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Last post Author Topic: Help me with MS Word styles  (Read 34764 times)

superboyac

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Help me with MS Word styles
« on: October 22, 2008, 02:12 PM »
I don't understand how to use Word styles well (Word 2003):

I'm trying to create a list type styles, and I can get things set up as far as if I want a numbered style or bullet style or no symbol (just appropriate indentations).  However, I can't get any kind of formatting to work with my list styles.  I create a new list style, I set all the formatting as far as bold, underline, etc.  But when I select a group of text and apply the style, none of the formatting change.  The only change that happens is the proper indentations and stuff.  How to I get the formatting to automatically apply?  Even when I go back to modify the style, I see that all the formatting is shown properly, but it never ever gets applied to the actual text when you apply the style.  This has been frustrating me for weeks.

yksyks

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #1 on: October 22, 2008, 02:59 PM »
The formatting of list styles applies to the list paragraph numbering and indentation only. The body of the paragraph retains the formatting of the paragraph style applied previously.

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #2 on: October 22, 2008, 03:29 PM »
So are you saying there's no way to format the list with indentations, numbering, and formatting all in one click of a style?

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2008, 03:38 PM »
The formatting of list styles applies to the list paragraph numbering and indentation only. The body of the paragraph retains the formatting of the paragraph style applied previously.
If what you say is true, then why in the world would Word include the options to format the text with all the options shown in the screenshot?  That's what puzzles me.  I'm not understanding this at all.
Screenshot_20081022-133621.png

Carol Haynes

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #4 on: October 22, 2008, 03:58 PM »
I don't use Word 2003 any more but Word 2007 certainly supports 1-click list formatting.

For example:

sc.png
« Last Edit: October 22, 2008, 04:01 PM by Carol Haynes »

AndyM

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #5 on: October 22, 2008, 04:01 PM »
So are you saying there's no way to format the list with indentations, numbering, and formatting all in one click of a style?
You can, I do it all the time.  But if I remember right the setup is a bit quirky.  Look for an MVP article by Shauna Kelly or Susan Barnhill. 

If I find it first I'll post it.
--------------------------------

http://www.shaunakel...utlineNumbering.html
« Last Edit: October 22, 2008, 04:09 PM by AndyM »

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2008, 04:14 PM »
You can, I do it all the time.  But if I remember right the setup is a bit quirky.  Look for an MVP article by Shauna Kelly or Susan Barnhill. 

If I find it first I'll post it.
Thanks, I'm looking for it, but I can't find exactly what I'm looking for.  Why is this so hard?

check that...I'm reading your edited link
« Last Edit: October 22, 2008, 04:16 PM by superboyac »

Carol Haynes

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #7 on: October 22, 2008, 04:44 PM »
I just tried to repeat my test from above on a friends laptop running W2003 and it worked fine.

I created a short list the way I wanted it and then high-lighted it and clicked on Style > More... > New Style and gave it a name. I could then apply that style to any text I wanted.

Am I missing something?

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #8 on: October 22, 2008, 05:20 PM »
OK, thanks everyone!  I finally got it working.

I just have to say...that was a PAIN IN THE ASS.  My goodness, could that be any less intuitive?  And complicated, too.  Wow, I am just blown away by how ridiculous that whole process was.

Carol Haynes

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #9 on: October 23, 2008, 05:31 AM »
I suppose it is logical to have the list styles linked to the paragraph text style because for most people if they update the font or size in the paragraph style of a report they would also want their lists updated to match. It is more confusing though if you actually want to change the list fonts!

Armando

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #10 on: October 25, 2008, 11:31 PM »
I hate styles in Word -- they're not stable -->  they tend to change (enough so that I've had to put many templates as Read Only!). That's it. I just needed to say it.

AndyM

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #11 on: October 26, 2008, 04:00 AM »
I hate styles in Word -- they're not stable -->  they tend to change (enough so that I've had to put many templates as Read Only!). That's it. I just needed to say it.
That's never happened to me.  There are commands that will update a style - do you have a hotkey assigned to one that you hit by accident?

Word without styles would be only half as useful for me in terms of automation and consistency.
« Last Edit: October 26, 2008, 04:02 AM by AndyM »

Armando

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #12 on: October 26, 2008, 10:23 AM »
Problems do happen with styles -- and yes, the user is usually involved, as usual with computers, but..
Styles, numbering etc. are tied together in ways that are often hard to see clearly : try deleting a custom style that was part of an outline numbering scheme you forgot about, and bye bye numbering scheme. Word creates so many styles by itself and it's annoying... It's confusing. I don't have the time to explain how my last document (which was an assignment) got some titles bolded" without my explicit permission, and how my default style when writing emails defaults to a weird indented style (and tab stop), but it happens. And I know I've spent countless hours trying to fix "broken" styles and documents (with the documentation) to know that styles features are not optimally designed (if not bugs)...

