If you use a text box, you need to Format Text Box, choose a layout other
than 'in line' and then use the Advanced button to set the position relative
to the page or margin - not the paragraph. Check 'Lock anchor' and uncheck
'Move object with text'. Don't drag the text box around on the screen to
size and position or it will be a mess - work out your grid measurements and
enter them in the dialog. Once you have one text box right, you can copy and
paste onto later pages.

A table is also a possibility. You could use a wrapped single-cell table on
each page (with similar positioning to the text box above) - the only
advantage would be that you have various table of contents and cross
reference features available that don't work with text boxes. Or if you want
to fill the text on each page individually you could use two table columns,
one for the rotated text and one for the page text. In that case you'd need
to fix the row height to your maximum page length. The advantage of this one
would be that you could add the layout to successive pages quickly by just
adding rows.

--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org

"Luke" wrote in message
...
I've looked so hard for help!..
I am making an instructional manual, and want a one-line synopsis of each
page to go vertically up the left hand side of the page, like this:
http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/15416162/
(see the blue text)
but I've tried tables, text boxes, columns.. they all seem to make the
blue
text jump about as I work. I just want the blue text on each page to to be
positioned in the same place! and LOCKED!
thankyou for any help you can give
-Using Word 2002