCaser.toTitleCase(input);

TitleCaser with Default Word Replacement

The example below demonstrates how to use the TitleCaser class to convert a string to a title case with AP style formatting, including hyphenated words and word/brand replacement.

import "./path/to/@danielhaim/titlecaser";

// Instantiate a new TitleCaser object with AP style formatting
const titleCaser = new TitleCaser({ style: 'ap' });

// Set the input string to be tested
const input = 'nodejs development on aws: an in-depth tutorial on server-side javascript deployment';

// Set the expected output
const expectedOutput = 'Node.js Development on AWS: An In-depth Tutorial on Server-side JavaScript Deployment';

// Call the toTitleCase method and store the result in actualOutput
const actualOutput = titleCaser.toTitleCase(input);

TitleCaser with Possessive Noun and a Colon

The example below demonstrates how to use the TitleCaser class to convert a string to title case with AP style formatting, including a possessive noun and a colon.

import "./path/to/@danielhaim/titlecaser";

// Instantiate a new TitleCaser object with AP style formatting
const titleCaser = new TitleCaser({ style: "ap" });

// Set the input string to be tested
const input = "the iphone's impact on modern communication: a sociolinguistic analysis";

// Set the expected output
const expectedOutput = "The iPhone's Impact on Modern Communication: A Sociolinguistic Analysis";

// Call the toTitleCase method and store the result in actualOutput
const actualOutput = titleCaser.toTitleCase(input);

TitleCaser with Smart Quotes

The example below demonstrates how to use the TitleCaser with smart quotes.

import "./path/to/@danielhaim/titlecaser";

// Instantiate a new TitleCaser object with AP style formatting and smart quotes enabled
const titleCaser = new TitleCaser({ 
  style: 'ap',
  smartQuotes: true
});

// Set the input string to be tested
const input = '"Never underestimate the power O\' persistence,"';

// Set the expected output
const expectedOutput = '“Never Underestimate the Power O’ Persistence,”';

// Call the toTitleCase method and store the result in actualOutput
const actualOutput = titleCaser.toTitleCase(input);

Build Process

npm run build-package
npm run build-docs
npm run copy-package-to-docs
npm run test

Test

npm run test

Testing Acronym/Pronoun of Alpha2/3 Country Codes
✓ Capitalizes country code "US" correctly in a geopolitical context (4 ms)
✓ Does not capitalize "us" when used as a pronoun (2 ms)
✓ Capitalizes country code "UK" with preceding indicator and trailing comma (2 ms)
✓ Handles multiple instances of country codes and pronouns (2 ms)
✓ Does not capitalize "us" when used in common phrases (2 ms)
✓ Capitalizes "USA" in a formal context (1 ms)
✓ Capitalizes "US" before a government-related word (1 ms)
✓ Does not capitalize "us" before a government-related word (1 ms)
✓ Capitalizes "UK" with preceding indicator before a government-related word (2 ms)
✓ Handles multiple instances of country codes and pronouns before government-related words (1 ms)
✓ Capitalizes "US" before a military-related word (1 ms)
✓ Does not capitalize "us" before a military-related word (1 ms)
✓ Capitalizes "UK" with preceding indicator before a territory-related word (2 ms)
✓ Handles multiple instances of country codes and pronouns before talks-related words (3 ms)
✓ Does not capitalize "us" before a talks-related word (1 ms)
✓ Capitalizes "USA" in a formal context before a bill-related word (1 ms)
✓ Handles multiple instances of country codes and pronouns before a bill-related word (2 ms)

Test Basic Options
✓ Default title case conversion
✓ Customized title case conversion (1 ms)
✓ AP-style title case conversion with replacements (3 ms)
✓ Testing Word Replacement (Kellogs -> Kellogg\'s)
✓ AP-style title case conversion with replacements (1 ms)
✓ Capitalize suffix word in sentence (1 ms)

Test Methods
✓ removeReplaceTerm (1 ms)
✓ setReplaceTerms (1 ms)

Test Variation Stability
✓ Capitalization and word replacements
✓ AP-style title case with possessive and colon (1 ms)
✓ AP-style title case with lowercase back/front-end terms
✓ Chicago style title case with comparison and colon (1 ms)
✓ APA style title case with colon (2 ms)
✓ Wikipedia style title case with acronym and hyphen (1 ms)
✓ Hyphenated, colon, and short word replacements (2 ms)
✓ I Love Connecting with My Online Friends, but Sometimes I Prefer to Hang Out with My Friends IRL (2 ms)
✓ Test Smart Quotes (1 ms)
✓ Wikipedia style capitalization test with special term and colon (1 ms)
✓ APA style title case with colon and apostrophe (2 ms)
✓ Chicago style title case with custom term replacements
✓ AP-style capitalization test with special terms and colon (1 ms)
✓ NYT-style capitalization test with special terms and colon (1 ms)
✓ APA style capitalization test with short conjunction terms and colon (2 ms)
✓ Correct phrase casing list testing (1 ms)

Test Reserved Words
✓ Title case transformation for a single reserved word
✓ Title case transformation for a sentence with a reserved word and colon (1 ms)
✓ Title case transformation for a reserved word with a possessive form (1 ms)
✓ Title case transformation for specific brand names
✓ Title case transformation for a sentence with HTML line break (nl2br) using <br> tag (1 ms)
✓ Title case transformation for a sentence with untrimmed white spaces
✓ Title case transformation for a sentence with HTML line break (nl2br) using <br> tag (1 ms)
✓ Title case transformation for a sentence with HTML line break (nl2br) without space after colon using <br> tag (1 ms)
✓ Ampersand in a sentence should return & and not &Amp; (1 ms)
✓ Untrimmed white spaces

Resources

Useful materials for improving your knowledge of writing and language style guides. These resources include various books and manuals, such as the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, the Chicago Manual of Style, and the AP Stylebook, which are widely recognized as authoritative sources on grammar, punctuation, and capitalization rules.

• AP Stylebook, 56th Edition
• Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Seventh Edition (2020)
• Chicago Manual of Style: Capitalization
• The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation. 21st ed. Cambridge: Harvard Law Review Association, 2020
• The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th Edition
• The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage
• Wikipedia: Letter case
• Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Titles of works

Report Bugs

If you encounter any bugs or issues while using the library or the demo page, please report them by opening a new issue in the repository's issue tracker.

When reporting a bug, please provide as much detail as possible, including the steps to reproduce the issue and any error messages that you see. I appreciate any contribution to improving this library.