Guide de rédaction

Un article de MormonWiki.

Thank you for your interest in writing for MormonWiki.com and the More Good Foundation. This style guide was prepared to help you understand how you should write your content so it is professional and easy to understand for our various readers.

If some element of style is not covered within this guide, you should defer to the Chicago Manual of Style. (This reference can be found in any library or bookstore.) Where style issues are covered in that book and in this guide, this guide takes precedence.

Sommaire 1 Général de Conseil d'Ecriture de 1.1 A Prévu le 1.2 De Niveau de 1.3 D'Organisation de 1.4 De Personne et de Voix de 1.5 De Tonalité de 1.6 De Documentation et d'Attribution de 2 D'Utilisation De Mot De 2.1 De Terminologique Peu Familier de 2.2 Ambiguous Terminology 2.3 Capitalization 2.4 Members of the Godhead 2.5 Initials and Abbreviations 2.6 Numbers 2.7 Dates 3 Quoting Source Material 3.1 Use of Ellipses 3.2 Use of [sic] 4 Footnotes and Endnotes 5 Citations 5.1 Scriptural References 5.2 Citations to Books 5.3 Citations to Periodicals 5.4 Citations to Web Sites 5.5 General Citation Considerations 6 Lists 6.1 Lists in Text 6.2 Bulleted Lists 6.3 Numbered Lists 7 General Formatting 7.1 Use of Italics 7.2 Use of Boldface

Général de Conseil d'Ecriture de

Car vous écrivez votre document, vous devez être concerné par l'impact global de ce que vous écrivez, aussi bien que la façon dont vous abordez le métier de mettre des mots sur le papier. Spécifiquement, vous devez être concerné par des articles tels que les assistances, le niveau, l'organisation, la personne et la voix, la documentation et l'attribution, et la tonalité prévus.

A Prévu le

D'assistances en créant le contenu, auteurs et les rédacteurs doivent maintenir toujours leurs assistances prévues dans l'esprit. Vous devriez comprendre leur niveau éducatif, spirituel, et social, et vous assurez que celui que vous écrivez est applicable à une personne avec ces attributs. S'il n'y a aucune image claire des assistances, alors la volonté de contenu "ne parlent jamais" à l'individu. L'assistance prévue pour le contenu de MormonWiki.com est une personne qui a les caractéristiques primaires suivantes:

• N'a jamais été un membre de l'Eglise de Jésus-Christ des Saints des Derniers Jours.
• Est sincèrement intéressé par l'arrangement davantage au sujet de l'Eglise et de ses personnes.

Il est parfois difficile que les membres de l'Eglise se mettent à la place de quelqu'un avec ces caractéristiques. Un tel exercice, cependant, rapportera le meilleur contenu.

De Niveau de

Il y a beaucoup de manières que les auteurs et les rédacteurs peuvent choisir pour donner leurs concepts. De sorte que le contenu à MormonWiki.org puisse atteindre les assistances les plus larges possibles, vous devriez vous assurer que cela il est écrit à un niveau huitième ou de neuvième-catégorie. Ceci peut signifier que quelques concepts doivent être reformulés, mais faire ainsi augmentera la probabilité de l'compréhension par les lecteurs prévus.

D'Organisation de

Si votre document est plus de deux pages longues, organisez-l'en sections. La manière la plus facile de faire ceci est d'examiner votre document, et le décrit sur un morceau de papier séparé. Le contour vous aidera à organiser vos pensées. Chaque titre dans le contour devient un point important que vous discutez. Ce contour devient alors les titres dans votre document. Le texte sous cette rubrique soutient le point actuel.

De Personne et de Voix de

Évitez la première personne dans la mesure du possible. N'employez pas les références telles qu'I, nous, nous, ou notre, excepté dans raconter des expériences personnelles. Si vous êtes l'un d'auteurs multiples sur un article particulier ou papier, et si vous déterminez vous devez employer la première personne, ce doit être la première personne du pluriel, pas le premier singulier de personne. Ceci évite la confusion, comme dire qu’I ou moi confondrait seulement le lecteur quant auquel qu’I ou moi parlait réellement. Au lieu de cela employez nous, nous, ou notre.

De Tonalité de

Votre écriture devrait être, dans la mesure du possible, simplicité et intéresser pour lire, sans être désinvolte ou irrespectueuse. L'humeur devrait être employée économiquement, le cas échéant. Tous les exemples d'humeur ou d'ironie devraient être clairement exprimés (et être explicitement précisés, au besoin) ainsi ils ne peuvent pas être mal compris.

