Will Word 2002 do parallel columns?

M

Mike R.

Writing procedures but we want a two column look - one or two word
descriptions in the small left column and the procedure text in the larger
right column.

Perfection would be a way to put the descriptor in the left column and it
stays tied to the text in the right column. Writing more in the large or
small column above the new text would move the new descriptor and text
together to make room.

We have LOTS of these procedures to do so I'm not thrilled with using linked
text boxes. Can Word 2002 do Parallel columns or is there a better way to do
this?

Thanks,
Mike
 
J

Jay Freedman

Mike said:
Writing procedures but we want a two column look - one or two word
descriptions in the small left column and the procedure text in the
larger right column.

Perfection would be a way to put the descriptor in the left column
and it stays tied to the text in the right column. Writing more in
the large or small column above the new text would move the new
descriptor and text together to make room.

We have LOTS of these procedures to do so I'm not thrilled with using
linked text boxes. Can Word 2002 do Parallel columns or is there a
better way to do this?

Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...

Hi Mike,

Do NOT try to use Format > Columns for this -- that's the wrong tool,
because you won't be able to keep the descriptors vertically aligned with
the text on the right.

Use a two-column table. Turn off the borders (shortcut: Ctrl+Alt+U) and turn
on table gridlines (Table > Show Gridlines). Start a new row each time you
need a descriptor on the left. Also start a new table every so often,
because Word gets slow when tables extend over dozens of pages.

Here are a couple of references:

Table basics
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/TableBasics.htm

Maximising the performance of Word tables
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFms/FastTables.htm
 
M

Mike R.

Thanks, Jay. I figured out how to search here and found, under "parallel" the
same answer in another forum. I do now have tables set up in the template to
do exactly what you've recommended.

I was surprised to find though that Word has dropped (or never copied
Wordperfect) parallel columns. This looks like a pretty good reason to write
up a justification for Framemaker. Once we've gotten the procedures written,
they'll be PDF'd for users, so I don't have any preference between Framemaker
or Word - just to use the easiest one!!

Thanks for the great answer though,
Mike R.
 
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