Style Copying Doesn't Work

[John Bigelow]

Don't you hate it when a program feature fails to work in the fashion
described by the documentation? I know I do!

I have created one document in Word that is in the form of an outline. In
that document I modified the styles, Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. to suit my
needs. Now, I want to produce another document in the same style. No
problem, I think, I'll just copy the styles I like from the first document to
the second. I did so using the procedure described below in the help files:

------Begin Quote------------
1. On the Tools menu, click Templates and Add-Ins.
2. Click Organizer, and then click the Styles tab.
3. To copy items to or from a different template (template: A file or files
that contain the
structure and tools for shaping such elements as the style and page
layout of finished files.
For example, Word templates can shape a single document, and FrontPage
templates can shape
an entire Web site.) or file, click Close File to close the active
document
(active document: The document in which you're working. Text you type or
graphics you insert in
Microsoft Word appear in the active document. The title bar of the
active document is highlighted.)
and its attached template or to close the Normal template (Normal
template: A global template
that you can use for any type of document. You can modify this template
to change the default
document formatting or content.). Then click Open File, and open the
template or file you want.
4. Click the items you want to copy in either list, and then click Copy.
---------End Quote----------

(Sorry for the length quote, just wanted y'all to know that I DID RTFM.)

Anyway, It doesn't work.

In the second document some but not all of the formatting features that are
part of the styles from the first document did not appear in the same styles
in the second document after the style was copied. Specifically, and this is
important in an ouline, the indentation.

So, my question for those of you who might know about these things is: How
do I copy a style from one document to another so that ALL of the formatting
features in the style are actually copied. (Frankly, you'd think that would
be the way it would work.)

 

[CyberTaz]

Could be that what it doesn't tell you in Help is what happens if you are
copying in Styles by the same name as existing Styles in the receiving
document. That is probably further compounded by having modified default
Styles (Heading 1, etc.).

The process is not the problem -- you followed it perfectly, but here is a
suggestion;

Although there is no "law" against doing so, avoid making changes to the
built-in Styles. Instead, create new Styles and name them appropriately. That
will help avoid the conflict in the first place.

Hope this helps|:>)

BTW- You can also transfer Styles by copying a para that has the Style
applied & pasting it into a different doc. You still have to replace/delete
the text pasted in, but the style remains available.

 

[Charles Kenyon]

I don't agree with CyberTaz on not modifying the built-in styles. However,
be sure your documents / templates do not have the option to update their
styles from the template checked (Templates and Add-Ins dialog) or you'll
end up with real hash when you send your documents to some other computer.

If your styles are numbered, see: How to create numbered headings or outline
numbering in your Word document
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html. (For
bullets see http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/bullets/controlbullets.html, the
subject is related.) Numbered and bulletted styles are different from
ordinary styles and you need to be very careful in your creating them or
modifying them if you want your documents to be robust.

If your styles are linked to one another (cascading) as they should be, you
need to copy them three times to maintain the links. See
http://addbalance.com/usersguide/styles.htm.

 

[John Bigelow]

Thank you. I will try what you suggest.

Could be that what it doesn't tell you in Help is what happens if you are
copying in Styles by the same name as existing Styles in the receiving
document. That is probably further compounded by having modified default
Styles (Heading 1, etc.).

The process is not the problem -- you followed it perfectly, but here is a
suggestion;

Although there is no "law" against doing so, avoid making changes to the
built-in Styles. Instead, create new Styles and name them appropriately. That
will help avoid the conflict in the first place.

Hope this helps|:>)

BTW- You can also transfer Styles by copying a para that has the Style
applied & pasting it into a different doc. You still have to replace/delete
the text pasted in, but the style remains available.

 

[John Bigelow]

I got the directions you suggested from the Shauna Kelly site, and I will
certainly try them. They look clear and well written, so I'm grateful.

Notwithstanding that gratitude, however, I have to say, "Yikes! Is this
program written by sadists who want to make things gratuitously complex?!?"

 

[John Bigelow]

One last note to follow up and to repeat my gratitude.

The Shauna Kelly suggestions to which Charles Kenyon kindly referred me
certainly did the trick. The process is, as she carefully explains, a little
complex but it does work.

I am also grateful to CyberTaz, who cautioned agains editing the system
format for headings. After digesting the Shauna Kelly suggestion, I realized
that my mis-step had been to edit the paragraph format in my heading/outline
styles as opposed to editing the numbering format itself, which is buried one
layer deeper. Additionally, there is the suggestion to link the heading
styles in a chain, so that Heading 1 is based on Heading 2 is based on
Heading 3 . . . So, CyberTaz's suggestion that I had gone awry by editing
the system paragraph formats was well taken, even if the reasons were more
complex than either (s)he or I realized.

So, thank you both for you kindly assistance - and, once again, a pox on the
programmers who made this so clumsy and counter-intuitive!