How to use lists in a text

Information sometimes is easier to consume when expressed in a visual form. Lists are great for that. Instead of writing a long paragraph, you can use lists to quickly pass information to the audience. There are three kinds of list, see them below:

• Bulleted, lists that communicate related information without any order.
• Numbered, lists where the order is relevant.
• Embedded, lists embedded in a paragraph.

It’s hard to understand a topic or a subject without a proper introduction, with lists is not different. Always describe what the list is about. It will help readers to get prepared for what is next.

See below a list of fruits:
- apples
- oranges

Items in a list should receive correct punctuation and capitalization. If an item list is a sentence, it must be capitalized and get a period at the end of the sentence. Otherwise, just leave all letters in lowercase and without a dot.

sentences:
- Men and women are the same.
- Adults and young people are the same.
not real sentences:
- apple
- orange

It’s easy to get lost using lists. One of the tips to prevent this is that items in a list should be grouped if they match together. Easier said than done, let’s see some examples:

Example of a list where the items don't match with each other:
- Apple is the most beautiful fruit.
- Potatoes aren't fruits.
- Brocolis.
Example of a list where the items have a similar kind of information:
- Apple has a red color.
- Orange has an orange color.

Numbered lists are useful to explain step by step how to do something. To help readers to follow a sequence of steps, start the list of items with an imperative verb. It will facilitate readers to see the list as a sequence of commands to be executed.

Install the example app following the steps below:
1. download the app
2. install it
3. delete the installation file

Just like lists, tables are another way to help readers to read structured information. The same rules for lists are applied to tables. However, a few more tips should be considered when using a table:

• Can work great on desktops but not with mobile, or vice versa.
• Always give meaningful column headers.
• Don’t use long texts in it.
• Columns should have the same data type for all rows.

That was a super quick explanation of how to use effectively lists in a text. To have access to the content that has been used as a reference for this article, click here.

Reference

• https://developers.google.com/tech-writing/one