No Body Text in Style Gallery

[TorchTrust]

I can't seem to get the 'Body Text' style showing in the Home ribbon under the Style Gallery even though it's set to be there. any ideas?
thanks
Paul

[JimP]

On the Home ribbon under the Style section, click on the down arrow in the lower right-hand corner. On the Styles drop-down menu, click on “Options”. From the resultant “Style Pane Options”, click on the “Select Styles to Show:” drop-down menu and select “all styles”…then scroll down the menu and select Body Text.

[Charles Kenyon]

The question is whether or not you see it in the Quick Styles Gallery, and if so, where. By default, Body Text is set to only show up after use, to have a recommendation priority of 100 (last), and to not display in the Quick Styles Gallery. You can change those settings using the dialog JimP pointed you to.

First, once you have changed the setting so it is displayed all the time, you need also change the priority. In the screenshot below, I changed it from 100 to 1. The screenshot is in error in that it should also have the button for all new documents based on this template clicked.

Then once that is implemented, right-click on the style in the Styles Pane to modify it (add it to Quick Styles). Check the box to add it to the quick styles and click on the button for all new documents based on this template.

Note that Styles are document and template-specific, not application-wide. That is, the styles you see in a particular document are set in that document and based on that document's template.
Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word
Templates in Microsoft Word

Images below:

• Default Quick Styles Gallery - Word 2010
• Manage Styles Dialog showing Body Text as hidden until used (alphabetical order)
• Modify Style choice when right-clicking Body Text in Styles Pane
• Modify Style dialog showing addition to Quick Styles and to template
• Quick Styles Gallery after change

[TorchTrust]

Thank you Charles!
Wow that was complicated!
Anyway, now I know!
Cheers
Paul

[Charles Kenyon]

You are welcome. It took me a while and I had to go into Safe Mode because I long ago changed my Word setup so that Body Text is the default style and it is not based on Normal. I included it in the Styles Gallery when I first installed Word 2010 and 2013.

Yes, it is complicated. A big problem with the Ribbon Styles Gallery is that people (understandably) assume that what shows up in that gallery are all of the Style. It is a handy tool. I especially like that it gives you a preview on mouse-over, but the Styles Pane (which you used to do the modification) remains the workhorse for using Styles.

[Charles Kenyon]

I perhaps made this more difficult than it is. I missed the command "Add to the Quick Styles Gallery" when right-clicking on the style name in the Styles Pane.

Here are some additional references I've located:
How to control the Quick Styles gallery on the Home tab in Word by Shauna Kelly
How to Place Your Styles in the Quick Styles Gallery by Dan Gookin
Make Word's Quick Style Gallery Work for You by Susan Harkins
Working with Styles by Tony Jollans

[Bill Norton]

I hope it's OK to ask a follow up question. My understanding is that the recommended best practice is to not use the Normal style but rather to use Body Text (or maybe Body Paragraph). So why is Normal "front and center" on the default Style ribbon and window and Body Text is nowhere to be found (at least without specifically adding it)? That makes me wonder if I'm missing some important concept.

[Charles Kenyon]

While the "use Body Text" rule is how I do things, it is my understanding from the real experts that it is on ribbon versions of Word the Normal style is not a problem.

That said, as expressed above, the first thing I did when setting up the new versions was to put Body Text at the top and Normal at the bottom. I also went through and made Body Text based on nothing and most of the other styles set to be based on either Body Text or a heading style. I also set the style for the following paragraph on most styles to be Body Text. While in my Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word I think I recommend using Body Text, I am no longer so confident in that recommendation.

OTOH, if people do this and have their documents set to "update styles from template" it is marginally less likely to trash the document when opened on a different system.

Again, I think MS has fixed the problems with the normal style that were present in earlier versions of Word. I already have most of my documents set up the older way and I know that what I am doing works for me.