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I don't think you need to worry about overreliance as long as you continue
to post in the constructive way Margaret has described. Hang around long
enough and you'll find that you know the answers to more questions than
you're asking, and pretty soon you'll start answering questions, and then...
g
--
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.
"Jackie D" wrote in message
...
Thanks for saying that but I do think perhaps I rely too much on the
newsgroup. It's such a fantastic source of help though...
--
Many thanks
JD
"Margaret Aldis" wrote:
Thanks for the thanks :-) You get lots of help (not just from me, I
notice)
because you think before you post and ask good clear questions, and then
you
think about what's been said and come back to tell us what worked and
what
you still need to know. Can see your Word expertise developing before my
very eyes ;-)
Hope other posters use you as a model :-)
--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org
"Jackie D" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the tips, and for all your help with my queries. I
appreciate
it.
--
Many thanks
JD
"Margaret Aldis" wrote:
It really depends on the application. Some good reasons for using
character
styles a
* Allows you to distinguish between emphasis, titles and foreign
phrases,
for instance, and then if necessary change the formatting for one but
not
another
* Allows you to set language as well as combinations of font
formatting.
Useful if, for example, you don't want to spell check the foreign
phrases
* Allows you to protect document for styles, to lock formatting down
(Word
2003)
On the other hand, if all you want is bold and italic, the toggling
toolbar
buttons are useful and the styles may be overkill.
--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org
"Jackie D" wrote in message
...
Right. So if I want to italicise a word for emphasis, film titles
etc
would
you recommend using direct formatting and just applying italics in
the
usual
way i.e. without doing it through styles?
I read somewhere that is it never a good idea to use direct
formatting
--
Many thanks
JD
"Margaret Aldis" wrote:
Creating a character style, if it's just character formatting for
odd
bits
of text that you need, is a good clean solution. The problem is
that
Word
doesn't play clean, but has a secret character style linked to
every
*paragraph style * which it uses if it decides that it should
apply
character formatting rather than paragraph formatting (that is,
when
you
select just part of a paragraph). The only way around it is to be
particular
with your selection before applying a paragraph style.
By far the most common need for styles though is for paragraph
styles -
defining not only the font etc. for the whole paragraph, but also
space
before and after, line spacing, indents and other paragraph
formatting -
maybe numbering too. If that's what you want, be sure to create a
new
paragraph style.
--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org
"Jackie D" wrote in message
...
That's very useful information, Margaret. I have a feeling I am
guilty
of
doing both! Not selecting the whole paragraph and setting up a
character
style.
I wonder, then, is it a bad idea to create a character style if
it
causes
this confusion for Word? Or is there a way around it?
--
Many thanks
JD
"Margaret Aldis" wrote:
Yes, I think what you've noticed is relevant.
My best guess is that you've probably fallen foul of the way
Word
applies
paragraph styles. If you select only part of a paragraph and
apply
a
style,
Word applies only the character formatting of the style -
effectively
a
character style with the same name as the paragraph style. The
new
style
name shows in the dropdown, but the paragraph as a whole
retains
its
original paragraph style. This feature can make a pig's
breakfast
out
of
a
document! To avoid, always select the whole paragraph, or click
in
the
paragraph without selecting anything.
Another possibility is that you created a new style as a list
style
or
character style, not a paragraph style at all. These styles are
applied
"over the top" of the paragraph style. You can see this by
looking
at
the
Modify dialog for "Style1" or whatever you've called the new
style.
The dialog you are getting shows the Word thinks the selection
already
has
the paragraph style you are trying to apply. You can select the
"reapply"
choice, but if you don't want to see the dialog (once you've
finished
designing styles) then turn off the "Prompt to update style"
option.
--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org
"Jackie D" wrote in message
...
I am sure I applied the new style to the text. But I do have
some
more
information that could be relevant:
Each time I open this particular template, it has my 'Style
1'
showing
in
the window at the top of the page. When I try to select
Heading 1
(or
any
other heading for that matter), it stubbornly refuses to
change
and
I
get
the
dialogue box asking me if I want to update the style or
reapply
the
formatting. Surely I should be able to choose another style
without
this
happening?
--
Many thanks
JD
"Margaret Aldis" wrote:
Have you applied the new style to the text? It can be
confusing,
but
just
creating the new style doesn't automatically apply it to the
selected
text.
On the other hand, if you change the *name* of the style
then
everything
called oldname will become newname. This doesn't apply to
built-in
styles
(like Heading 5) because you can't change the name .
--
Margaret Aldis - Microsoft Word MVP
Syntagma partnership site: http://www.syntagma.co.uk
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.word.mvps.org
"Jackie D" wrote in
message
...
When I change a style in Word 2003 from, say, Heading to
Subtitle,
why
does
it still call it by it's old style name in the 'formatting
of
selected
text'
in the Styles & Formatting pane?
For example, I have a heading that is formatted with
'Heading
5'.
I
create
a
new style by using 'Title' in the styles list, which I
then
customized.
But
when I click on and off the text, I would expect it to say
'Title'
for
the
name of the formatted text but it still says Heading 5.
It's
very
confusing.
Can anyone help?
--
Many thanks
JD
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