If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
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! |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Styles - hopefully the last question!
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! |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Styles - hopefully the last question!
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! |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Styles - hopefully the last question!
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! |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
Styles - hopefully the last question!
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! |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
Styles - hopefully the last question!
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 |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
Styles - hopefully the last question!
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 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|