Capitalization in Lists

[Feirefiz]

An earlier thread on capitalization in lists ended up with solving the question by saying that there is no reason to capitalize items in a list. This is in fact what I have usually done so far, at least if the list items were not complete sentences. _The Gregg Reference Manual_ (by William Sabin) however instructs its reader not only to capitalize list items, but also to end each item with a period. The list items in the examples do not form complete sentences.

I'm highly confused here, though, because it seems to me that current usage goes against these instructions, especially the part about ending each item with a period. I'd still like to know whether there are any other formal rules for this or whether people are simply doing what they like best.

Could anyone refer me to another reference work that has different instructions?

[freezeframe]

I really don't know who Gregg is. Go with the more widely accepted style manuals.

That said, usually lists with long items are punctuated with a semicolon. I've never seen a period used in this way.