The spelling, punctuation, and capitalization of Woodford's diary have been left unchanged as the sense is generally clear. Wellingborough he spells as variations on ‘Wellingborow’; Towcester as ‘Toucester’. Christ (either standing alone or as part of Antichrist) is shortened to ‘Xt’, except in such words as Christian and christened or when forming part of the name Christopher; these he spells as follows: ‘xxian’, ‘xxned’, ‘xxofer’. The only letter that I have altered is his ‘j’, which I have changed to ‘i’ where necessary. In the introduction, Woodford's surname is spelled without a final ‘e’ because this is the way that he spells the word throughout the diary; the only exception to this applies to later generations of the family. Where editorial additions and explanations have been made they appear either in square brackets or in a note. Some of Woodford's abbreviations and contractions have been expanded in this way: Northampton, which he writes ‘Northton’, has been rendered ‘North[amp]ton’.

Confusingly, Woodford refers to his father-in-law and mother-in-law, Robert and Susanna Haunch, as father and mother, and to his brother-in-law, Samuel Haunch, as brother. However, the identities of individuals can usually be worked out from the context. His father, Robert, died before Woodford started the diary, while his mother, Jane, lived at Wilby, Northamptonshire. The Haunches, on the other hand, were Londoners, living in the parish of All Hallows’, London Wall.

The rulings that appear across the page after many entries have been omitted. Of the four symbols that Woodford uses (see the introduction, pp. 12–13, 90), three are described in words in square brackets; the fourth – the symbol like an ampersand – is represented by the ampersand. All places mentioned are in Northamptonshire unless otherwise stated. Woodford did not paginate the diary. Since most of the volume is chronological no pagination has been added; the beginning of a new diary page is announced by a single line space (indicated by an asterisk where it occurs at the bottom of a printed page). The additional entries at the end of the document are dated and cross-referenced to the main diary. References to the diary are given by page number. Woodford used the old style or Julian calendar and started the new year on Lady Day (25 March), so for the period 1 January to 24 March the year has been altered to show the two different styles, as in ‘24° Martii 1637/38’ (the solidus and the date following it having been added).