How do I standardize numbering, and default font?

[M Skabialka]

I was given a 100+ page document that was cut and pasted from many others by
several people. My job is to standardize the layout.



Since there was no master document I took their manually created index and
used that to create the master. It uses a WBS structure, e.g. 1.0, 1.1
1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2, etc, then I started copying the paragraphs into the main
document. Here's where it gets difficult. Some of the document was created
using real bulleting and numbering, other times it was just typed in.



Some of the paragraphs have a. b. c. sections, some have a) b) c), 1. 2. 3.
, 1) 2) 3) and so on.



I went into bullets and numbering and defined the first a. b. c. section,
which worked for a couple of times, then stopped formatting it properly, so
I defined it again, and again. Is there a way to define these sub-sections
in such a way that you can always recall it and it will always look the same
when I apply it? I have written simple macros to change text font and size
but that's about my limit, but I don't think macros is what is needed here.
Is this what a style is? I had also wanted the entire document to be in
Arial, but each new paste comes in as Times New Roman, even though the
original is Arial. When I went to change the default for this document it
said it was going to change Normal.dot for all documents from now on!



Office 2003, Windows XP.



Thanks,

Mich

 

[Robert M. Franz (RMF)]

Hi Mich

I was given a 100+ page document that was cut and pasted from many others by
several people. My job is to standardize the layout.

Since there was no master document I took their manually created index and
used that to create the master. It uses a WBS structure, e.g. 1.0, 1.1
1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2, etc, then I started copying the paragraphs into the main
document. Here's where it gets difficult. Some of the document was created
using real bulleting and numbering, other times it was just typed in.

Some of the paragraphs have a. b. c. sections, some have a) b) c), 1. 2. 3.
, 1) 2) 3) and so on.

I went into bullets and numbering and defined the first a. b. c. section,
which worked for a couple of times, then stopped formatting it properly, so
I defined it again, and again. Is there a way to define these sub-sections
in such a way that you can always recall it and it will always look the same
when I apply it?

Yes: that's what styles in general are for, and numbered styles in
particular.

I have written simple macros to change text font and size
but that's about my limit, but I don't think macros is what is needed here.
Is this what a style is?

Correctamento! In a structured document, you want to assign formatting
through stlyes and not as direct formatting.

I had also wanted the entire document to be in
Arial, but each new paste comes in as Times New Roman, even though the
original is Arial. When I went to change the default for this document it
said it was going to change Normal.dot for all documents from now on!

Office 2003, Windows XP.

OK, what you might want to do is: look up a couple of the following
articles, so you get familiar with Word's styles and templates:

Creating a Template – The Basics (Part I, by Suzanne Barnhil)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm

Creating a Template (Part II, by John McGhie)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

Working with Sections (by Dave Rado)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WorkWithSections.htm

See the section on "Numbering, bullets, Headings, Outlines" (by Shauna
Kelly)
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/
How to restart style-based numbering (by Margaret Aldis)
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/numbering/ListRestartMethods.htm
Word's numbering explained (by John McGhie)
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm

Ins and outs of bullets and numbering in Word
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011376791033.aspx

Then, create a template first, which contains the styles you intend to
use for this document. Then make a new document based on the template,
and copy all of the other stuff into this document, as raw text. Then
got through it and assign the style that's needed.

HTH
Robert

 

[M Skabialka]

Wow! Thanks - I have a lot of reading to do! But I can't just copy the raw
text as there are many tables, figures and imported graphics.
But I am sure I will be able to figure out a lot from these links!

Thanks for your help.
Mich