Change Default Formatting

D

Debbie1

I have tried and tried to change the default margins in Word and have the
change stay after I close the current word session. It's not working. I
don't just want to change them for 1 document. I want them to permanently be
set to a left/right margin of 1.25 to always be 1 inch. Can anyone tell what
to do? I do it in Page setup and that doesn't hold it. Any other
suggestions???
 
D

Daniel

Suzanne,

I agree with Debbie1. Furthermore I think the whole new "Styles" tab is a
step backward. If I want a given style to function as my usual default
other than the "Normal Style" Microsoft has set as default, I have to select
it after opening up a new doc. Instead of this I want my preferred Style to
always load as the default style. Second, what value is there in having
various styles unless you can lock in a given styles' unique
characteristics? For example, Like Debbie1, I want my favorite style to have
locked in, as a default setting, my preferred margins. But I have to go to
the "Page Layout" tab every time and choose the margins I prefer, because my
choice of margins won't stay "locked in" in the Style I want as my own.
t kind of defeats the whole purpose behind individualized styles, when
important individual characteristics are unable to be assigned to the various
styles.






debbie1. Furthermore it seems to me that the whole
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

The margins you set in Page Setup are for the page, not for the paragraph,
and they style you are creating is (presumably) a paragraph style. It can
have indents, but not margins. If you want to change the margins of
Normal.dot, you can certainly do so. You can also substitute a paragraph in
your preferred style for the default Normal paragraph in Normal.dot. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CustomizeNormalTemplate.htm;
although this article was written for Word 2003 and earlier, it should be
possible to apply it to Word 2007 (assuming that the Page Setup dialog in
Word 2007 still has a Default... button).
 
D

Daniel

Suzanne,
I see I'm not being clear. Also it may be that Debbie1 and myself don't
understand the purpose of the group called "styles" located under the "Home"
tab. I thought the various styles in this group served as ready made
templates. The style called "Normal" is the default style for every new doc
and has its' default line spacing set at 1.25. None of the templates fit my
usage, so I wanted to customize a style template. I chose the second style,
labeled "no spacing" because it has single line spacing--which is what I
want. But I don't want the margins defaulted for that style. All I want to
do with that style is to change the margin default setting for the entire
page, and in fact for all the pages in a doc created using that style. I
don't want to merely change the margins for a given paragraph.
So the question is, can that be done with the 2007 Word version in Office?
If it can, how is it done?
I've clicked on the small dialog box launcher that brings up the styles
dialog box with an option button located lower right. This doesn't have
anything to do with margins. Also at the bottom of the Styles dialog box is
a "manage styles" button. Neither does this have anything to do with
margins. Soooooo, do I assume that Microsoft doesn't think single line
spacing is in vogue, or is it that I don't know how to set it up to serve as
my default?
It's a shame that Microsoft doesn't have enough integrity to provide help to
owners of their products, leaving it up to unpaid volunteers. I appreciate
your effort Suzanne.
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

I feel sure it is still possible to do what you want, but the mechanism may
have changed somewhat. I'm going to call on an expert who can tell you how
to do it.
 
H

Herb Tyson [MVP]

Let me see if I can help.

As I read this you have two issues:

1. Default margins

The easiest way... in the Page Layout tab, click the Margins tool, then
click Custom Margins. This opens the Page Setup dialog with the Margins tab
active. Set the top/left/bottom/right margins however you like. Then click
the Default... button at the bottom of the dialog box. Click Yes to change
the default margins for all new documents based on the current template
(which is usually Normal.dotm, unless you've specified something else).

A less easy way would be to open Normal.dotm and make the changes there. The
Default button saves you the trouble by copying your custom margins to it.
When you have a lot of changes to defaults to make, it's sometimes easier to
edit Normal.dotm directly. When you create a new document, Word uses
Normal.dotm as the starting point, so whatever styles exist in Normal.dotm
become the styles in the new document you create. (If you base a document on
a different template, other than Normal.dotm, then Word uses that different
template as the starting point, but the same principles apply.)


2. Default paragraph spacing

The easiest way here is to modify the paragraph spacing for the default
style. In the Home tab, right-click on Normal and choose Modify. In the
Modify Style dialog, near the bottom, click New documents based on this
template. This will copy any changes you make to the current template
(Normal.dotm).

At the bottom left, click Format - Paragraph. In the Indents and Spacing
tab, set your spacing as desired. Click OK. Back in the Modify Styles
dialog, you can choose Format and make any other changes you want as well.
You can also use the formatting controls that are displayed in the Modify
Style dialog box itself. When you're done, ensure that "New documents based
on this template" is still selected, then click OK.

Having done #1 and #2, new documents you create based on Normal.dotm will
use your preferred margins and paragraph spacing.

You're using Normal as your default paragraph style. Note that a lot of
other styles are based on Normal. So, when you change Normal, those changes
will trickle down to a number of other styles, such as heading styles.

Note also that Microsoft has an unfortunate habit of using the same names
for different things. The default template is Normal.dotm, and the default
style is Normal. This is purely an unfortunate coincidence. I would have
preferred that the default template be named Ozzie, and the default style be
named Harriet. Yes, it would have been silly. But, it would have been less
confusing.
 
