It has been a while since we have had a proper thread on typography. There was a request to split conversation from Software is over (developing...). Continue it here if you dare.
I will begin with a question. When we have more than one list level, which list style sequence do you prefer? What is the widely-accepted convention anyway? Resources welcome.
I typically go by the bullet (•), followed by the hyphen (-) when nested. And if there is only one level, I go by one or the other; the latter if it is plaintext for convenience.
My favorite is what I found in office software like Word or OnlyOffice – full circle for the first level, empty circle for second and full square for third
I would never use a circle in my handwritten notes: why would I use it in my digital documents? It also reminds me of an unchecked checkbox or unselected radio button. Which is why I tend to replace it with a hyphen (-).
Small, unobtrusive bullets are my weapon of choice for unordered lists. For nested lists, I prefer to rely on indentation, not punctuation to differentiate levels.
If the list items are too long, and nesting too deep, such that different list levels need more separation, I see that as a sign to use numbered or labeled lists.
I would be willing to make a significant effort to avoid that. Typographical elegance would be the least of my concerns, nested lists are usually a signal of a confusing presentation.
Yeah, nothing is harder to read than giant ‘arrow ifs’. I am a huge fan of early return whenever possible and am generally distrustful of people who end up in massive nested conditions.
My question was more about the symbol style rather the application. I generally use lists only when needed for emphasis or technical communication, keep them short and rarely nest. I do use labelled lists, but prefer clustering long lists under subheadings.
