Unwanted multiplying of Styles

[Thomas Payne]

I am using Word for XP professional.

Can someone please tell me why my Normal template apparantly creates a new
style every time I reformat a paragraph? For example, I have created a
paragraph style called "Linguistic example." I often have to vary the
formatting for this style because I apply different tab settings, depending
on the data that goes into a particular paragraph. Now, after a couple of
years working on this project, my template has about 200 variations on
"Linguistic example"! This is also the case (though not to the same extent)
for many of my other custom styles. How do I turn this "feature" off? I want
to use styles, but I also want the flexibility to modify styles on an ad hoc
basis without making permanent and spurious changes to my standard template.

Thanks again for any help. I am so glad that this forum exists. I have been
able to solve several nagging and annoying problems with your help.

Tom

 

[Greg Maxey]

Tom,

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/sfpane/StylesAndFormattingPane.html

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

Hi Tom,

Perhaps you should also consider developing a Linguistic Example 1,
Linguistic Example 2, etc, etc. I obviously don't know what your data looks
like, but since the point of styles is to standardize format throughout a
document and avoid making manual formatting changes, 200 variations suggests
that perhaps your approach could be refined a bit. And, if it's all about
tabs, would using tables simplify your task at all?

I've been developing my dissertation template for a year and still keep
finding that I need to change things in the template, and usually the sign
that I need to do something differently is when I repeatedly have to make
changes manually. In addition, any project that you've been working on for
a couple of years (is this a thesis?) probably deserves its own dedicated
template, rather than using the Normal one. Normal is more prone to
corruption than dedicated templates.

See these links re creating a template:

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart1.htm
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Customization/CreateATemplatePart2.htm

DM

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Take heed to what Dayo says, but note that Word is not actually creating new
styles, just "formatting." You won't see these listings if you clear the
check box for "Keep track of formatting" on the Edit tab of Tools | Options.
Note, however, that when this option is disabled, you lose the ability to
select all paragraphs with the same formatting.