Évitez de parler au-dessus des têtes de vos assistances (voyez [ [ # Level|Level ]]). Ne soit jamais condescendre à n'importe qui. Dans la mesure du possible, évitez les mots incendiaires et les choses de tonalité vers le bas-transportent votre message passionément, mais sans mots qui jettent l'essence sur le feu au lieu du discours encourageant. Montrez votre passion par votre connaissance et votre logique.

"N'élevez pas votre voix" comme vous parlez. Ceci signifie que vous devriez seulement employer des points d'exclamation économiquement et ne jamais employer plus qu'un par un. En outre, n'écrivez pas dans toutes les majuscules, même pour emphase-lui apparaît comme en criant au lecteur.

De Documentation et d'Attribution de

Comme vous écrivez, document ce que vous écrivez. Si vous faites a point - et en particulier si vous citez quelqu'un d'autre - en arrière il vers le haut avec des références. Il est beaucoup plus facile de documenter votre travail car vous êtes la première écriture qu'il doit retourner et le fait plus tard. (Voyez [ [ # Citations|Citations '] ] la section pour l'information sur la façon dont mettre en application votre documentation.)

La règle cardinale de l'écriture n'est jamais, jamais (ne pas égaliser une fois) plagient le texte de d'autres. Ceci signifie que vous devriez ne jamais employer quelqu'un d'autre texte comme si il est votre propre. (Si vous ne fournissez pas une citation à quelqu'un d'autre, alors vous en effet attribuez le texte à vous-même-vous plagiez.) Faire ruine ainsi la réputation des individus et des organisations. Vous pouvez faire un travail beaucoup plus fort si vous lisez autres matériaux et, si approprié, synthétisez et récapitulez leurs mots dans votre propre voix. Alors vous pouvez employer leur information comme documentation pour des citations pour les arguments que vous faites.

Car vous faites votre recherche, vous devriez comprendre la différence entre les sources primaires et secondaires de documentation. (Il y a des guides de recherches disponibles qui peuvent vous fournir un cours de perfectionnement, au besoin.) Votre but, autant que possible, est d'employer des sources primaires. En bref, ceci signifie que vous ne devriez pas compter sur la recherche d'une autre personne pour vous sauver de faire vos propres. Vous devez déterminer si vous voulez baser votre crédibilité et vos arguments sur le travail effectué par l'autre personne. Dans la plupart des exemples la réponse devrait être "non."

Une bonne manière de protéger votre crédibilité est de s'assurer que vous vérifiez toutes les citations pour vous assurer que la source indique réellement que ce que quelqu'un d'autre indique il . En d'autres termes, si John Doe cite Joseph Smith en tant que dire tels et tels, puis vous devrait rechercher les sources de John Doe et s'assurer il n'a pas abusé de ces sources et ce Joseph Smith vraiment a dit que quelle John Doe a indiqué il .

En raison de la nature transitoire d'information sur l'Internet, vous ne devriez pas compter intensivement sur l'information trouvée sur des pages Web. Dans la plupart des cas l'information sur le Web est secondaire en nature. Vous pouvez rechercher les citations sur l'emplacement de Web et les employer dans vos études. Si vous employez un emplacement de Web comme documentation, vous assurez vous copie une copie de l'emplacement. Ceci vous sauvera l'embarras d'anéantissement et de potentiel de citer une source qui vient d'un emplacement qui est déplacé ou plus tard enlevé.

D'Utilisation De Mot De

Il y a beaucoup des mots qui peuvent être employés pour décrire la même personne, endroit, ou chose. Quelques mots, cependant, sont préférées à d'autres mots.

De Terminologique Peu Familier de

Les auteurs et les rédacteurs devraient faire attention qu'ils n'emploient pas le jargon qui est unique à la culture des LDS, mais cherchent à la place la terminologie qui est en grande partie synonyme et aura une plus grande signification aux assistances prévues.

Par exemple, les membres de l'Eglise parlent “des paroisses” et “a jalonné” toute l'heure; elles sont une partie de notre expérience religieuse quotidienne. Ces mots n'ont aucune signification à une personne dans les assistances prévues. Elle doit bien mieux se rapporter à un “local de rassemblement” et expliquer qu'un pieu est un groupe d'organisation de plusieurs rassemblements locaux.

