Quick notes are taken during Marcel's Presentation. Those notes are then edited for the Web Guy using the following simple text format. Web guy marks up paragraphs, headings, bulleted lists, and limited styling of the text. The update is then prepended to the updates on the NET web. [LINK]
These guidelines are for the note-taker (Maryellen) who edits her in-class notes before sending to web guy (John).
Each Update begins with the Topic and the Date:
TOPIC OF THE LESSON/LECTURE MM/DD/YYYY or MON DAY YEAR
Space after the topic/date heading can be used for announcements.
Other info can be included, whether relevant to this topic or not, but shouldn't go on and on, Right?
Use a single line of text to indicate a heading for each subtopic or whatever, as we did several times in the 12/13/23 update. See also 4/10/2025 update for excellent examples. You can boldface the line in your word doc if that helps you visualize, or make it ALL CAPS. It will become a heading on the web page.
Leave a BLANK (empty) whitespace line between paragraphs. Use two returns in a row if you need to get apparent white space. i.e. Leave a blank line between paragraphs.
If you have just a bunch of lines of text, they will all become a paragraph, and flow to the width of the browser page on iPhone or Computer monitor.
Implicitly indicate a bulleted list by writing simple text with hard returns at the end of each item in your list.
Bullet One Bullet Two Bullet Three
The Hard returns at the end of each item aren't visible in the above example.
The Web Guy will infer that a series of such lines should form a bulleted list, and he'll mark up the HTML for an unnumbered (bulleted) list.
If you want a numbered (ordered) list, use a number on each item in the list:
1. Item One 2. Item Two 3. Item Three
Periods are optional after items - Just be consistent. Leave a hard return at the end of each item. You can use a proper number sequence (1, 2, 3, ...) or improvise if appropriate, eg: (1a, 1b, 1c, 2, 3, 4, 5a, 5b, 6, etc). Or use letters if you want (A, B, C, D, ...)
If a given bullet point (main point) has sub points, just list the sub points with numbers or letters, and separate them with semicolons. Here are some example sub points: a) subpoint one; b) subpoint two; c) subpoint three. These can be on separate lines, for convenience in editing, but they will not become a list.
Just flow the sub points together within the main point. Sub points will not be converted into nested bullet points. Note the period after last sub point.
Please follow Strunk & White's Elements of Style. When in doubt - Use complete sentences with subjects and verbs, and write declarative or imperative sentences. Try to leave no doubt what you are referring to at any given time.
Any bolding in the DOCx, used to express emphasis, will be styled as italic. Any under-lining will be likewise probably be styled as italic. Let's keep the style simple.
Think of the reader. These updates aren’t just notes to jog your own memory. The reader deserves to have concepts clearly stated. Of course, full explanations or digressions are beyond the scope of ‘updates’. We are not doing courseware or lessons, just a monthly syllabus or summary. Clarity is needed. Terseness is OK if context is apparent or preserved.
Please keep within plain-as-possible text guideline. Bulleted list are fine. But bulleted lists with sublists inside them (like a nested outline) are no fun on the web, and will not be accepted. :^)