A set of graphical conventions called quadrupolar transfer pathways is proposed to describe a wide range of experiments designed for the study of quadrupolar nuclei with spin quantum numbers I=1, 3/2, 2, 5/2, etc. These pathways, which inter alea allow one to appreciate the distinction between quadrupolar and Zeeman echoes, represent a generalization of the well-known coherence transfer pathways. Quadrupolar transfer pathways not merely distinguish coherences with different orders -2I < or = p< or = +2I, but allow one to follow the fate of coherences associated with single transitions that have the same coherence order p=m(I)(r)-m(I)(s) but can be distinguished by a satellite order q=(m(I)(r))(2)-(m(I)(s))(2).