Do you indent a numbered list?
Lists are useful because they emphasize selected information in regular text. When you see a list of three or four items strung out vertically on the page rather than in normal paragraph format, you naturally notice it more and are likely to pay more attention to it. Certain types of lists also make for easier reading. For example, in instructions, it is a big help for each step to be numbered and separate from the preceding and following steps. Lists also create more white space and spread out the text so that pages don't seem like solid walls of words. Show Like headings, the various types of lists are an important feature of professional technical writing: they help readers understand, remember, and review key points; they help readers follow a sequence of actions or events; and they break up long stretches of straight text. Your task for this chapter is to learn about the different types and uses of lists and to learn their specific format and style. Lists: General GuidelinesIn professional technical-writing contexts, you must use a specific style of lists, like the one presented here.
Note: In-sentence lists could be called "horizontal" lists. All the other lists types pesented here are "vertical" lists in that they format the items vertically rather than in paragraph format. Guidelines for Specific Types of ListsIt's difficult to state guidelines on choosing between the various kinds of lists, but here's a stab at it:
Common Problems with ListsProblems with lists usually include the following:
Format for ListsUse the following for specific details on the capitalization, typography (bold, underlining, different fonts, different types sizes), and spacing for each type of list. In-sentence listsUse these guidelines for in-sentence lists:
Examples of in-sentence lists. Simple vertical listsUse these guidelines for simple vertical lists:
Example of a simple vertical list. No numbers or bullets. Bulleted listsUse these guidelines for bulleted lists (also referred to as unordered lists):
Example of a bulleted list. Items not in any required order. ORed listsComputer developers like to use the Boolean OR as a verb. If two elements are logically joined by "or," they are said to be "ORed." An ORed list is simply a bulleted list with an "or" between the list items for emphasis. True, you can end the first item with with "or," but ORed advocates think that is not visually emphatic enough. Here's an example:
Example of an ORed list. The or between adds emphasis. Numbered listsUse these guidelines for numbered lists (also referred to as ordered lists):
Example of a numbered vertical list. Items are in a required order. Two-column listsUse these guidelines for two-column lists:
Note: The best way to create a two-column list is to use a table and hide the grid lines. If you use tabs between the columns, you are in for a mess if the text changes at all.
Example of a two-column list (pairs of list items). Not illustrated here, column headings are often used to indicate the contents of the two columns (for example, here it might be "Term" as the heading for the column 1 and "Definition" for column 2). Lists with labelsOne last little variation on lists is the vertical list with labels at the beginning of the items. This format is used extensively in this book. It's like another way of doing a two-column list. You can use bold or italics for the actual label (italics is used in the figure).
Example of a vertical list with labels. Very useful for indicating the contents of each item in a lengthy vertical list when a two-column list is not quite right for the situation. Nested listsA nested list contains two or more levels of list items. Nested lists can contain every combination of list type: numbered list items (123...) with lowercase-letter sublist items (abc...), filled-disc bulleted list items with clear-disc or hyphenated sublist items; and other combinations of these.
Example of a nested list. If the sublist items were in a required order, they would be abc.... Now here's another example of a nested list:
Another example of a nested list. Standard is to use lowercase letters for sublist items that are in a required order. Now here are two final examples of nested lists:
More nested lists. If the sublist items are in no required order, try using the clear disc (standard in Word and Open Office) or the en dash. Hanging IndentsNotice that all of the list-item "run-over" lines in this text and examples use a "hanging-indent" format. That's where any second and additional lines of a list item align to the text of the first list item. Not a good idea to use tabs or spaces to achieve this format. In most versions of Microsoft Word, create this format by selecting hanging indent in Format > Paragraph and specifying an indent of 0.25 inches. Experiment with other indents. I would appreciate your thoughts, reactions, criticism regarding this chapter: your response—David McMurrey. |