Word Changes ALL formatting

[Purple Jade]

In MS Word 2004 Student Edition Version 11.1. I'm working on a
manuscript that is only about 80 pages at 12 pt. Tahoma font. It has
about 20 small (40 to 180k) jpeg files that are in tables in it.

Any formatting (eg. Bold, centered, etc.) I do to any whole paragraph
even without selecting paragraph mark will change the entire file. I
can undo the change to the rest of the file by using the UNDO command
and it does leave the formatting I want in place, but this extra step
is taking me forever because I am having to go through the entire
document and put back the bolding that I had before that was erased
before I realized i had this problem. I am also using a style sheet,
but this problem occurred before I applied the styles. It is now also
changing the font back to black when I had it in blue to avoid
confusing it with another similar document and has just removed some of
the bolding I did TODAY but not all of it--and it's not just the style
sheet bolding that has stayed. There's no pattern or logic behind what
it does!!

Also, the header keeps getting bigger and bigger and when i try and
make it smaller by dragging it up, the body text fills it and it grows
to the size of the entire page! I can fix it manually, but it grows
again on its own.

I'm running a 1GHz (933MHz) G4 ibook with 640 MB of RAM, a 40 GB HD (6
GB free--I know, gotta clean it off). I routinely have Entourage,
Safari, Excel and iCal open at the same time. But even when I close
several applications, the problem persists.

I've saved as, split the document into 2 smaller files, tried different
fonts, copied and pasted, restarted the program, computer, etc. several
times. I am at a loss because I cannot redo this document again and
must publish it very soon (this week) in a pdf document. Any ideas?

 

[Michel Bintener]

There's a simple explanation to your problem: you've got the Normal style
set to update automatically. Since you seem to know about styles, you should
be aware of the fact that "Normal" is the default paragraph style of a
document (unless you explicitly changed it to something else). So when
"Normal" is set to update automatically, that means that when you apply bold
formatting to words, Word will automatically update the paragraph style to
match them, i.e. bold. Got to Format>Style, and select "Normal" from the
list. Hit the Modify button, and uncheck the "Automatically update" box. By
the way, this also applies to any other paragraph style; it's just that the
way you describe how the headers move is symptomatic of the Normal style. If
all of this doesn't work, post back.

Michel

 

[Purple Jade]

Michael,

Thank you SO MUCH for your help. I can't believe that was the problem.
I thought it would only update the style when I changed it in the
Format/Style/Modify dialog box. Everything is working great now. What a
relief. I am kicking myself for not taking the time to get hooked up
here and have posted sooner.

Is it OK to use a style WITHIN a paragraph, let's say to bold a few
words at the beginning or in the middle of a paragraph?

There's still something bothering me though that I forgot to mention.
The Asian/Japanese attribute. I thought that was what it was that was
causing the problem. The style reads FontDefault) Tahoma, 12 pt,
(Asian) Japanese, (Other) English (US), Left, Line spacing: single,
Widow/Orphan control

How do I get rid of the Asian/Japanese attribute or do I need to? I've
tried re-applying the style, even in a new document. I didn't add it.
It just showed up.

Lastly, I also cannot seem to get rid of the dozens of fonts that I
don't use and that I don't want to have show up in my font menus. I
tried Font Library and moving them to a new library, but it didn't
work. They still show up everywhere.

Purple Pepper

 

[Clive Huggan]

Hello [whoever],

Michel will be back soon, no doubt, to answer your other questions; I'll
just answer the question about applying a paragraph style within a
paragraph.

The simple answer is "It's best not to". But you can do what's in effect the
same thing by applying character styles. An advantage is that you can do a
Find command for the character styles, whereas you can¹t if you have applied
paragraph styles to words. And it¹s therefore much easier to re-define and
apply a different appearance to the style on some future occasion.

For a detailed explanation, have a look under the heading "Paragraph styles
and character styles ‹ what¹s the difference?" in some notes on the way I
use Word for the Mac, titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are available
as a free download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/Bend/BendWord.htm).