B

Beth Melton

I think you might be missing a few concepts. First, there are three basic
levels of formatting:

* Section formatting: options that control margins, headers, footers,
gutters, etc

* Paragraph formatting: options that control indents, alignment, line
spacing, etc

* Character formatting: options that control font, font size, enhancements,
etc.

Styles are for the Paragraph and Formatting levels. For formatting found in
the section level, you use a template.

As Herb noted, in the Page Setup dialog box (accessed by either clicking the
dialog launcher in the Page Setup group on the Page Layout tab) will address
your default margins. For your default paragraph formats, unlike previous
versions, modifying your Normal style is no longer advised method. Instead,
you should use to modify your defaults for Word 2007 using the Document
Defaults, which can be accessed in the Manage Styles dialog box. If you want
your defaults to be set for all documents based on the Normal template then
follow these steps:

- Create a new document based on the Normal template.
- Display the Styles pane and click the Manage Styles button
- Select the Set Defaults tab, make your modifications, make sure the option
"New documents based on this template" is selected before clicking "OK".

You can also access the Paragraph or Font dialog box, make your changes, and
then click the Default button in the dialog box to modify the Document
Defaults if the format you are looking for does not appear on the Set
Defaults tab in the Manage Styles dialog box.

Additionally, the purpose of the Styles group on the Home tab is to make
frequently used styles more accessible. Not of the content in a document is
formatted identically. You might have some paragraphs that are have a left
indent, various fonts, sizes, etc. You can either use the default formatting
for the styles provided or customize them to suit your needs. For example if
you prefer Heading 1 use a smaller font size then you can easily update the
style with your preferred formatting by changing the formatting in your
document, placing your insertion point in the formatting you want to use,
then right-clicking Heading 1 in the Styles group and clicking "Update
Heading 1 to match selection". Then, after you have customized all of the
styles to your liking, in the Styles group, click Change Styles and then
click "Set as Default" which will make your customized style set the default
set for new documents.

If you want more of an understanding of how styles work, create a new
document based on one of the installed templates, such as a Median Resume,
display the Styles pane, and as you move the insertion point through the
paragraphs, note the styles that are applied - each group of formats has a
style assigned. The tru beauty of styles lies in modifying the formats in a
few easy steps. Here's a quick example:

- Create a new document using the Median Resume
- In the document, select Objectives and modify the formatting, such as
change the font color to red in order to make the change stand out.
- Keep the text selected, then on the Styles pane, click the arrow next to
the style named "Section" (or right-click the style) and then click "Update
Section to match selection".

Result: all of the paragraphs that have been formatted with the Section
style are formatted with the same red font color. Now imagine this on a much
broader scale on documents that are considerably more than a single page.
The ability to modify formatting throughout a document in a few simple
clicks definitely saves time!

Another example of how you can utilize styles is to create a new document
using one of the installed Report templates, such as Equity Report. Scroll
to the second page so you can view more of the report content. Then in the
Styles group, click Change Styles, point at Style Set, and then hover over
the various built-in Style Sets and watch how Live Preview displays the
document using a different set of styles. If you find a set you like, select
it and the styles in the Styles gallery will be updated with the selected
style set.

You can also create your own style sets and add them to the list. After you
have customized the styles in the Styles group, using the steps previously
provided, use the "Save As Quick Style Set" command at the bottom of the
Style Set menu.

There are even more examples, but hopefully those I've provided will give
you a better idea of the functionality of the Styles gallery. :)

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
B

Beth Melton

Actually, modifying the Normal style for Normal.dotm (or any template) is no
longer the advised method. Instead, one should modify the Document Defaults
which were previously hard-wired into the application and inaccessible.

The rationale behind this is if the formats for the Normal style are the
same as the Document Defaults, the Normal style isn't actually defined-it's
an "empty" style and the Document Defaults are used instead. That being the
case, in Word 2007, if you do not modify your Normal style and if you base
your styles on the Normal style, essentially you are using the Document
Defaults and changes made to the Document Defaults will be reflected in the
Normal style.

Here are a couple solid reasons for the rationale:

- If you leave the Normal style empty you will no longer encounter certain
style bugs, such as those encountered when using Table styles. (Finally!!)

- Modifying the Document Defaults is the only way to truly change the
default formats. Otherwise, the Document Defaults will still use the default
formatting, such as 1.15 line spacing and 10 point space after paragraphs
which can "sneak" back into your document, for example when you base a style
on (No Style).

Now, the latter, basing styles on (No Style) brings an entirely new aspect
to styles, since we have access to the Document Defaults, but I'll save that
for another time. :)

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
S

Suzanne S. Barnhill

Thanks for all the clarification, Beth. I can see I will have a lot to learn
to get up to speed when I finally get Office 2007 installed!
 
B

Beth Melton

There are a few changes in styles but not too many - I'm sure you'll get up
to speed in no time. :)

I do like the concept of a single location for establishing the defaults for
a document and styles. I also think the Document Defaults are easier to
modify than either the Normal style or creating another style to use as a
base style since the primary formats are on a single tab in a dialog box, as
opposed to accessing nested dialog boxes.

I'm still attempting to ascertain the full impact that exposing the Document
Defaults have on using "(No Style)" as a base style since in the past, using
"(No Style)" as a base meant the style was linked to the default formatting
hard-wired in the application and wouldn't change. Now, there are situations
in which the formatting might change. I have most of it figured out but I
suspect there are some aspects I'm missing...

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/
 
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