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Subject:Re: Correct punctuation for bulleted lists From:Harry Hager <hhager -at- dttus -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com, sdeichmann -at- voicemobility -dot- com Date:23 Mar 2000 07:01:29 -0600
Sue,
> Should the last bullet (viewing widget content) have a period?
NO.
No punctuation is needed for these short phrases in the list.
Here's what I usually do:
The audit activities Wazoo Software records for a user are as follows:
- Adding widgets
- Removing widgets
- Viewing widget content
I changed two items:
- I added the phrase "are as follows" to the stem. Not required but it
seems to read better. (The stem could be changed to "As a part of its
audit feature, the Wazoo Software records the following activities for
a user:)
- Changed the first letter in each list item to a capital letter
(Initial caps). I ALWAYS do this. (Unless the list item is a proper
noun, name of a product, or is accepted jargon and the first letter is
not capitalized.)
Also, please don't do this:
- adding widgets,
- removing widgets,
- and viewing widget content.
This is wrong. This is not a sentence. This is a list. A list and a
sentence are not the same. They do not follow the same grammar rules.
Hope this helps,
H. Jim Hager
hhager -at- dttus -dot- com
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Subject: Correct punctuation for bulleted lists
Author: sdeichmann -at- voicemobility -dot- com at Internet-USA
Date: 3/22/00 2:48 PM
What is the correct (standard?) punctuation for the following
structure? (The list below is bulleted, I just put it in plain text
for readability.)
The audit activities Wazoo Software records for a user are:
- adding widgets
- removing widgets
- viewing widget content
Should the last bullet (viewing widget content) have a period?