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Headings

Headings help your reader navigate through information.

In longer documents, readers scan to find the information they need. Headings help the reader to do this scanning by providing information about what each section of the document contains.

Therefore, headings need to clearly describe the content of the section that follows.

Guide for headings

  • Headings are worded as phrases.

  • Headings are descriptive.

  • Headings are parallel at each level.

  • Headings are formatted effectively.

  • Headings are independent of text that follows.

  • Headings are never followed by another heading.

  • Headings use sentence case

Phrases and headings

Instead of single word headings, try to use phrases, such as in the examples below:

Example heading phrases

  • Noun phrases, such as Python code

  • Verbal phrases, such as Coding with Python

  • “How to” phrases, such as How to code with Python

Note: Python is capitalized as it is a name, like James. Names need capitals.

Descriptive headings

Descriptive headings let readers know more information about the text below.

Example descriptive headings

Instead of “Compiling”, write “Compiling for debugging”

Parallel headings

You will probably use three levels of headings in Comm this term, H1, H2, and H3. Three levels of headings use will usually be for a longer document.

Here are headings which show parallel structure at level 2.

Example parallel headings

  • (H1) Get set up in Python

  • (H2) Setting up version control

  • (H2) Getting the source code

  • (H2) Compiling for debugging

Note: heading sizes are not true to the guide. This example is for parallelism only.

The H2 headings headings are parallel as they all use the Verb+ing structure to start.

Formatting headings

In markdown, formatting is automatically applied when you create the heading.

If you use Google Docs or Word, for example, you can edit the styles to make formatting changes. Changing font, colour, and size are common formatting methods.

Heading and body text size

If body text is size 12, H1 might be 15/16, H2 might be 14, and H3 might be 13. Often this is your choice as a writer, but headings that are too big do not look pleasing.

Independent headings

The heading information and the information in the text that follows are independent of each other. This means you write the body text without connecting directly to the heading.

See the incorrect example and the correct example below.

Incorrect example

Using lists to focus information

This means that lists are used intentionally...

By writing This in the first line below the heading, the writer has connected the first sentence. It tells the reader to refer back to the heading for meaning.

Correct example

Using lists to focus information

Lists are used intentionally by the writer to…

Here, the body text can be read as a sentence on its own without needing to refer to the heading.

Placement of headings

Never follow a heading with a heading.

You must have body text after a heading, no matter how short. As a heading is describing the information that follows, you must have some text.

Sentence case for headings

Use sentence case for your headings. This means only the first word of the heading needs a capital letter.

If a word is a name, like Python, that should be capitalized also. All other words are in lower case, as in the headings in this site and in the correct example below.

Example incorrect case

Direct Structure

Headers and Footers

Text Alignment

Example correct case

Direct structure

Headers and footers

Text alignment

Punctuation in headings

Do not use periods or colons to end a heading. They are not necessary.

Incorrect punctuation in headings

Punctuation in headings. Remove the period.

Punctuation in headings: Remove the colon.

Use a colon only if text appears after the colon in a heading. See the example below.

Colon and heading use

Direct structure: supporting readability at work.