TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Where does the asterisk go? From:Geoff Hart <Geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> Date:Fri, 20 Aug 1999 12:50:23 -0400
Brian Doonan wondered <<When creating a word to
reference proprietary technology, where does the
asterisk go to reference the explanation--to the left or right?>>
Do you mean that you're adding a footnote to explain what
the word means? If so, the standard convention is to put the
footnote marker (here, an asterisk) on the right of the word.
But footnotes are generally a bad idea outside of historical
works or literary analyses; better by far to explain the term
directly in the text before you use it (e.g., "The act of
confusing readers is called 'bafflegabbing'. Word bafflegabs
readers through its online help system...") or include it in a
glossary... or both.
"Perhaps there is something deep and profound behind all those sevens,
something just calling out for us to discover it. But I
suspect that it is only a pernicious, Pythagorean coincidence." George
Miller, "The Magical Number Seven" (1956)