Another example is the term "Mormon. Within the Church, members seldom use the term, preferring instead to say LDS, Saint, or Church member. For those in the intended audience, the term Mormon is the preferred and most recognizable term. Thus, it is preferable to use terms such as Mormon, Mormons, or Mormon Church; this is what resonates with the intended audience.

There are many, many examples that could be given, and writers and editors will need to be vigilant that they use terminology that is familiar to those in the intended audience.

Ambiguous Terminology

People in different cultures sometimes use the same terms in differing ways. For instance, if you mention the word “boot” to an American and to a Britton, you’ll find they mean entirely different things. Thus, a Britton writing for an American audience (or vice versa) would need to take care to use terminology that doesn’t convey unintended ideas due to differences in how the terminology is understood by the audience.

It is the same with writing and editing content at MormonWiki.com. There are some terms which have a different meaning to the intended audience than they do to a Mormon audience. For instance, sacrament is a common religious term, but it means entirely different things to Mormons and those in the intended audience. It would be much clearer if a writer or editor were to refer to the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper or the Eucharist. Using such terminology, while foreign to a Mormon audience, will better convey meaning to those who are outside the Church.

Again, writers and editors should be aware of how terminology is used by those in the intended audience.

Capitalization

In general, proper nouns should be capitalized. The following is an incomplete list of accepted capitalization of terms. These are provided for clarification and as exceptions to the general rule.

• Aaronic Priesthood
• apostle
• Bible
• biblical
• bishop (when referring to the priesthood office, as in "the bishop is the judge")
• Bishop (when used as a title, as in "Bishop Jones")
• Book of Mormon
• Celestial Kingdom
• Christian
• church (when referring to any other church, unless the word is part of a proper title, such as Catholic Church)
• Church (when referring to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
• deacon (when referring to the priesthood office, as in "the deacon's quorum")
• Deacon (when used as a title, as in "Deacon Carver")
• Doctrine and Covenants (no ampersand)
• elder (when referring to the priesthood office, as in "an elder of the Church" or "the elder's quorum")
• Elder (when used as a title, as in "Elder Smoot")
• fall (the event triggered by the disobedience of Adam and Eve)
• First Presidency
• General Conference (when part of the title of an actual conference session, as in the "175tht Semi-annual General Conference")
• general conference (when referring collectively to the periodic gathering of the Saints)
• god (when referring to any god not a member of the Godhead; see Members of the Godhead)
• gospel
• Heaven (proper noun describing a physical place)
• Hell (proper noun describing a physical place)
• high priest
• Internet
• Melchizedek Priesthood
• Net (when referring to the Internet)
• New Testament
• Old Testament
• Pearl of Great Price
• president (when referring to the office, in general)
• President (when used as a title, as in "President Grant" or "the President of the Church")
• priest
• prophet (when referring to the office, in general, or when used as a general term for a class of individual)
• Prophet (when used as a title, as in "the Prophet Joseph Smith")
• Quorum of the Twelve
• Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
• Relief Society
• scriptural
• seventy
• sacrament
• Sacrament Meeting
• Sunday School
• teacher (when referring to the priesthood office, as in "the teacher's quorum")
• Telestial Kingdom
• Terrestrial Kingdom
• testimony
• The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Web
• Word of Wisdom
• World Wide Web

Members of the Godhead

Nouns and names referring to members of the Godhead, either singularly or collectively, should be capitalized. The following are a few examples:

• Christ
• Elohim
• God
• God, the Father
• Holy Ghost
• Jehovah
• Jesus
• Jesus Christ
• Lamb of God
• Son of Man
• Spirit of God

It is optional whether pronouns referring to members of the Godhead, either singularly or collectively, are capitalized. The only rule is that capitalization should be consistent throughout the document.

Remember your audience when referring to members of the Godhead. You should use nouns, names, or pronouns that will be readily recognizable to the audience.

Initials and Abbreviations

It is not uncommon for people to use abbreviations in their names. Initials or abbreviations should not be used for names unless that is the common appearance of the person's name. When this is done, the abbreviated name is always followed by a period and a space, as in "J. Golden Kimball" or "Hugh B. Brown" or "Wm. Johnson."

If two single-character initials are used in a row, then each initial should be followed by a period, but there should be no space after the first period, as in "W.W. Phelps" or "T.J. Cinnamon." If there are multi-letter abbreviations, then a space is included, as in "Ed. K. Baron" or "Wm. Q. Harper."