Of course, most often, stuff/styles work. What drives me crazy is when it doesn't want to work. properly and takes hours of my time.

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #13 on: May 11, 2010, 10:56 AM »
I don't mean to be rude, but...

Instead of telling me HOW to do this stuff or where to find information about it, could someone please instead just give me some templates that already have a bunch of styles for headings, numbering, bullets, etc. already customized nicely?

With the millions of Word users, there have to be some good templates out there.  But I can't find any on Google.  People have written long instructions and articles about how to do it, and how to understand it correctly.  But can you just provide the end result please??  I really don't care if I understand it or not, I just want something that works and that someone has already put in the time to create.

I can't tell if the templates aren't available because people don't want to share their work, or if nobody has actually done it, yet they just like to explain how it can be done.  The latter is a common thing i run into in work situations where you are trying to get something done.  People talk and talk, yap yap yap, forever like they know everything about everything.  But when it comes to actually DOING something, they seem to have a hard time with it.

kfitting

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #14 on: May 11, 2010, 01:33 PM »
This is a good article about templates.  You can download the article with it's associated template... dont know that it has outline/numbering though.  But it's a good article nonetheless.  I think one reason not many people put their templates up is because they are "generally specific," meaning specific companies create specific templates for general documents. 

http://word.mvps.org...teATemplatePart2.htm

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #15 on: May 11, 2010, 03:03 PM »
This is a good article about templates.  You can download the article with it's associated template... dont know that it has outline/numbering though.  But it's a good article nonetheless.  I think one reason not many people put their templates up is because they are "generally specific," meaning specific companies create specific templates for general documents. 

http://word.mvps.org...teATemplatePart2.htm
Nice!  Awesome link!  That template is great.  That's what I'm talking about.  More people should pool their templates or documents so people can use them.  That's useful.  we need fewer tutorials and more downloadable templates, in my opinion.

Armando

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #16 on: May 11, 2010, 04:33 PM »
Yes, this is a good web site. I remember using info from there a while ago.

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #17 on: May 11, 2010, 06:06 PM »
That link by kfitting is by far the most helpful thing I've come across so far.  This is what I'm talking about people.  The template provided is great.  A lot of work went into that, and it's something I can use right out of the box.

No offense to anyone here, I love all the advice and help I receive here at DC, so this doesn't really apply here:

I've recently felt compelled to rant against certain forum habits.  There are a lot of forums out there, lots of questions being asked, lots of answers being given.  But occasionally, we're not necessarily looking for an explanation or an answer, we just want someone to give us the shortcut or the link to the place where the work is already done by someone else and we can just copy it or use it.  I know it sounds lazy, but it's really not.  It IS the answer.

I absolutely hate when the advice given is..."Just google it".  Or even more snarky is when people actually post the google link (with the search words already entered).  To me, that's being an a-hole.  Fortunately, this doesn't happen here, but everyone knows what I'm talking about!

Man, for some reason, whenever i have to use styles in MS Word, i get in the foulest mood possible.  it just hits a nerve with me.  It's my problem...

Armando

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #18 on: May 11, 2010, 07:06 PM »
Note that AndyM too provided info about templates and styling in one of the previous posts (and everything I said can be found in there) :

So are you saying there's no way to format the list with indentations, numbering, and formatting all in one click of a style?
You can, I do it all the time.  But if I remember right the setup is a bit quirky.  Look for an MVP article by Shauna Kelly or Susan Barnhill. 

If I find it first I'll post it.
--------------------------------

http://www.shaunakel...utlineNumbering.html


superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #19 on: May 11, 2010, 07:10 PM »
Yes, that was very helpful also.  In fact, a printed copy is next to my work computer as we speak!  But i went through kfitting's link, and everything is ready to go.  I don't really have to create anything.  That's why i love it.

kfitting

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #20 on: May 12, 2010, 05:47 AM »
Glad the link helped.  I found it recently because I'm trying to build my knowledge of word.  I already know Excel (not 100% obviously, but fairly good) and have begun using Word more and more.  One of the things I find interesting is that the more I learn about Microsoft Office the more impressed I am... in two ways:

1. Wow!  They thought of that?  That is awesome and amazingly helpful!
2. ... it is helpful, until you want to do X, which you'd think is a natural extension... Wow!  They didnt think of that?

That holds true in Excel and Word.  I assume that if I spent enough time with other Office products I would feel the same way.  VBA is amazingly powerful and then you find some little quirk that renders it useless in a given situation (like certain properties or objects not being exposed).  Word styles fit both of my amazements above!

