Periods after notes and bullet items

[Sebastian Zartner]

Currently there's an inconsistent usage of periods after notes and bullet
items, which do not build complete sentences.

An example for this is 'Initial definition' vs. 'Initial definition.'
within the specifications tables.

I already asked Sheppy about this and he said that while they're not
complete sentences, these phrases built a complete idea, so people often
put a period after them. Though he also said this is somewhat subjective.

Personally it looks a bit strange to me to have the period there.

What do you think about it? If we find an agreement about this, I'd like to
add it to the style guide to get consistency.

Sebastian

[Eric Shepherd]

I personally find that if it's a longer phrase that represents a
complete idea, and is in a bullet list or table cell, putting a period
kind of means "Yes, that's a complete idea and I didn't forget to finish
what I was writing." That's especially helpful if the content is prone
to frequent revision.

However, that's just my opinion, and this really does depend on personal
style a lot. It is in fact technically incorrect, of course, to use a
period if it's not a full sentence.

Regardless, let's see if we can decide what rule to use here and write
it down in the style guide. Or do we leave it up to the writer under the
knowledge that sometimes people will flip it because they see it there,
or not there, and want it the other way? :)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* Sebastian Zartner
*Sent:* Friday, Apr 29, 2016 6:28:15 PM EDT
*To:* MDC Mailinglist
*Subject:* [dev-mdc] Periods after notes and bullet items

> I already asked Sheppy about this and he said that while they're not
> complete sentences, these phrases built a complete idea, so people often
> put a period after them. Though he also said this is somewhat subjective.
>
> Personally it looks a bit strange to me to have the period there.
>
> What do you think about it? If we find an agreement about this, I'd like to
> add it to the style guide to get consistency.

--

Eric Shepherd
Senior Technical Writer
Mozilla Developer Network <https://developer.mozilla.org/>
Blog: https://www.bitstampede.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/sheppy
Doodle: http://doodle.com/the.sheppy

[Danielle Vincent]

The “rule” is that if the bullet point item is a complete sentence, it needs a period. If it is not, it does not.

For example, here is a list of three things I have done to justify this rule:
-. I have searched on Google and found an article (http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/bullet-points-american <http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/words/bullet-points-american>).
- I have recalled my English essays.
- I have consulted my internal compass.

And so far, the following three people have weighed in on the conversation:
- Sebastian
- Sheppy
- Danielle

:)

So it needn’t be consistent across all bulleted lists, only across all contexts (full sentences vs. incomplete sentences).

Cheers,
Danielle
dvin...@mozilla.com

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