4   Standard Contents

List of Figures

If your manual contains a lot of important tables, illustrations, or checklists, include them together in a separate list of figures following the main table of contents. Readers can then look up important figures without having to wade through all the items on the table of contents. Don’t include graphics used solely to make the text more visually interesting.

Figures are numbered sequentially within each module. For example, in a 2-level manual, a figure might be numbered 3.2-1 (the first figure in module 3.2).

In an online manual, link the list of figures to the figures themselves. You might also consider using a thumbnail illustration with the figure title as the link. Thumbnails provide users with a miniature copy of the figure, illustrating the type of information they will find there.