Re: Colons versus periods in procedures containing illustrations

[Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com>]

The illustration is indented so that its left edge aligns with the
beginning of the text in the step. It is obvious from the layout that it is
part of the step. In the example I gave, the illustration would probably be
a screenshot with the button labeled Configure either circled or exploded
out so that the reader can find it easily on a screen.

On Mon, Nov 26, 2018 at 5:26 PM Thorsten Konersmann
<tk -at- documentation -dot- engineering> wrote:

> From a functional point of view, I understand your plain text example in
> such a way that the colon is supposed to clarify the reference from the
> step to the illustration (namely, to the illustration following the colon,
> below the step).
>
> Principally, the layout of step-by-step instructions should always be
> unambiguous about which step refers to which illustration (e.g., the
> illustration placed above or below the step or which of the illustrations
> placed in the marginal column).
>
> If the reference from the step to the illustration is unambiguous in the
> layout, the colon does not serve a functional purpose, or does it?
>
> Apart from this functional argument, is there another argument to be made
> purely regarding punctuation and style?
>
> On Mon 26. Nov 2018 at 22:34 Lin Sims <ljsims -dot- ml -at- gmail -dot- com> wrote:
>
>> It's a niggly thing, but I cannot find a style guide that addresses the
>> topic.
>>
>> Say you have a step in a procedure, and the step contains a graphic
>> illustration after the text.
>>
>> Do you end the text part of the step with a period or a colon, and why?
>>
>> Should it be:
>>
>> 1. Click Configure:
>>     [graphic here]
>>
>> OR
>>
>> 1. Click Configure.
>>     [graphic here]
>>
>> --
>> Lin Sims
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-- 
Lin Sims
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