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Subject:Number List with Only One Item? From:"Hager, Harry (US - East Brunswick)" <hhager -at- dc -dot- com> To:"'TECHWR-L'" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 12 May 2000 08:23:38 -0700
Listers,
I have question about Numbered lists.
I use numbered lists to identify the sequence of steps in a user procedure.
Nothing new here.
The new element is that when the procedure consists of only a single step, I
also use a numbered list.
For example:
To display the xyz window:
1. From the abc menu in the def window, select xyz.
The progam opens the xyz window.
Another example:
To download the results of your query to Excel:
1. Click the Download Query Results to Excel button in the abc window.
The program exports the results of your query to Microsoft Excel and xxx.
Why do I do this? When a reader looks, browses, or reads my documentation
they can immediately determine which information is a procedure. Every time
a reader sees a numbered list in my documentation, they know it's a
procedure.
It doesn't matter if the list has 1 step or 10 steps. If it's a numbered
list, it's a procedure: if it's a procedure, it's a numbered list. (Of
course, I do not use a numbered list for any other purpose.)
I'm familiar with the rules (English rules? Chicago Manual of Style?) that
say this is a no-no, and that if you have a list like this, you should make
it a simple sentence, as in the following: To display the xyz window, select
xyx from the abc menu in the def window.
This is one case in which I have decided to break the normal rules for the
sake of visual clarity and consistency.
Does anybody else use this structure in their tech writing when you have a
single step procedure?
Any comments for or against this structure?
Jim Hager
Deloitte Consulting
Pittsburgh Solution Center
Hhager -at- dc -dot- com (company recently changed email address)
