- $pod =~ s/^=over\K/ 22/m; # indent options list
- $pod =~ s/^=item \N*\n\n\N*\n\K(?:(?:^=over.*?^=back\n)?(?!=)\N*\n)*/\n/msg;
+ $pod =~ s/^=over\K/ 25/; # indent options list
+ $pod =~ s{
+ ^=item \h \N*\n\n \N*\n \K # first line
+ (?: (?: ^=over .*? ^=back\n )? (?!=) \N*\n )*
+ }{\n}g; # abbreviate options
+ $pod =~ s/[.,](?=\n)//g; # trailing punctuation
+ $pod =~ s/^=item\ \K(?=--)/____/g; # align long options
+ # abbreviate <variable> indicators
+ $pod =~ s/\Q>.../s>/g;
+ $pod =~ s/<(?:number|count|seconds)>/N/g;
+ $pod =~ s/<character(s?)>/\Uchar$1/g;
+ $pod =~ s/\Q | /|/g;
+ $pod =~ s/(?<!\w)<([a-z]+)>/\U$1/g; # uppercase