Styles - hopefully the last question!

Jay and Suzanne - thanks for your answers to my queries.

Jay mentioned that I shouldn't be too averse to using several styles. The
thing that gets me about styles is that if I have to change formatting - for
example, quoting a long passage in an essay is best done in smaller text and
indented both left and right, with space before and after the quote - the
sytle menu clutters up with lots of automatically-generated styles, and by
the time I'm nearer the end of the document it's just a mess. I prefer to
keep it simple, with Normal (now also with Normal no-indent - it works
fine!) and three Headings.

Can you recommend a way to use styles more effectively? It would probably
save me a lot of time when using Word in future. I know that's quite a
general question, but you seem to be wise in the way of using styles well,
and tips would be much appreciated. Maybe there's even a website on tips on
using Word in general?

And finally - and more specifically - is there any way of formatting
footnote text in templates? Footnotes are not listed on the style menu. FYI,
I use Verdana, 10pt. Footnotes generated when this is the Normal style do
not change to 8pt, as I would like it. Any way of altering the template?

Answers to both queries very much appreciated. Thanks once again!

Hi Tom

What version of Word are you using?

Shauna


Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word


"Tom Smith" wrote in message
news:Gwmnc.6800$7S2.5816@newsfe1-win...
Jay and Suzanne - thanks for your answers to my queries.

Jay mentioned that I shouldn't be too averse to using several styles. The
thing that gets me about styles is that if I have to change formatting -
for
example, quoting a long passage in an essay is best done in smaller text
and
indented both left and right, with space before and after the quote - the
sytle menu clutters up with lots of automatically-generated styles, and by
the time I'm nearer the end of the document it's just a mess. I prefer to
keep it simple, with Normal (now also with Normal no-indent - it works
fine!) and three Headings.

Can you recommend a way to use styles more effectively? It would probably
save me a lot of time when using Word in future. I know that's quite a
general question, but you seem to be wise in the way of using styles well,
and tips would be much appreciated. Maybe there's even a website on tips
on
using Word in general?

And finally - and more specifically - is there any way of formatting
footnote text in templates? Footnotes are not listed on the style menu.
FYI,
I use Verdana, 10pt. Footnotes generated when this is the Normal style do
not change to 8pt, as I would like it. Any way of altering the template?

Answers to both queries very much appreciated. Thanks once again!

Word XP on Windows XP - thanks!


"Shauna Kelly" wrote in message
...
Hi Tom

What version of Word are you using?

Shauna


Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word


"Tom Smith" wrote in message
news:Gwmnc.6800$7S2.5816@newsfe1-win...
Jay and Suzanne - thanks for your answers to my queries.

Jay mentioned that I shouldn't be too averse to using several styles.
The
thing that gets me about styles is that if I have to change formatting -
for
example, quoting a long passage in an essay is best done in smaller text
and
indented both left and right, with space before and after the quote -
the
sytle menu clutters up with lots of automatically-generated styles, and
by
the time I'm nearer the end of the document it's just a mess. I prefer
to
keep it simple, with Normal (now also with Normal no-indent - it works
fine!) and three Headings.

Can you recommend a way to use styles more effectively? It would
probably
save me a lot of time when using Word in future. I know that's quite a
general question, but you seem to be wise in the way of using styles
well,
and tips would be much appreciated. Maybe there's even a website on tips
on
using Word in general?

And finally - and more specifically - is there any way of formatting
footnote text in templates? Footnotes are not listed on the style menu.
FYI,
I use Verdana, 10pt. Footnotes generated when this is the Normal style
do
not change to 8pt, as I would like it. Any way of altering the template?

Answers to both queries very much appreciated. Thanks once again!

Those are *not* styles. Those are just formatting, which suggests that you
are still applying the formatting directly. Some direct formatting
(especially of phrases within paragraphs) is unavoidable, but whenever you
see that you are using specific formatting repeatedly, you should create a
style. For the example you cite, Word has a built-in style that you can use,
Block Text. You'll need to modify it to have the indents, font size, and
other formatting you want, but after you've done this, you can apply all
that formatting at a single stroke by applying the Block Text style. To get
all that other clutter out of your style list, clear the check box for "Keep
track of formatting" on the Edit tab of Tools | Options.

