Styles Mystery

[A Baffled User]

I'm just beginning to try to work with styles instead of manual formatting.
I am creating a long document that presently consists of two approximately
one-hundred-page files. I went through all of file one and created styles
for headers, body text, block text, and so on. These styles are available
when I click Format>Style in the Styles list. They are from the Styles in
Use list.

When I next proceed to file two, in hopes of applying the Styles I've just
defined or created in file one, I find a completely different list of
choices in the Styles field even though the list still says Styles in Use.
Where are the Styles I created while working on files one??? How can I
transfer them to file two???

Thanks!

Joan

 

[Steve G]

Dear Joan,

Please try the following:

Tools--macros--macros--organizer
Click on "Styles" tab


Steve G

 

[A Baffled User]

Dear Steve,

I just did what you've suggested, and I think I see how that could work
(because in the Styles Available In field there is the name of the
document/file in which I created the Styles I want to use in both long
documents). But does this mean that when I create Styles from within, say
document X, they are available only to document X rather than automatically
being transferred to the global template?

Thank you!

Joan

 

[Steve G]

I'm just beginning to try to work with styles instead of manual formatting.
I am creating a long document that presently consists of two approximately
one-hundred-page files. I went through all of file one and created styles
for headers, body text, block text, and so on. These styles are available
when I click Format>Style in the Styles list. They are from the Styles in
Use list.

When I next proceed to file two, in hopes of applying the Styles I've just
defined or created in file one, I find a completely different list of
choices in the Styles field even though the list still says Styles in Use.
Where are the Styles I created while working on files one??? How can I
transfer them to file two???

Thanks!

Joan

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joan-

I am not sure I understand your question but I will do my best. I am
not an expert at Word.

I believe you should open the Word file (either document or template)
that has the styles you created. Then in that file go to Tools--
Macro--Macro--Organizer

In the Organizer dialog box there are four tabs and two pull down
menus--one on the left and the other on the right. Click on the tab
called "Styles." The pull down down menu on the left has a menu
option that will show you styles for your open document (the document
you created the styles in) and the styles for your normal.dot file.
Choose the former for the Styles available as your styles are in that
document. There is a box on the left above the pull down menu which
will show the styles you created. There is a box on the right which
should have the phrase "To Normal:" You can then copy those styles
into your normal.dot template, which is probably your global
template.

Shauna Kelley has an excellent site for Word in her FAQ section.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/

At http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/attachtemplate/index.html she
writes and I quote:


Styles
There are only three ways in which the document and its template can
change one another's styles, and they all rely on your doing
something:

You can change a style in a document's parent template. In the Modify
Style dialog box, you tick the Add to Template box.
You can copy styles from the document to its template, or vice versa.
To do that, Tools > Templates and Add-Ins. Click Organizer.
You can update the document with its template's styles. To do that,
Tools > Templates and Add-Ins. Tick the Automatically Update Document
Styles box. Then, immediately go back and un-tick that box. Don't
leave the box ticked.
None of these methods work reliably for styles involving bullets or
numbering. But see How to safely update a document's styles from its
template without using the Organizer and how to make the Tools +
Templates and Add-ins dialog safe) on the Word MVPs site.

Actually, there is a fourth way to copy styles from a template to a
document (or between templates, or between documents). Although it's a
bit arcane, it can have its uses.

An AutoText can hold formatted text. That is, the AutoText knows what
style(s) have been applied to the text. When you insert an AutoText,
Word will bring along any required styles, creating new ones in the
document if necessary. It works in exactly the same way as copying
text: see Why does text change format when I copy it into another
document?.

All AutoTexts are saved in templates. Note that, oddly, an AutoText
can hold text in a style that does not exist in its template.



Steve G

 

[A Baffled User]

Dear Steve,

Many thanks for taking the time to explain this all so clearly. I am getting
the hang of transferring the styles I created from their document of origin
to Normal and then to other docs. I really appreciate your sending the link
to Shauna Kelley's site, too.

If you should happen to know what the difference is (or why there should be
a difference) on the Styles list between Body Text and just plain Normal,
that would help me, too. But I'm in much better shape now than I was when I
started submitting queries to this forum.

Thanks!

Joan

 

[Steve G]

Dear Steve,

Many thanks for taking the time to explain this all so clearly. I am getting
the hang of transferring the styles I created from their document of origin
to Normal and then to other docs. I really appreciate your sending the link
to Shauna Kelley's site, too.

If you should happen to know what the difference is (or why there should be
a difference) on the Styles list between Body Text and just plain Normal,
that would help me, too. But I'm in much better shape now than I was when I
started submitting queries to this forum.

Thanks!

Joan

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Joan--

Suzanne Barnhill wrote an article posted on the Word MVP website on
your question. In my humble opinion it is the best Word website.

The site is: http://word.mvps.org/index.html

The article which answers your question head-on is directly below my
"signature."

Steve G

Article contributed by Suzanne Barnhill

Title of Article: What is the difference between the Normal and Body
Text styles?

Normal is the style on which all others (unless you change this) are
based. If you change the font or paragraph formatting of Normal style,
it will have a ripple effect throughout most of the other document
styles. That's why it's more satisfactory when creating a document of
a structured, permanent nature (as opposed to a quickie to be printed
and discarded) to use other styles intended for specific purposes.

Body Text is just that, a style intended for the ordinary text of the
body of a document. By default it is identical to Normal except for
having 6 pts Spacing After. This means that if you use it you'll get
half a line space between paragraphs, which you will often want. If
you don't - if you want more or less space, a first-line indent, a
different font, or any other
change - then you can customize the Body Text style without affecting
other styles except for those in the "Body Text family" (such as Body
Text Indent, Body Text First Indent, and so on) that are based on Body
Text.

Also note that you can break any style's linkage to the Normal style
when you define it; select Format | Style | Modify, and where it says
"Based on", select "(no style)".

For more detailed information, see the section on Styles in Creating a
Template (Part II), and also see Typographical Tips from Microsoft
Publisher.

 

[A Baffled User]

That's fantastic, Steve. Thanks so much!

All best,
Joan