Whenever possible, titles or positions should be spelled out (not abbreviated), with the following exceptions:

• Dr.
• Fr.
• Mr.
• Mrs.
• Ms.
• Rev.

The following are common and accepted abbreviations and acronyms:

• A.D. (with periods; see Dates)
• B.C. (with periods, see Dates)
• LDS (no periods)
• D&C (no spaces or italics)

Numbers

Spell out numbers from zero through ninety-nine. Use digits for larger numbers, unless the number is an even hundred or thousand beginning with one through ninety-nine. Thus, you would refer to "ninety" or "fifteen hundred" or "five thousand" in words, but use digits for numbers such as "123" or "1,234" or "13,274."

Always include commas as thousands separators on any number greater than 999, unless referring to dates or parts of a book (volumes or page numbers).

When providing a range of numbers (such as page numbers or verse ranges), the range is separated only by an en-dash. (In Microsoft Word you can produce an en-dash by holding down the Alt key as you press 0150 on the numeric keypad.) Both page numbers in the range should be provided entirely, as in "423–429" or "342–351."

It is preferable to spell out ordinals, whenever possible. For instance, use "first" instead of "1st." In names of Church units, spell out ordinals. In other words, you would refer to the "Cincinnati First Ward" instead of the "Cincinnati 1st Ward." When the ordinal represents a number larger than nineteen, then you should use digits and common ordinal designations, such as st, nd, rd, and th. For instance, you would refer to the "175th Semi-annual General Conference."

Dates

Spell out references to particular centuries or decades, in lowercase letters (for instance "second century" or "the eighties"). However, if decade references require the use of a century in order to avoid confusion, then use numbers (as in "the 1880s"). In this case, since the decade is not possessive of anything, there is no apostrophe in the reference.

Use A.D. or B.C. (with punctuation) in preference to C.E. or B.C.E. The initials should follow the year reference, as in "the sixth century B.C." or "365 A.D."

Quoting Source Material

In general, verbatim quotes pulled from other material should be included directly within the flow of body text if they are less than a sentence or two in length and fit well with the general tone of the material being presented. When included in this manner, quote marks should surround the quote. Double quote marks ("like this") should only be used if the material is a direct quote. If it is a paraphrase, then single quote marks ('like this') should be used. In addition, single quote marks are used to enclose quotations within quotations.

Longer quotes should be placed into their own paragraph and offset from the main text. Paragraph-length quotations do not need to have quote marks around them. Any quoted matter within paragraph-length quotations should be enclosed in double quote marks, even if the source quoted uses single quote marks.

In all instances, quotations should include a footnote with a complete citation as to the source of the quote.

Quotations should not be italicized. Quotations should be transcribed exactly from the source, without changes to spelling, grammar, or punctuation. (The only exception is the appearance of quote marks in paragraph-length quotations, as previously noted.) If text in the source is italicized or boldface, then it should be in the quotation, as well. In such a case, the phrase "Emphasis in original" should be added to the citation for the quotation.

If a quotation uses pronouns that might be confusing to the reader outside of the complete context of the source, the pronoun can be replaced by the noun to which it refers, within brackets. For instance "when [the elders] gathered in Nauvoo, they were told to attend to their families." In this example, the word replaced by "[the elders]" was "they."

When ending a quotation, any final punctuation should always appear inside the final quote mark.

Use of Ellipses

Ellipses marks are used to indicate that material within the source has been skipped over when compiling a quotation. It is implicitly understood that the material thus skipped would not materially change the nature of the quotation, were the material not skipped.

Ellipses marks do not need to be used at the beginning of a quotation, even if the quotation begins in the middle of a sentence in the source. Likewise, ellipses marks do not need to be used at the end of a quotation.

Use of [sic]

Often the term [sic] (within brackets) is used within text to indicate that spelling, punctuation or grammar are incorrect in a verbatim quote. Occasional use is appropriate, but overuse can be disruptive to text. If use of the term might be distracting to the reader or make the reader think you are being condescending to the original author, then you should not use the term. If leaving the term out might make the reader think you are deliberately misspelling original text or that it might otherwise reflect poorly on you, as the author, then you should use the term. In many cases it will be difficult to strike a balance between these two general rules.

In no instance should you use [sic] to correct spelling, punctuation, or grammar to modern standards. In other words, if the original text was correct in all three areas according to standards at the time written, then it is not incorrect, even if it doesn't match standards followed today. In such instances, it will be of more use to the reader to explain the changing standards within your text so they can understand the original.