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 7 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================
* A SUGGESTION -- WAIT FOR CONSIDERED ADVICE: If you post a question, keep
re-visiting the newsgroup for several days after the first response comes
in. Sometimes it takes a few responses before the best or complete solution
is proposed; sometimes you'll be asked for further information so that a
better answer can be provided. Good tips about getting the best out of
posting are at http://word.mvps.org/FindHelp/Posting.htm (if you use Safari
you may see a blank page and have to hit the circular arrow icon -- "Reload
the current page" -- a few times).

============================================================

 

[Michel Bintener]

Michael,

Thank you SO MUCH for your help. I can't believe that was the problem.
I thought it would only update the style when I changed it in the
Format/Style/Modify dialog box. Everything is working great now. What a
relief. I am kicking myself for not taking the time to get hooked up
here and have posted sooner.

Is it OK to use a style WITHIN a paragraph, let's say to bold a few
words at the beginning or in the middle of a paragraph?

See Clive Huggan's post, he's given you a detailed answer. The short version
is: no, don't use paragraph styles; instead, use character styles, that's
what they're for.

There's still something bothering me though that I forgot to mention.
The Asian/Japanese attribute. I thought that was what it was that was
causing the problem. The style reads FontDefault) Tahoma, 12 pt,
(Asian) Japanese, (Other) English (US), Left, Line spacing: single,
Widow/Orphan control

How do I get rid of the Asian/Japanese attribute or do I need to? I've
tried re-applying the style, even in a new document. I didn't add it.
It just showed up.

I'm not really sure about that one. I was going to suggest that it is a
language setting, but you've already set your style to be English (US). So
I'd go to Format>Style, Modify and attempt to redefine the language setting.
However, as I said, I'm not sure if that's the solution, so if it's not,
post back, and somebody else might be able to help you. Generally speaking,
I don't think that the (Asian) Japanese setting is causing any significant
problems.

Lastly, I also cannot seem to get rid of the dozens of fonts that I
don't use and that I don't want to have show up in my font menus. I
tried Font Library and moving them to a new library, but it didn't
work. They still show up everywhere.

Font Library? Unless you mean Mac OS X's own Font Book, I'm not familiar
with that application. However, rearranging fonts into new libraries in Font
Book (Mac OS X 10.3 and onwards; I don't think you mentioned in one of your
posts which version you're actually using) does not change the fact that
they're still activated. You'll have to select the fonts you don't want and
disable them; that way, they won't show up in your font menu in Word. By the
way, you have to be careful when you're disabling fonts, as Office 2004
requires a number of them to be activated in order to function properly. So
make sure you don't disable the following fonts:

Arial
Batang
Gulim
Hiragino Kaku Gothic Pro W3
Lucida Grande
MS PMincho
MS Gothic
MS Mincho
MS Pgothic
MT Extra
PmingLiu
Simsun
Symbol
Times New Roman
Verdana
Wingding

Hope this was helpful.
Michel

 

[ms_gg]

Thank you Clive & Michael for your suggestions. I took Michael's advice
because it seemed logical and I remembered changing that Autoupdate
feature a few months ago--to my major chagrin--and I needed to do the
final reformatting of my manuscript THAT DAY, so I couldn't wait.
Besides, it worked which was all I cared about at the time, but I
understand your reasoning.

I read the Posting help article and I can see that I have been
following it quite well--as I have posted in other groups before--but I
don't know why you guys are hung up on people using their real name.
You guys may feel comfortable giving out that kind of info because you
have the distinguishing feature of being an MVP, but I am unwilling to
risk being stalked or having my identity stolen. So, I have chosen a
name similar to my own. You will probably wish I'd stayed with Purple
Jade/Pepper.

I am still unclear as to how to change the email address that shows to
a fake one since when I tried it, the system said it was invalid. Are
there two places to edit your email address?

