Bulleted text: no more paragraphs! Jun30 '07

Please don't include entire paragraphs as bulleted text. Bullet points are meant for, at most, a few words, or a short phrase. Too many bloggers confuse bulleted text as an avenue to organize blocks of random thoughts.

Although well-intentioned, this does harm to the reader.

A good example is ESPN's True Hoop blog, where writer Henry Abbott talks about all things NBA. Every few days Henry will post an entry titled "Friday Bullets" - where "Friday" is whatever day of the week it is. A recent example illustrates my point.

Notice the large blocks of text next to each bullet point. This is a bad way to present information.

Semantics

Semantics say that bullet points are meant for one word. At most, a few words, or a short phrase.

The idea of a bullet point is to quickly present the reader with a list of options. The reader should be able to quickly jump from one option to the next.

Boom!
Boom!
Boom!

Just like that.

Paragraphs are just that - paragraphs. Paragraphs are not bullet points, and should not be included as bulleted text.

Readability

When readers see a list of bulleted text, they expect congruent and related information. Too often this is not the case.

Instead, writers include a handful of unrelated topics as bullet points. This only proves to confuse and overload the reader.

Each topic should not be a separate bullet point, but rather, a separate post. Or, if you'd like to keep each topic under a single post, use headers - that's what they're for.

Example HTML:

<h1>Post title</h1>

<h2>Topic 1</h2>

<p>Topic 1 details...</p>

<h2>Topic 2</h2>

<p>Topic 2 details...</p>

<h2>Topic 3</h2>

<p>Topic 3 details...</p>

This goes back to semantics, but it affects readability, too.

Categories: Markup , Semantics , Tips , Writing

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matthom is published and produced by Matt Thommes - an independent publishing enthusiast, mobile blogger, content creator, informative writer, web developer from a suburb of Chicago. Never one to conform, Matt intends to promote the effect the web has on our lives, in an effort to intensify, instruct, and clarify all that is happening around us.