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#1
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Sidebar text in a box
I want to do something simple. I've used Word Help and get no results when I
follow the instructions. I just want to position a box with text in it as a sidebar and have the regular text of the main document wrap around the box. I've tried doing this with a text box and utterly failed (although I'm sure I did it once with an earlier version of Word). I have Office XP for Teachers and Students. I tried doing it with a table, clicking on what seemed to be the logical things in the Table Properties dialogue box. To no avail. I know there is nothing advanced about what I am trying to do, but I can't do it. I've read various postings here, hoping for help, but all I realized was that everybody knows so much more than I do that I can't even follow their messages back and forth. Many thanks to anyone who can give me step-by-step instructions for the simple-minded technoditz. -- Savannah Liz |
#2
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A text box should work provided you have the appropriate wrapping applied,
but you might find a frame easier to work with (and you will be able to see the contents in Normal view and reference them in a TOC or with cross-references). You can insert a frame using the button on the Forms toolbar, or you can restore Frame to the Insert menu. -- 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. "Savannah Liz" wrote in message ... I want to do something simple. I've used Word Help and get no results when I follow the instructions. I just want to position a box with text in it as a sidebar and have the regular text of the main document wrap around the box. I've tried doing this with a text box and utterly failed (although I'm sure I did it once with an earlier version of Word). I have Office XP for Teachers and Students. I tried doing it with a table, clicking on what seemed to be the logical things in the Table Properties dialogue box. To no avail. I know there is nothing advanced about what I am trying to do, but I can't do it. I've read various postings here, hoping for help, but all I realized was that everybody knows so much more than I do that I can't even follow their messages back and forth. Many thanks to anyone who can give me step-by-step instructions for the simple-minded technoditz. -- Savannah Liz |
#3
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Thank you so much for responding. Alas, I do not understand the answer. Here
are my points of confusion? 1) How does one apply appropriate wrapping around the outside of a text box? What I see in the dialogue box with text box options is wrapping inside the text box. 2) What is a frame? What is the Forms toolbar? I tend to use keyboard shortcuts, a full screen, and no mouse -- to the extent I can manage this within the constraints imposed by Word. Thus, you are talking a language I don't understand. Why would I be "restoring" Frame to the Insert menu? What happened to it? How would I restore it? Group #2 questions I can probably flounder around and figure out most of the answers to. But #1 is really the question that led me to post a message. If I already knew how to apply appropriate wrapping, I wouldn't have asked for help to begin with. As I said, I do what I think Word Help is telling me to do and I fail. Again, many thanks for your help. It is comforting to have some place to turn. Savannah Liz "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: A text box should work provided you have the appropriate wrapping applied, but you might find a frame easier to work with (and you will be able to see the contents in Normal view and reference them in a TOC or with cross-references). You can insert a frame using the button on the Forms toolbar, or you can restore Frame to the Insert menu. -- 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. "Savannah Liz" wrote in message ... I want to do something simple. I've used Word Help and get no results when I follow the instructions. I just want to position a box with text in it as a sidebar and have the regular text of the main document wrap around the box. I've tried doing this with a text box and utterly failed (although I'm sure I did it once with an earlier version of Word). I have Office XP for Teachers and Students. I tried doing it with a table, clicking on what seemed to be the logical things in the Table Properties dialogue box. To no avail. I know there is nothing advanced about what I am trying to do, but I can't do it. I've read various postings here, hoping for help, but all I realized was that everybody knows so much more than I do that I can't even follow their messages back and forth. Many thanks to anyone who can give me step-by-step instructions for the simple-minded technoditz. -- Savannah Liz |
#4
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If you double-click on the outside border of the text box, you will get the
Format Text Box dialog. On the Layout tab, you can choose the wrapping style. The Advanced... button gets you to another dialog where you can set the position of the text box more precisely. A frame is something like a text box except that it isn't in the drawing layer, which gives it distinct advantages over a text box. You don't have as many wrapping options (basically, you can wrap text around it or not), but you have pretty much the same positioning options. The Forms toolbar is the one used to create online forms. You display it by right-clicking on any toolbar and choosing it from the list (or use the View | Toolbars menu). The only point of displaying the Forms toolbar (which you don't otherwise need) is that it is an easy way for users of Word 97 and above to find an Insert Frame command. This command used to be on the Insert menu until Word 97. If you decide you like frames, you can use Tools | Customize to put it on the Insert menu. For more on frames, see €œWD2000: General Information About Floating Objects€ at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=268713. You will *not* find anything helpful about this kind of frame in Word's Help, which seems to understand "frame" only in the context of a frames Web page (you'll also find a misleading Frames menu on the Format menu; leave it strictly alone!). -- 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. "Savannah Liz" wrote in message ... Thank you so much for responding. Alas, I do not understand the answer. Here are my points of confusion? 1) How does one apply appropriate wrapping around the outside of a text box? What I see in the dialogue box with text box options is wrapping inside the text box. 2) What is a frame? What is the Forms toolbar? I tend to use keyboard shortcuts, a full screen, and no mouse -- to the extent I can manage this within the constraints imposed by Word. Thus, you are talking a language I don't understand. Why would I be "restoring" Frame to the Insert menu? What happened to it? How would I restore it? Group #2 questions I can probably flounder around and figure out most of the answers to. But #1 is really the question that led me to post a message. If I already knew how to apply appropriate wrapping, I wouldn't have asked for help to begin with. As I said, I do what I think Word Help is telling me to do and I fail. Again, many thanks for your help. It is comforting to have some place to turn. Savannah Liz "Suzanne S. Barnhill" wrote: A text box should work provided you have the appropriate wrapping applied, but you might find a frame easier to work with (and you will be able to see the contents in Normal view and reference them in a TOC or with cross-references). You can insert a frame using the button on the Forms toolbar, or you can restore Frame to the Insert menu. -- 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. "Savannah Liz" wrote in message ... I want to do something simple. I've used Word Help and get no results when I follow the instructions. I just want to position a box with text in it as a sidebar and have the regular text of the main document wrap around the box. I've tried doing this with a text box and utterly failed (although I'm sure I did it once with an earlier version of Word). I have Office XP for Teachers and Students. I tried doing it with a table, clicking on what seemed to be the logical things in the Table Properties dialogue box. To no avail. I know there is nothing advanced about what I am trying to do, but I can't do it. I've read various postings here, hoping for help, but all I realized was that everybody knows so much more than I do that I can't even follow their messages back and forth. Many thanks to anyone who can give me step-by-step instructions for the simple-minded technoditz. -- Savannah Liz |
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