Footnotes and Endnotes

Footnotes or endnotes should be used to help document sources (see Citations) or to provide ancillary information in which the reader may be interested. If at all possible, footnotes and endnotes should never be over one paragraph in length.

If you are writing your article using Microsoft Word, use footnotes. (You should use Word's footnote feature to insert your footnotes.) If you are writing your article at MormonWiki.com, make sure you use the wiki markup code REF for endnotes.

Citations

Citations are used extensively in many types of writing. Exactly how citations should be constructed can vary widely, depending on the standards of a publishing house or periodical. For instance, some publishers allow parenthetical citations within the body of the text, as well as footnote and bibliographic citations. When writing for MormonWiki.com or the More Good Foundation, you should not use parenthetical citations. Such citations tend to disrupt the flow of reading. Instead, use footnote and endnote citations liberally, as needed.

In the following sections you will discover how citations should be treated.

Scriptural References

Make sure you spell out the names of all books in both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. For instance, you would not refer to Rom. 8:19, but to Romans 8:19.

If writing a Microsoft Word document, scriptural citations should be in footnotes, not included as parenthetical remarks in the text. If writing for MormonWiki.com, scriptural citations should be included as parenthetical remarks. In other words, the following is incorrect style for Word documents, but is correct for MormonWiki.com articles:

For instance, why not ask the prophet Ezekiel, who described his vision of God by saying he saw "high above all, upon the throne, a form in human likeness?" (Ezekiel 1:26, New English Bible.) Why not ask Stephen, whose last words were, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God?" (Acts 7:56.) What about John, who saw God sitting on the throne in heaven (Revelation 4:22)?

With a Microsoft Word document, you should instead pull the scriptural references from the parentheses and place them in a series of footnotes. This renders main text that is much more readable:

For instance, why not ask the prophet Ezekiel, who described his vision of God by saying he saw "high above all, upon the throne, a form in human likeness?"¹ Why not ask Stephen, whose last words were, "Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God?"² What about John, who saw God sitting on the throne in heaven?³

If the scripture cited is from a specific edition or translation of the scriptures, that should be noted in the citation as well:

Matthew 3:4, NIV

Ezekiel 1:26, New English Bible

2 Nephi 2:25, 1830 Edition

If the verse is from the King James Version of the bible, no version notation is generally necessary.

Citations to Books

How you construct citations to books can be confusing to some writers. The following elements are appropriate for footnote or endnote citations to book materials:

• Author's full name. Name should be in normal order, first name first. If there are multiple authors, they are listed as they would be in a regular in-line text list (using "and" and commas, if necessary). A comma should follow this element.
• Title of the article. If the citation is to an article in a book, enclose the article's title in quotation marks. A comma should follow this element, within the quotation marks.
• Complete title of the book. Title should be italicized. If the book has a subtitle, it should be included only if it clarifies the title of the book and helps differentiate it from other similarly titled works. Subtitles should always be separated from titles by a colon. If a subtitle is included, it is also italicized.
• Editor, compiler, or translator. Include verbiage such as "edited by John Doe" or "translated by Jane Smith." If this element is included, separate it from the title of the book by a comma.
• Series and volume. If this element is included, separate it from the foregoing element by a period.
• Facts of publication. This information is always included in parentheses. Consists of the city of publication (and state or country, if necessary for clarification), a colon, publishing company, comma, and year of publication.
• Page number or range. Separate from the forgoing elements by a comma and follow with a period. Do not include prefixes such as "p." or "pp."

The following are examples of properly formatted citations for books:

Hugh Nibley, The Prophetic Book of Mormon (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Company, 1989), 87.

John G. Davies, The Early Christian Church (New York: Anchor Books, 1965), 86.

Jean Daniélou, The Lord of History: Reflections on the Inner Meaning of History, translated by N. Abercrombie (Chicago: Henry Regnery, 1958), 1.

W.L. Reed, "Asherah," The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible (Nashville: Abingdon, 1982), 1:251.

D.S. Russell, "Apocalyptic Literature," The Oxford Companion to the Bible (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993), 34.

Brigham Young, "True Testimony, Etc.," Journal of Discourses, reported by G.D. Watt 6 April 1861, Vol. 9 (London: Latter-Day Saint's Book Depot, 1862), 5.

