RE: Nested bullets - how many levels deep do you go?

["McLauchlan, Kevin" <Kevin -dot- McLauchlan -at- safenet-inc -dot- com>]

Downing, David wanted to know:
> 
> We routinely use second-level nested bullets in our documentation, but
> our policy is to never take it beyond a second level. However, there
> have been times when I saw a need to go to a third level. (I just ran
> into one.) I've been told that when that happens, I need to figure out
> some way of leveling out the hierarchy so I can keep the list to two
> nesting levels. (I think one of my editors once suggested 
> that if I felt
> the need to go to a third level or beyond, I was 
> overthinking.) So I was
> wondering what other folk here do. Do you ever go beyond a 
> second level,
> or do you avoid any nesting at all?


I think I've encountered that once, ever.  I just went with the three
levels of bullets (bit the bullet?). The alternative was a re-write of
the section, which put it out of sync with the levels of the surrounding
sections, which then needed to be re-written to accommodate, which then
put those sections out of sync with the surrounding chapters...   

So I would have had to revise my entire book's heading structure (adding
a level, and then adding bumph paragraphs to many of those new headings
in order to avoid the also-forbidden situation of a heading following a
heading with no body text between.  Way too much work for so little
gain, especially with a deadline.

Going to three levels of bullets, one time, was the lesser of evils.  By
far.

You could try doing something with a table or tables, to get around the
technicality.

 - Kevin
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