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Last Seven Days

Question from Bethesda, Maryland, on June 16, 2026

Following up on this question I asked a couple weeks ago. My company loves using bullets so getting an answer on this is very important to us:

Question from Bethesda, Maryland, on June 5, 2026
I saw AP's recent guidance on bullets, which says that "if bullet points are lengthy and form a complete sentence in combination with the introductory phrase before the colon, a period is acceptable." Can you provide a firmer definition for lengthy? How many words or characters are necessary for a bullet point to be lengthy?

Answer

Good question. Here's an example where I used periods, from the back of the Stylebook. Without periods, it was a lot of words with zero punctuation. Using periods, while not entirely in line with the previous rule, seemed like the better option if the goal was clarity. I guess that means - use your best judgment. If you have to decide between strict adherence to the rule and clarity to your audience, always choose the latter. 

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THIS EDITION CONTAINS MORE THAN 200 NEW AND REVISED ENTRIES ROM AP STYLEBOOK ONLINE SINCE 2024 AND ENTRIES PREMIERING IN THIS BOOK. HIGLIHGTS INCLUDE:

-  A revised artificial intelligence chapter with new and updated entries such as AI agent, AI slop and vibe coding, to keep up with rapid growth of the technology.
-  Guidance on writing about conflict and unrest, including entries on assassination, war and genocide.
- Updated entries on the evolving language of race-related coverage and gender, sex and sexual orientation, also adding international context.
- Clear language around immigration terms such as migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. 
- Changing two-word terms into single words to reflect changing language, such as healthcare, jumpscare and primetime.
- New details about unusual terms that aren't widely known outside the U.S. or to new generations. Why is it called Tommy John surgery? Who inspired Murphy's law?

Question on June 16, 2026

should 8 be spelled out in this sentence:
 Crews broke ground on the 8 million-square-foot facility, which will be on the company’s 600-acre site. The facility is projected to create 14,500 jobs over the next decade. 

Answer

Yes - that would fall under this rule in the numerals entry, that says to use figures: 
  • When preceding a unit of measure (inches, pounds, miles, quarts, temperature degrees, etc.) — except for time measurements

Question from Vancouver, BC, on June 11, 2026

What's the AP guidance on capitalizing the first word after colon in subheadings (H2, H3, H4) on a web page / article if what follows is not a full sentence? The current exception only seems to cover headlines. Would subheadings follow the headline exception or align with the guidance for body copy? 

Example subheading: 
- The basic workflow: Merging legal documents
- The basic workflow: merging legal documents

Answer

Follow the same guidance on subheads as on headlines. 

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