Re: Heading Hierarchy for a Complex Manual

[Brian Gordon <elasticsoul2003 -at- yahoo -dot- ca>]

--- Kirk Turner <royj -at- alltel -dot- net> wrote:

> 
> I am in the process of editing a very long and
> complex manual. 
> Does this sound right? 
...
> I hate to question the venerable Chicago
> Manual of Style, but
> this looks odd. Is there a more authoritative source
> for technical
> manuals? Have I interpreted the Chicago heading
> hierarchy correctly?
> Maybe it is just fear of failure clouding my vision.
> Any guidance would
> be greatly appreciated.
>  

For long and complex documents, I find numbered
headings to be helpful to me when writing, and to
readers when reading. It helps keep people from
getting lost. 

I am also not a big fan of indented headings, because
then the document takes on a look that I find harder
to follow than flush-left numbered headings. For
example, I've seen docs with indented headings but
flush-left text, and this seems to make the headings
less readily noticeable. 

All the best,
Brian

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