Here are two other links I have been impressed with... they are not a direct, nor even an indirect answer to SuperBoyAC's initial question.  But, along with the Shauna Kelly site mentioned above and the link I posted previously are my goto sites right now for Word questions.

Word MVP Site:
http://word.mvps.org/index.html

Word VBA Tips:
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/word_tips.htm

cranioscopical

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #21 on: May 12, 2010, 09:45 AM »
Thanks for the links kfitting!

One of the enjoyable aspects of DonationCoder is the discovery of material, as in this topic, in which one is not particularly interested at first, that develops into worthwhile areas to explore. I don't use Word (except to view material sent to me by others) but it never hurts to learn a bit more about it, since it's so prevalent.

kfitting

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #22 on: May 12, 2010, 10:02 AM »
Sorry, have to add one more to the list (as I think back to when I was researching this I'm remembering more...).  This site attempts to explain how Word looks at a document... it revolutionized my view of Word.  Excellent read... cant recommend it enough.

http://daiya.mvps.org/wordpages.htm

It is just one of many EXCELLENT links from this page:
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookwordframes.htm

superboyac

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #23 on: May 13, 2010, 11:57 AM »
Sorry, have to add one more to the list (as I think back to when I was researching this I'm remembering more...).  This site attempts to explain how Word looks at a document... it revolutionized my view of Word.  Excellent read... cant recommend it enough.

http://daiya.mvps.org/wordpages.htm

It is just one of many EXCELLENT links from this page:
http://daiya.mvps.org/bookwordframes.htm
That is an awesome article.  Man, kfitting, thanks so much.

40hz

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Re: Help me with MS Word styles
« Reply #24 on: May 13, 2010, 06:55 PM »
I don't mean to be rude, but...

Instead of telling me HOW to do this stuff or where to find information about it, could someone please instead just give me some templates that already have a bunch of styles for headings, numbering, bullets, etc. already customized nicely?

With the millions of Word users, there have to be some good templates out there.  But I can't find any on Google.  People have written long instructions and articles about how to do it, and how to understand it correctly.  But can you just provide the end result please??  I really don't care if I understand it or not, I just want something that works and that someone has already put in the time to create.

I can't tell if the templates aren't available because people don't want to share their work, or if nobody has actually done it, yet they just like to explain how it can be done.  The latter is a common thing i run into in work situations where you are trying to get something done.  People talk and talk, yap yap yap, forever like they know everything about everything.  But when it comes to actually DOING something, they seem to have a hard time with it.

No offense to anyone here, I love all the advice and help I receive here at DC, so this doesn't really apply here:

I've recently felt compelled to rant against certain forum habits.  There are a lot of forums out there, lots of questions being asked, lots of answers being given.  But occasionally, we're not necessarily looking for an explanation or an answer, we just want someone to give us the shortcut or the link to the place where the work is already done by someone else and we can just copy it or use it.  I know it sounds lazy, but it's really not.  It IS the answer.

I absolutely hate when the advice given is..."Just google it".  Or even more snarky is when people actually post the google link (with the search words already entered).  To me, that's being an a-hole.  Fortunately, this doesn't happen here, but everyone knows what I'm talking about!

Actually, this topic came up in a different thread where some people were complaining about the level of chattiness up on the forum.

Although most were careful to qualify their complaints in various ways, what it all came down to was this:

When they asked about something, they didn't want to get into a discussion - they just wanted an answer.

Countering this desire was another group of people that somebody characterized as having a more "academic" approach. For these people, the process and insights gained by mutually arriving at an answer were, in many cases, more valuable than the answer itself.

It was a classic example of goal oriented thinking locking horns with process oriented thinking.

There was some back and forth on the subject, but no easy resolution seemed to be forthcoming. Here's the link if anybody's interested: https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=22523.0

It's an important topic. So if anybody has any insights about this that they'd care to share, please bop on over and add your comments to the mix.

I think I may actually have a idea that could work for both the process and goal oriented constituencies. But I'm still in the process of figuring out how to best present it. (Anybody care to guess which group I'm usually in? :mrgreen:)

Anyway, I apologize for going semi-off topic.  But now that Aram has a ton of template info and examples to chew on, I figured he wouldn't mind.

Or at least not too much.  ;)

 :)

----------------------

P.S.  @kfitting - The Creating a Template article by John McGhie was absolutely superb. He's following the same design approach a savvy Quark or InDesign user would use. I was amazed. I had no idea how extensively Word's formatting capabilities had evolved and improved over the years. One of the best articles I ever read about Word.

Great find!!! :Thmbsup: