What is the general rule of thumb here at OOoA when creating a list (either in bullets or in a sentence), arrange it in alphabetical order or by grouping similar task items together?
For example, in my first review I read this passage: "This chapter covers methods for editing shared documents: sharing documents (collaboration), recording changes, adding comments and notes, reviewing changes, merging and comparing documents, and saving and using document versions." and suggested the list be re-arranged in alphabetical order: "This chapter covers methods for editing shared documents: adding comments and notes, merging and comparing documents, recording changes, reviewing changes, saving and using document versions, and sharing documents (collaboration)." The original is fine, but my editing hat was on. Last year during my copyediting class, we were required to arrange items in a list into alphabetical order, but were also advised that rule was only relevant to the class. We were told that authors may want their list items in the order they listed them, and companies may have their own unique preferences (that vary). How is it done here? Thanks Stephen Buck San Francisco, CA
