Formatting and Consistency

This week, after evaluating several websites and reading some course materials, I decided to address the importance of formatting and consistency. I found myself using both of those words quite often this week in my critiques and thought it would be good to show some examples of what I mean. Mostly I will address this topic for use on the Internet, but it also applies to documents created in word processors.

WHAT IS FORMATTING AND CONSISTENCY?

Formatting, by definition (Dictionary.com), is the general physical appearance of a book, magazine, or newspaper; such as the typeface, binding, quality of paper, margins, etc. It is the organization, plan, style, or type of something.

Consistency, by definition (Dictionary.com), is the arrangement of data, such as the number and size of fields in a record or the spacing and punctuation of information in a report. It is the steadfast adherence to the same principles, course or form. It is an agreement, harmony, or compatibility, especially correspondence or uniformity among the parts of a complex thing.

HOW DOES THIS APPLY TO YOU?

Inconsistency in formatting, more than anything, will throw your eye off when looking at a page. It doesn’t take a trained eye to notice, but to a trained eye, it is probably easier to notice.  Some examples would be:

• Menu items/titles not all the same font, font size, and color.
• Some text being indented and other text being ‘blocked’.
• Text being misaligned – some text is left aligned, some is right, some is centered.
• Content starting at different places on each page.
• Inconsistent font color on links.
• Using multiple image sizes and resolutions, watch for distortion.
• Make sure bullets and numbers have the same indentation.

Source: http://reportformatting.com/Formatting_Examples.html

WHAT SHOULD YOU LOOK FOR?

What most folks need to be careful of is using a word processor to write their blog or other web-intended text and then copying the text into whichever HTML vehicle they’re using. Doing this has a tendency to “indent” the first word of a paragraph or bullet without the author’s knowledge and may also change other formatting like line-spacing or font selection. You should always go back and check your work to make sure it looks proper before publishing.

NOTE: I am by no means suggesting that you don’t use a word processor, in fact just the opposite. A word processor will actually help you to format your text and check for inconsistencies. You just need to make sure you check your work after you’ve copied it over.

Using sites like Weebly or Website Tonight can get a little tricky to use when it comes to formatting. They seem to get a little wonky. (BTW – ‘wonky’ is a very highly technical word! J) Using bullets or numbers to format in a word processor and copying into whichever HTML vehicle you’re using will usually add extra lines between the bullets and sometimes misalign your text. It can definitely try one’s nerves to ‘tweak’ formatting in a website building application.

As for using Microsoft Word, I highly recommend using “Styles” when creating a document or report. Doing so will help you remain consistent in your formatting…and well, it’s just much easier. I have listed a really great site below, with step-by-step instructions for using styles.

Here are some additional sites about formatting and consistency to checkout:

Verify Your HTML Code

Format Consistency Checker in Microsoft Word

How to Make the Formatting in Your Document Consistent

A word to the wise is sufficient.