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RE: Nested bullets - how many levels deep do you go?
Subject:RE: Nested bullets - how many levels deep do you go? From:"Maxwell Hoffmann" <mhoffmann -at- globalizationpartners -dot- com> To:<techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com> Date:Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:12:10 -0800
I would recommend trying to avoid a third level of nested lists.
Another reason for doing sticking to two level lists is
translation/localization: many target languages (German, Latin American
Spanish, Russian) have considerable language expansion. The extra lines of
non-English text are multiplied by the narrow column that your text must fit
within.
This phenomenon is magnified even further if your three levels of lists
occur in narrow table cells. (This is something that I have seen quite a bit
in Life Sciences documentation, particularly medical instrumentation Ops
Manuals with formatting based on "information mapping" concepts.)
SUMMARY: if you DO have to have a third level of lists, try to limit your
word count at that level.
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-----Original Message-----
From:
techwr-l-bounces+mhoffmann=globalizationpartners -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mhoffmann=globalizationpartners -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot-
com] On Behalf Of Downing, David
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 8:16 AM
To: techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Subject: Nested bullets - how many levels deep do you go?
We routinely use second-level nested bullets in our documentation, but
our policy is to never take it beyond a second level. However, there
have been times when I saw a need to go to a third level. (I just ran
into one.) I've been told that when that happens, I need to figure out
some way of leveling out the hierarchy so I can keep the list to two
nesting levels. (I think one of my editors once suggested that if I felt
the need to go to a third level or beyond, I was overthinking.) So I was
wondering what other folk here do. Do you ever go beyond a second level,
or do you avoid any nesting at all?
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