For more on styles, see these articles:

How to apply a style in Word
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styles/ApplyAStyle.html

How to modify a style in Word
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/styl...ifyAStyle.html

How the Styles and Formatting pane works in Word 2002 and 2003
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/sfpa...ttingPane.html

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Tom Smith" wrote in message
news:Gwmnc.6800$7S2.5816@newsfe1-win...
Jay and Suzanne - thanks for your answers to my queries.

Jay mentioned that I shouldn't be too averse to using several styles. The
thing that gets me about styles is that if I have to change formatting -
for
example, quoting a long passage in an essay is best done in smaller text
and
indented both left and right, with space before and after the quote - the
sytle menu clutters up with lots of automatically-generated styles, and by
the time I'm nearer the end of the document it's just a mess. I prefer to
keep it simple, with Normal (now also with Normal no-indent - it works
fine!) and three Headings.

Can you recommend a way to use styles more effectively? It would probably
save me a lot of time when using Word in future. I know that's quite a
general question, but you seem to be wise in the way of using styles well,
and tips would be much appreciated. Maybe there's even a website on tips
on
using Word in general?

And finally - and more specifically - is there any way of formatting
footnote text in templates? Footnotes are not listed on the style menu.
FYI,
I use Verdana, 10pt. Footnotes generated when this is the Normal style do
not change to 8pt, as I would like it. Any way of altering the template?

Answers to both queries very much appreciated. Thanks once again!

Hi Tom

Here are six rules for using styles:

1. Use the built-in styles if there's one that appears to be appropriate for
your needs. With the exception of paragraph styles I create for use in
tables, I find that there is an appropriate built-in style for 99.9% of ones
formatting needs. What's "appropriate" is determined by rule 2.

2. Use styles named for their function, not their form. So if you had to
create a style just for use in tables, call it, say, TableText. Don't call
it NormalSmall or, even worse, BlueSmall.

For example, you need:

a long passage in an essay is best done in smaller text
and
indented both left and right, with space before and after the quote -

The built-in style Block Text sounds like what you need for a blocked quote.
Out of the box it gives you almost exactly what you describe, although you
can modify its formatting to suit your specific needs.


3. Styles are free. Use lots of them. But follow Rule 4.


4. Be consistent. Put all your Block Quotes in style Block Quote (don't
sometimes fudge a paragraph in Normal style by indenting it). Put all your
second-level headings in style Heading 2 (don't sometimes fudge a Heading 1
paragraph by making the font smaller).

Your aim is that you should be able to take your document, do ctrl-a, ctrl-q
and then ctrl-spacebar and not see too much of a difference. Those commands
rip out all direct formatting and leave only the formatting created by the
styles.


5. Word doesn't create styles for you. Ever. You're in control. See
How the Styles and Formatting pane works in Word 2002 and 2003
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/sfpa...ttingPane.html

To answer your specific questions:

sytle menu clutters up ... by the time I'm nearer the end of the
document it's just a mess.
At Tools Options Edit, un-tick Keep track of formatting. And in the
Styles & Formatting task pane, in the Show box, choose Custom to choose what
styles to display in the S&F pane.

Can you recommend a way to use styles more effectively?
http://www.microsoft.com/office/prev...s/column14.asp and most of
what you'll find at http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word.

I also recommend doing the following, for each document: Tools Options
Compatibility. Tick "Don't use HTML paragraph auto spacing". To see what
this is doing, put two paragraphs one after the other, in Heading 1 and
Heading 2. Spend 10 minutes experimenting with space before and space after,
with this setting ticked and un-ticked. With that box ticked, Word collapses
the vertical space between paragraphs. With it un-ticked Word adds up the
vertical space. If you like this setting, use File Open, navigate to your
normal.dot, and make this change there, to affect all subsequent documents
based on normal.dot.

And, Tools AutoCorrect Options. On the AutoFormat as you Type tab, un-tick
everything in the "Apply as you type" and "Automatically as you type"
sections.


It would probably
save me a lot of time when using Word in future.

Indeed it will. For example: number of mouse clicks necessary to format a
heading in bold, Arial, 16pt: 11. The number of mouse clicks required to
apply style Heading 1: 2 (or 1 if you put a button on a toolbar to invoke
Heading 1 style).

