Problem with using Styles to format text.

[cummins]

I am writing a set of instructions which follows an outline format as shown below. None of the standard "Style" formatting options available look very good so I created my own. Two major issues:

1- After creating saving and even creating a template using the new "Styles", when I open a new Word document, the Styles are not consistent with what exists in the original document.

2- If I select all of one particular style, make a modification, realize I don't like it and select the "undo" option, all of my "Styles" Vanish. I wasn't sure how it happened the first time but I figured it out the second time.

At this point, my opinion seems to be that "Styles" are unstable and as such should not be a function of Word until they are stable. Please help me change my mind.


1.0 Section Title
1.1 Task to be accomplished
1.1.1 Detail item1
1.1.2 Detail item 2
2.0 Another Section
2.1 More items
2.1.1 More details.


etc...

[Charles Kenyon]

Originally Posted by cummins

I am writing a set of instructions which follows an outline format as shown below. None of the standard "Style" formatting options available look very good so I created my own. Two major issues:

1- After creating saving and even creating a template using the new "Styles", when I open a new Word document, the Styles are not consistent with what exists in the original document.

2- If I select all of one particular style, make a modification, realize I don't like it and select the "undo" option, all of my "Styles" Vanish. I wasn't sure how it happened the first time but I figured it out the second time.

At this point, my opinion seems to be that "Styles" are unstable and as such should not be a function of Word until they are stable. Please help me change my mind.


1.0 Section Title
1.1 Task to be accomplished
1.1.1 Detail item1
1.1.2 Detail item 2
2.0 Another Section
2.1 More items
2.1.1 More details.
etc...

Styles have been at the heart of Word documents for at least fifteen years. Numbering has been faulty for at least that long.

If you are using Word more than 6 hours a month you owe it to yourself to learn to use Styles in Word. Within two months you will more than have recovered any time you spend learning them. If you use Word more than that the savings are much more dramatic. See Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word, Tips for Understanding Styles in Word and Yet Another "Use Styles" Verbal Beating!

Styles are very predictable and well mannered. Unfortunately, they are not simple. They are at the very heart of Word, though.

For numbering, take a look at How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Word 2007 and Word 2010.

[macropod]

Hi Charles,

IMHO, once one gets a handle on the conceptual side of Styles, they're quite easy to master. And even the conceptual aspect isn't difficult.

As for numbering, I generally stay with Word's heading numbers plus one or two other Styles that I've specifically created for the purpose. I never have any issues with faulty numbering with documents I create.

[Charles Kenyon]

I guess "difficult" is in the eye of the beholder. I would say learning to use styles well is is about as hard to learn as learning to change the oil on a car. Learning their intricacies in the various versions of Word and what can go wrong and why is about like learning to rebuild a carburetor. Neither is impossible, and both may be word doing.

I'm superstitious. I ran into big numbering problems with Word 97 when working on an Appellate Brief (big, formal, paper). I've been following Shauna's (John McGhie's) directions ever since without any trouble. In Word 2010 I've taken to using the multilevel list button out of the box on simple documents. I still apply it to heading styles, though. My briefs and complex pleadings, though, all use heading styles attached to list styles per her directions, though. Once burned.

The original poster here needs to use heading styles linked to a multilevel list. I think we agree on that as well as on the idea that learning to use styles is a very good thing for anyone who uses Word more than occasionally.