Structure items in a series as a list

Lists are series of items. All lists have a 'lead-in' (a phrase or sentence) or heading to introduce the list.

Use lists to:

• help users skim information
• group related information
• help users understand how items relate to each other
• show an order of steps
• arrange information by importance.

Lists can be ordered or numbered (the order is important) or unordered (the order is not critical).

• A bullet list can be ordered or unordered.
• A numbered list is always ordered.

Don’t use a list if you have only one item. Lists are only for a series of items.

Make short lists

Long lists can lose meaning and hierarchy, as lower items are further away from the lead-in. 

Move long lists to a separate page or an appendix.

Limit the number of lists

Content with too many lists is hard to follow. The content should flow so people can read it easily.

Use a consistent pattern for list items

Write items in a list so they follow a consistent pattern. The pattern is made up by the number of words you use and grammatical structure.

If items follow a consistent pattern, it makes a list easier to scan and understand.

Write list items so they have parallel structure

Write all list items so they have the same grammatical structure. This is called ‘parallel structure’. It makes lists easier to read.

To make a parallel structure, use the same:

• word type to start each item (such as a noun or a verb)
• tense for each item (past, present or future)
• sentence type (such as a question, direction or statement).

Move any words repeated in the list items to the lead-in.

Punctuate lists according to style

Unnecessary punctuation makes your list look cluttered. Current government style is for minimal punctuation.

Punctuate lead-ins and headings consistently

Phrase lead-ins always end in a colon (:).

Sentence lead-ins can end in a colon or a full stop. Choose one punctuation mark and use it for all sentence lead-ins in your document. If in doubt, choose a colon; it is used more commonly.

Headings do not have punctuation marks.

Use minimal punctuation for all lists

In a bullet or numbered list, don’t use:

• semicolons (;) or commas (,) at the end of list items
• ‘and’ or ‘or’ after list items.

Only include ‘and’ or ‘or’ after the second-last list item if it is critical to meaning – for example, you are writing in a legal context. Make sure the lead-in is a clear guide for how this kind of list should be interpreted.

Lead-ins for incomplete lists can use ‘for example’, ‘including’ or ‘includes’.

Don’t write ‘etc.’ at the end of the list to show the list is incomplete. 

When listing items that may be additional or optional, write a lead-in to explain any variables.

Use full stops to complete sentences and fragment lists

Sentence lists and fragment lists are 2 types of list that use full stops.

• Finish each item in a sentence list with a full stop, including the last one.
• Finish fragment lists with a full stop only after the last item.

If you don’t include the full stop, people using screen readers may assume the next paragraph is part of the list.

A stand-alone list is a third type of list. Stand-alone lists don’t end in a full stop.

Choose a type of list

There are different ways to construct a list, whether the list is ordered or unordered.

Types of list include:

• sentence lists
• fragment lists
• stand-alone lists.

Use sentence lists for a series of complete sentences

If you have a paragraph with a series of related sentences, you can consider breaking it into a sentence list.

Sentence lists have a list of sentences, each marked by bullets or numbers.

The list can have a:

• heading (without a colon or full stop)
• sentence lead-in (ending in a colon or full stop)
• phrase lead-in (ending in a colon).

Rules for sentence lists:

• Follow normal sentence structure in each list item.
• Start each list item with a capital letter and end it with a full stop.
• Align run-over lines with the text, not the bullet or number.

Avoid using multiple sentences in each bullet or numbered item. If you include more than one sentence per list item, consider whether:

• all list items conform to a similar pattern
• the list builds rhythm for readability.

Use full sentence list items for imperative list items where there is no stated subject in the lead-in.

Use fragment lists for a series of incomplete sentences

If you list more than 3 items in a sentence, consider breaking the sentence into a fragment list. This will aid readability.

Fragments are words, phrases or incomplete sentences. Another name for fragment lists is ‘phrase lists’.

Fragment lists have a:

• lead-in phrase or sentence followed by a colon
• list of fragments, each marked by a bullet.

Use fragment list items when the lead-in states the grammatical subject.

Rules for fragment lists:

• Use lower case for the first letter of each fragment, unless it’s a proper noun.
• Add a full stop to the last list item only.
• Use a grammatically parallel structure for each list item.
• Make sure each fragment can complete a phrase lead-in.

The last rule for fragment lists means that if you add each fragment to a phrase lead-in, it will make a complete sentence.

If list items run-on from a phrase lead-in, the list should be very short. The full sentence should be fewer than 25 words.

Use stand-alone lists for items under a heading

If you are not breaking up a paragraph or a sentence, consider a stand-alone list.

Stand-alone lists have a heading without a colon. Brochures and technical documents often contain stand-alone lists.

Items in stand-alone lists can be nouns or noun phrases. They can also be sentence fragments. Items cannot be full sentences.

Rules for stand-alone lists:

• Use a heading, not a lead-in.
• Start each list item with a capital letter.
• Don’t add full stops to the end of any of the list items (even the last item).
• Indent each list item if it helps people scan the content.

The differences between a fragment list and a stand-alone list are:

• A fragment list has a sentence or phrase lead-in.
• A stand-alone list has no lead-in, only a heading.
• Fragment list items complete phrase lead-ins to form a grammatical sentence.
• Stand-alone list items do not form a grammatical sentence.

Use consistent formatting for all lists

Sometimes you need to use different types of lists in the same piece of content.

Use the right punctuation and capital letters for each type of list.

Follow your organisation’s templates to format lists consistently.

Make sure lists conform to their type

Each list must look the same as other lists of the same type. For example, a fragment list needs to have the same format as other fragment lists. 

Consistency helps people scan lists.

Check that the list displays properly on all platforms.

Indent most lists

Indent most types of lists after the lead-in.

Indent stand-alone lists if it helps the user scan the list.

Write numbered lists if the order is critical

Use a numbered (ordered) list when the order is important, such as a list of instructions.

Sometimes you have more than one numbered list in the document. You must choose whether to continue or reset the numbering across the lists.

Avoid using in-line numbered lists

Break up text into a numbered list instead of using an in-line numbered list. This will aid readability.

To order points in general content, don’t use ordinal numbers. Instead, you can either:

• use a numbered list
• rephrase the sentences to link them in the same paragraph.

Put unordered lists in a sequence that helps the user

Use an unordered list if the order is not critical to understanding the content.

List items in the order that will make sense to the user reading it. It’s common to write lists in alphabetical order.

Avoid using a multilevel list

Multilevel lists group information into a hierarchy. The levels explain how each item relates to other list items.

Some types of content need multilevel lists, but they can be hard for people to follow.

If you have to use multilevel lists:

• Don’t use more than 2 levels.
• Use lowercase letters for the second level in a numbered list.
• Use a dash for the second level in a bullet list, not hollow (open) bullets.
• Use the same symbol, number or letter for the same level in each list.