Setting tabs relative to block of text

[kirkm]

Hi, Trying to make some sense of tab stops on the ruler.
What I'm finding are 2 major problems. If I select all the text to use my tabs, all the tabs on the ruler vanish. So I cannot adjust them.


If I agjust a tab, it only moves one line and the rest stay as they were.

How can a set or adjust tabs and have them work in the parts I want?
Thanks for any help. IO'm using Word 2007

[Charles Kenyon]

Tabs are a part of paragraph formatting, usually best set as a part of a paragraph style.
Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word
Working with Tabs

That the ruler cleared when you selected more than one paragraph indicates that they had different tab settings or indents (or both).

You are best off defining styles that have the settings you want and applying them where appropriate.

[kirkm]

I haven't any "style" ir indents just 4 tabs or tab stops. I'm kindof getting there but it ain't easy!
Thanks for the links, but they go into much detail and it's hard to get just what you want to know. I was hoping for something specific on the 2 issues I'm having.

[Charles Kenyon]

I understand. Your text is formatted using one or more styles whether or not you realize it. If you are going to use word effectively, it is vital that you learn to use styles. Otherwise, Word will work against you rather than for you.

Try, in a copy of your document, selecting your text and setting the tab stops you want for that text. Direct formatting like this makes future editing more difficult but can work.

I draw your attention to this part of one of the links I gave you:
Importance of Styles in Word and I quote myself:
"Trying to use Word without understanding and using styles is like pushing on a string. I resisted learning and using styles for years and now regret every day of those years because although that string was still very hard to push, it kept getting longer and longer, and had some very important projects tied to it! Once you understand styles and the Word concept of organizing things into Chinese boxes everything falls into place and instead of pushing a string, you can push a button that turns on the very powerful text processing machine known as Microsoft Word and it will start doing your work for you instead of running around behind you trying to undo what you thought you just did.

"These statements should be even stronger for those using Word 2007-16 because styles are even easier to use in the ribbon versions of Word."

[kirkm]

I can see you're quite right Charles,and were I to use Word seriously or consistently I'd study it in detail. For infrequent use I can get away with Google and the Dummies book (which isn't as much help as anticipated). The problem is finding the answer to the one thing you want, as opposed to screeds of stuff usually with everything but what you want.
I can't select text and setting the tab stops you want for that text. It is what you'd think is right, but for me that just blanks all the tabs (or tab stops) gizmos on the ruler.If I want to adjust one I've learned to delete them, all, d-click on the ruler, then enter them all again into the dialog window (or whatever it's called). Any attempt to add. move etc.just mucks everything up.Styles are unknown and much trouble to learn with not enough hours in the day, I'm happy with being able to choose a font and attribute. I've a project on right now, but once done it could be months before I need Word again. But thank you for the suggestions and help.

[Charles Kenyon]

Use the Tabs dialog box rather than the ruler. Clear all tabs first, then establish the ones you want.

[kirkm]

Hi Charles, Yes, after a bit more searching I found R-Click-Paragraph-Tabs. This was a lot easier that d-clicking the rules (which sometimes would bring up an entirely different dialog box). But it is tedious clearing all, just to re-apply much the same (maybe with one changed). But so far I can find no way to adjust one tab, so maybe you can't. (Although it looks like it will . It shows a dotted vertical line that moves , but all the changes is the current line, not everything)

[Charles Kenyon]

Here are screenshots. The first shows two paragraphs selected with different tab settings. Using the dialog box, I can set a tab that is before either of the ones in use. It applies to both. If I add a tab that is after (further to the right) another tab setting, it will be put in but will not remove the one that is to the left of it.

That is, using the dialog box, you can add a tab to multiple dissimilarly formattted paragraphs, but you cannot necessarily make it the first tab or remove tab settings.

I again urge you to spend a couple of hours to learn enough to use styles.

[kirkm]

Charles, Sorry I'm just not getting this! I don't follow what you're telling me. LOL I've puzzled over this for about 15 mins and things are going from bad to worse. I see only one tab setting (.2) and none before or further to the right.
Given this, I doubt I could handle styles.

My doc has 4 tabs and they are Global. I'm able to kill em off and/or replace all. I think that's about my limit and enough to get the job done.
Thanks for the reply though.