1) bItal is a Boolean that stores whether the font is italic, so it can be reapplied to the unlinked range.
2) I didn't look at the inner workings of the rest of your code. That said, I've demonstrated the conditional content output in code I've provided before.
3) You'll note that I don't move the cursor or work with the Selection - I work with range objects and manipulate them. The latter is far more efficient.
4) The macro recorder is as dumb as a box of rocks.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]