Amara

P.S. I am running System 10.3.9, just haven't had the time to go
through the Tiger upgrade and not sure it's worth it timewise right
now. Oh, and I DO use character styles a great deal, was just checking.

 

[Michel Bintener]

I read the Posting help article and I can see that I have been
following it quite well--as I have posted in other groups before--but I
don't know why you guys are hung up on people using their real name.
You guys may feel comfortable giving out that kind of info because you
have the distinguishing feature of being an MVP, but I am unwilling to
risk being stalked or having my identity stolen. So, I have chosen a
name similar to my own. You will probably wish I'd stayed with Purple
Jade/Pepper.

Actually, I'm not an MVP. And I had to re-read this thread to find out why
you are talking about using fake names, and I guess it must have been
Clive's "whoever" comment. Please note that no one forces you to use your
real name: several posters in these newsgroups don't, and nobody really
cares. I guess that for the sake of consistency, you should simply stick to
the name you chose in the first place, as it is not really obvious that
"Purple Jade", "Purple Pepper" and "(e-mail address removed)" are one and the
same person. But again, it's not really a problem, this is a newsgroup
designed to solve problems, not a virtual soap opera. ;-)

I am still unclear as to how to change the email address that shows to
a fake one since when I tried it, the system said it was invalid. Are
there two places to edit your email address?

Search the Entourage newsgroup for a topic called "Changing name in news";
you should find clear instructions in there. And by the way, your post shows
that you've managed to do it correctly (unless (e-mail address removed)
happens to be a real e-mail address, that is.)

Michel

 

[Clive Huggan]

Actually, I'm not an MVP. And I had to re-read this thread to find out why
you are talking about using fake names, and I guess it must have been
Clive's "whoever" comment. Please note that no one forces you to use your
real name: several posters in these newsgroups don't, and nobody really
cares. I guess that for the sake of consistency, you should simply stick to
the name you chose in the first place, as it is not really obvious that
"Purple Jade", "Purple Pepper" and "(e-mail address removed)" are one and the
same person. But again, it's not really a problem, this is a newsgroup
designed to solve problems, not a virtual soap opera. ;-)


Search the Entourage newsgroup for a topic called "Changing name in news";
you should find clear instructions in there. And by the way, your post shows
that you've managed to do it correctly (unless (e-mail address removed)
happens to be a real e-mail address, that is.)

Michel

Hello Amara,

Michel is spot on: it doesn't matter much whether you put your name or not.
I have "[whoever]" as my default over which I usually type the person's
name, and in this case was in a hurry and didn't change it.

I wasn't an MVP for a long time after joining this newsgroup, and I may not
be next year since the MVP award is a minor recognition of the person's
contribution in the previous year. I didn't, and don't, mind my name being
known, but I acknowledge that it's a personal matter. In some circumstances
(not here) I use a pseudonym too.

For the poster, there is a small advantage in using a name that's in
everyday use rather than abstract (whether it's your actual name or not
doesn't matter). The reason is that if you re-visit the newsgroup, or get
involved in a thread with many participants, it's easier for the "regulars"
to remember you if you are known as John, Jean or whoever, rather than a
not-in-regular-use pseudonym like rabidDog, or an abbreviated name. That
way, you tend to get more tailored answers because you are remembered the
next time. If/when you come back, people remember you much better and will
recall such things as the level of expertise you have in a particular area,
or a previous context.

Another qualitative factor is that this NG has a distinctive, longstanding,
strong sense of community in an increasingly impersonal digital world.
Simply, it's nice to know who you're sharing ideas with. It allows
pleasantries in the salutation and sign-off (important things in some
cultures), and -- as with the style of answering -- helps the world to be a
friendlier place, albeit in an infinitesimally small way.

The above is just my personal spontaneous view. Thank you for asking; I
hadn't quite articulated it till now.

The subject of obfuscating your real address is of course a separate matter,
and far more important. Full guidelines on how to set up a "send-only" dummy
e-mail account are at http://www.entourage.mvps.org/tips/tip019.html

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 7 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
============================================================