Citations to Periodicals

If you are putting together a footnote or endnote citation to an article in a periodical, then use these guidelines:

• Author's full name. Name should be in normal order, first name first. If there are multiple authors, they are listed as they would be in a regular in-line text list (using "and" and commas, if necessary). A comma should follow this element.
• Title of the article. Enclose the article's title in quotation marks. A comma should follow this element, within the quotation marks.
• Official publication title. The title should be italicized.
• Volume and number of the issue. No punctuation around this element, unless it is part of the volume:number combination.
• Issue date. Enclose the issue date within parentheses.
• Page number or range. Separate from the forgoing elements by a colon and follow with a period. Do not include prefixes such as "p." or "pp."

The following are examples of properly formatted citations for periodicals:

Wilford Woodruff, "Discourse," Millennial Star 56 (April 1894): 229.

Gordon B. Hinckley, "Daughters of God," Ensign 21 (November 1991): 100.

Elaine H. Pagels, "What Became of God the Mother? Conflicting Images of God in Early Christianity," Signs (Winter 1976): 293–303.

Citations to Web Sites

If you are putting together a footnote citation to an article on a Web site, then use the following guidelines:

• Author's full name. Name should be in normal order, first name first. If there are multiple authors, they are listed as they would be in a regular in-line text list (using "and" and commas, if necessary). A comma should follow this element.
• Title of the article. Enclose the article's title in quotation marks. A comma should follow this element, within the quotation marks.
• Web site location. URLs, if accurate, should begin with www. If the URL does not begin with www, then it should begin with http://. (In other words, only include http:// in the URL if the first thing that follows http:// is not www.) Surround the URL with angle brackets (< >) and spaces.
• Viewing date. Specify the date you last viewed the citation at the Web site. The date should be within parentheses.

It is important to note that proper footnote citations to Web sites do not contain page number references. The reason for this is quite simple: there is no such thing as a static page number when it comes to Web sites, as there is with books or other printed matter. Web text pagination can vary dramatically depending on the type of device used to display the text. For instance, if you print a Web page on one printer, the pagination will likely vary when you print it on a different type of printer.

General Citation Considerations

When constructing citations, do not include such words or abbreviations as Company, Co., Inc., or Press, unless omitting the words would lead to confusion with a different company or institution. For example, you would cite "Cambridge University Press" since omitting "Press" would lead to confusion. Likewise, you would cite "Deseret Book Company" since omitting "Company" would lead to confusion with the retail Deseret Book stores.

In footnotes, subsequent citations from the same work should be given a shortened form consisting of the author's last name, a short title of the book or article, and page, volume, and edition number as necessary to make the reference unambiguous.

Ibid. (no italics, but capitalized and punctuated as shown) may be used if a subsequent citation immediately follows a reference to the same work. Ibid. takes the place of the author's name, the title, and as much of the succeeding material as is identical.

Lists

Lists are used to itemize information for the reader. Selective use of lists can even help to break up your text so that it does not appear as dense or overwhelming. There are several types of lists you can use, each described in the following sections.

Lists in Text

In lists used within text (as a part of a sentence), you should separate each list item with a comma, except before the final conjunction ("and" or "or"). For example:

Issues of importance include approach, tone, level and documentation.

If the items within the list use conjunctions within them, then there should be a comma before the final conjunction that starts the final list item. For example:

Issues of importance include level, organization, person and voice, documentation and attribution, and tone.

If there are commas within the list items, then use semicolons to separate list items. For example:

Issues of importance include level, organization, and person; voice; documentation and attribution; and tone.

Bulleted Lists

Bulleted lists are used to itemize a series of list items. Each item should be relatively short, no more than five or six lines. You should use a bulleted list only if there are at least three items in the list. (If there are only one or two items, then the list should be reworded to be part of normal text.)

Numbered Lists

Numbered lists are only used if describing a sequence of steps that must be completed in a specific order. (If the steps can be done in any order, then you should use a bulleted list.) You should use a numbered list only if there are three or more items in list. (If there are only one or two items, then the list should be reworded to be part of normal text.)

General Formatting

The following sections discuss when and how you should use both italics and boldface type within your text.

Use of Italics

Book titles should be italicized, with the exception of canonized scripture (Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, Pearl of Great Price).

Italics should be used for additional and occasional emphasis in verbatim quotes.

Italics should be used to highlight terms at their first introduction:

Mormons meet regularly within a local congregation known as a ward.

Use of Boldface

With rare exception, bold type should not be used in text. Instead, italics should be used for emphasis, as needed.