using bullets

[crisgal]

when using bullet points, i it necessary to add a semi-colon at the end of each statement or do you just put a full stop?
Or neither?
I am copying something and the initial heading has a colon. Personally i wouldn't have put one there!

[plumbrazor]

I have produced literally thousands of Power Point presentation slides and the rule I always apply is :- be consistent. There is nothing worse than having some slides with punctuation and others without.

[Quizmonster]

According to The Guardian style guide, each element should open with a capital letter, end with a full stop and not be indented. Like you, I would not add a colon after the heading.

[Octavius]

QM, in that style guide they use a colon don't they?

bullet points
(also known as blobs) should normally appear in the paper like this:
� Initial cap at start and full point after each one.
� And each one full out (no indent).

[Quizmonster]

Ah! You could well be right, O. I clearly read "like this" and the immediately-following colon as part of the preamble rather part of what one was supposed to do with the bullet-points! That is, as if the bullet point before the word 'Initial' was the beginning of the instructions.
The key point here, Crisgal, is that different publishing-houses have different 'rules' for this as for many other style factors. Unless you are tied to a system, there is no real reason why you shouldn't do your own thing to a large extent, so long as you achieve the aim of making things clear and logical for your readers.

[crisgal]

Well I wouldn't have even put a capital letter!!
I thought one wasn't needed as each phrase was a continuation of the heading.
Just shows I know even less that i thought I did!

[Quizmonster]

The following is an extract from the Oxford University Press style guide...
"You might also use bullet points (�)�but we set only one size of round bullets, so avoid differentiating lists with different types of bullet. Short lists can be run on in the main text, with or without numbering,and separated by commas or semi-colons. Lists with longer items and lists that need to be set apart from the main text for emphasis should be typed just like normal paragraphs, each beginning a new line. End-punctuate the items in the list as
though they were part of the main flow of text: this will normally mean full stops if each item is a full sentence and, if not, semi-colons with a full stop after the last item."

As you can see, Crisgal, an opening colon is not even mentioned and the punctuation of each item depends on whether it is a sentence or not. As I said earlier, different publishers use different approaches. Does your way make things perfectly clear? If so, stick with it! Cheers

[jno]

You can have a colon at the start if you like, and lower case letters on the first word. If so, I'd put a semicolon after each one - unless there's two sentences, with a full stop, in the middle of one bullet point. In that case I'd treat each bullet point as a separate sentence with a capital letter at the start and a full stop at the end.

Bullet points don't figure in most grammar books and it's an open question whether they function as capital letters themselves or just make the text a bit easier to read (or harder). Do whatever reads most naturally, as Quizmonster says; there are no laws on this one, only individual publishers' preferences (like the Guardian style book).

[Quizmonster]

Crisgal, I spent a bit of time studying sources and came up with the following...
Different publishing houses' Style Guides have different �rules' on the use of bullet points, as on much else regarding document layout. Having studied many of these, I believe the following is a reasonable summary of the common elements in general use. ( In order to avoid over-complexity, many people also apply a 6 x 6 rule...that is, have no more than six such points and use no more than six words in each.)

1) After the opening words which introduce the list, always put a colon (:).
2) On the next line, without indenting, type your first bullet (Hold down Alt key and type 0149 on the keypad to the right of your keyboard) followed by a single space then the word/s required. If these flow onto a second line, do not put a bullet at the start of that line.
3) What happens next depends on the length of the points you are making.

a) If they are single words, do not use an opening capital letter unless they are names and use no punctuation throughout until you put a full stop at the end of the last one.

i) Five key elements of good leadership are:
� charisma
� practicality
� responsibility
� respect
� vision.

ii) The planets closest to the sun are:
� Mercury
� Venus
� Earth
� Mars
� Jupiter
� Saturn.

b) If they are phrases, do not use an opening capital and put a semi-colon (;) at the end of each point and a full stop at the end of the last.

At the recent election:
� the Conservative candidate won 8,679 votes;
� the Labour candidate won 6,872 votes;
� the LibDem candidate won 1,268 votes;
� only 42.5% of the electorate voted;
� there were 49 spoilt papers.

c) If they are sentences, use an opening capital and a full stop for each.

[Quizmonster]

The following are famous statements:
� Ich bin ein Berliner.
� We shall never surrender.
� Let them eat cake.
� You've never had it so good.
� I can resist everything except temptation.

(These words were cut from my answer above, presumably because it was too long!)

[Quizmonster]

Oh, dear! Looking at Paragraph 3b above, I now see that the items I've listed are all actually sentences, not phrases! What a plonker! I hope, at least, that you can replace then appropriately in your own mind. Cheers

[Quizmonster]

Here's an alternative...

At the recent election, the following statistics emerged:
� Conservatives - 8,679 votes;
� Labour - 6,872 votes;
� LibDems - 1,268 votes;
� turnout - 42.5% of the electorate;
� spoilt papers - 49.