Heading Hierarchy for a Complex Manual

["Kirk Turner" <royj -at- alltel -dot- net>]

I am in the process of editing a very long and complex manual. I am
writing the style guide, and I am on the section on heading hierarchy.
Except for the unwieldy APA guidelines, I haven't found any guidance on
the subject. I have the Chicago Manual of Style guidelines, but I don't
see any examples or suggestions that relate to what I am doing. But I
used what was in the Chicago Manual of Style anyway and came up with
these levels of heading (this is for an online manual):

 . The first level heading will be Verdana, 14 pt., upper and lower
case, underlined and centered. 

 . The second level will be Verdana, 14 pt., centered, uppercase and
lowercase. 
                     
 . The third level will be Verdana, 12 pt., flush left, uppercase and
lowercase and underlined. 

 . The fourth level heading will be Verdana, 12 pt., one tab from left
and capitalized as it would be in a sentence. 

 . The fifth level of heading will be Verdana 12 pt., two tabs from the
left and underlined. End this heading with a period and begin the first
sentence of the body text for this heading on the same line as the
heading. 


Does this sound right? Is the Chicago Manual of Style a good reference
for a complicated technical manual? I have an example using it on paper,
and it looks odd to me. Most of my editing jobs have been for technical
journals. 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.
 



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