RE: opinion on outline numbering for chapters/sections

["Lauren" <lauren -at- writeco -dot- net>]

I got confused with the roman letters.  Legal, or "interleaved," numbering
is not confusing to me.  But when I see "2.2.1.1  A)" followed by "2.2.1.2
B)," I wonder what happened between the two steps because something is
missing.  Also, using a closing parenthesis after a roman letter step number
in a legal list is confusing.

Why do you find legal numbering confusing?  Is it new to you?  What do the
asterisks represent?  Have you taken a look at IEEE styles where legal
numbering is recommended?  
http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style/section4.html#805

IEEE also discusses how to handle numbered lists in the section above.

IEEE demonstrates by example how to use legal numbering in its style guide.
http://standards.ieee.org/guides/style/

Lauren

> From: Gina Jones

> Hey Everyone,
> 
> I'm normally a lurker. I benefit from this list and thank all 
> of you for
> your participation.
> 
> I need some opinions on my numbering sequence in a User 
> Guide. My client
> specifically requested that I embed the Quick Start into the 
> manual and
> provide more details. I'm not a fan of outline numbering in 
> user guides, but
> must follow their corporate style guide. Below is this 
> particular numbering
> sequence.
> *
> 2.2***    Software Quick Start
>   2.2.1    Set Up Software Web Appliance
>     2.2.1.1  A) Configure the Web Appliance
>                  <Step/Action table here>
>                   1
>                    2 a)
>                       b)
>                       c)
>                       d)
>                       e)
>                       f)
>     2.2.1.2  B) Configure the Analyzers
>                  <Step/Action table here>
>                   1
>                    2
>     2.2.1.3  C) Connect the Switch to the Analyzers
>                  <Step/Action table here>
>                   1
>                    2
>     2.2.1.4  D) Connect the Ethernet.
> 
>     2.2.1.5  E) Access the Web Application.
>                 <Step/Action table here>
>                   1
>                    2
> 
>   2.2.2  Set up Downstream Monitoring
> 
> 
> Once I get to 2.2.1.1 I feel that the instructions become 
> confusing, so I
> put A), B), C), etc. at the beginning of the headings since 
> they are part of
> the sequence of steps. However, now I'm thinking that it makes it more
> confusing. What do you think?


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