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On 7/30/1999 1:02 PM, Melissa Morgan (mmorgan -at- INTREPID -dot- CDG-HARGRAY -dot- COM)
wrote:
>Is it really the standard to NOT include the period after the step number?
>
>1. Click the Belly button.
>
>- or-
>
>1 Click the Belly button.
In my experience, there's no "standard" outside of internal style
choices, which we of course must enforce consistently.
It usually comes down to a document design and style issue... if the step
number is in the exact same font, size, and style as the text that
follows, set it off by a period or something similar. If the step number
is distinct in some way, such as bold or a different typeface (I've seen
san serif numbers followed by serif text), there's no need for an added
character to set it off.
Perhaps some graphic designers can step in here with more info, but I've
seen it done all possible ways, in all media, and there doesn't seem to
be any industry-wide standard.
My advice has always been "Format however you need to that looks good and
avoids confusion. And for heavens sake, do it consistently." Of course,
I'm not a designer, so that could be bad advice...