And, don't forget that you can search and replace styles. To do that, use
the search and replace box. Leave the Find What and the Replace with boxes
empty. You can then search for, say, all the paragraphs in style xyz and
make them style abc.


Maybe there's even a website on tips on
using Word in general?

Explore http://www.word.mvps.org.


And finally - and more specifically - is there any way of formatting
footnote text in templates? Footnotes are not listed on the style
menu.

See http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/sfpa...ttingPane.html
again, under the heading "Big idea 1: The Styles and Formatting pane doesn't
list all your styles". Or, if you prefer to use the Style box on the
toolbar, hold down Shift while you click that box to drop down the list of
styles. If you hold down Shift, it will show you all your styles. For what
it's worth, Word uses the style Footnote Reference to format the number
within the text, and style Footnote Text to format the footnote itself.
Modify Footnote Text to suit your needs.


Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word


"Tom Smith" wrote in message
...
Word XP on Windows XP - thanks!


"Shauna Kelly" wrote in message
...
Hi Tom

What version of Word are you using?

Shauna


Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word


"Tom Smith" wrote in message
news:Gwmnc.6800$7S2.5816@newsfe1-win...
Jay and Suzanne - thanks for your answers to my queries.

Jay mentioned that I shouldn't be too averse to using several styles.
The
thing that gets me about styles is that if I have to change
formatting -
for
example, quoting a long passage in an essay is best done in smaller
text
and
indented both left and right, with space before and after the quote -
the
sytle menu clutters up with lots of automatically-generated styles,
and
by
the time I'm nearer the end of the document it's just a mess. I prefer
to
keep it simple, with Normal (now also with Normal no-indent - it works
fine!) and three Headings.

Can you recommend a way to use styles more effectively? It would
probably
save me a lot of time when using Word in future. I know that's quite a
general question, but you seem to be wise in the way of using styles
well,
and tips would be much appreciated. Maybe there's even a website on
tips
on
using Word in general?

And finally - and more specifically - is there any way of formatting
footnote text in templates? Footnotes are not listed on the style
menu.
FYI,
I use Verdana, 10pt. Footnotes generated when this is the Normal style
do
not change to 8pt, as I would like it. Any way of altering the
template?

Answers to both queries very much appreciated. Thanks once again!

The thing is to create (or modify) a few basic styles for your needs,
and then assign keystrokes to them. For example, to supply most of your
basic needs you could modify to your specifications the built-in Body
Text style (for your main text), Block Text style (for indented
material), and Heading 2 style (for dividing the document into
sections--you'd want to leave Heading 1 for chapter heads). Then assign
easy-to-use keystrokes to these three styles, for example, I use Alt+1,
Alt+2, and Alt+3 for my main styles. Also, you'll want to do things
like make the following paragraph for the Heading 2 style to be the Body
Text style, and also make the following paragraph for the Block Text
style to be the Body Text style. That way, it becomes almost semi
automatic. You're typing your main text, then you need some indented
material, so you apply the block text style to the next paragraph. When
you're done with that paragraph, you press Return and the next paragraph
is automatically in the Body Text style. This is one of the neatest
things in Word. You're only getting the true advantage of MS Word when
you start using Styles effectively. It takes some work to learn, but
it's well worth it.

Larry

Thanks to everyone for contributing their advice - all very much
appreciated!!


"Larry" wrote in message
...
The thing is to create (or modify) a few basic styles for your needs,
and then assign keystrokes to them. For example, to supply most of your
basic needs you could modify to your specifications the built-in Body
Text style (for your main text), Block Text style (for indented
material), and Heading 2 style (for dividing the document into
sections--you'd want to leave Heading 1 for chapter heads). Then assign
easy-to-use keystrokes to these three styles, for example, I use Alt+1,
Alt+2, and Alt+3 for my main styles. Also, you'll want to do things
like make the following paragraph for the Heading 2 style to be the Body
Text style, and also make the following paragraph for the Block Text
style to be the Body Text style. That way, it becomes almost semi
automatic. You're typing your main text, then you need some indented
material, so you apply the block text style to the next paragraph. When
you're done with that paragraph, you press Return and the next paragraph
is automatically in the Body Text style. This is one of the neatest
things in Word. You're only getting the true advantage of MS Word when
you start using Styles effectively. It takes some work to learn, but
it's well worth it.

Larry