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Paragraph Styles in Word

Paragraph styles are preferable to Text attributes. For that reason we present them before text attributes in the fond hopes that you will be successful in your work.

The creation, maintenance and management of paragraph styles is well worth a full day course. Here we introduce you to the use of existing styles, and their modification for your own local purposes.

In particular, note that the creation of list-numbered styles is a topic in itself.

Using a style

With the text cursor in some paragraph, from the menu choose fOrmat, Styles, List: all styles.

A list appears showing all paragraph styles currently associated with the Normal template.

Choose a fancy style, such as "List Bullet 5". Apply.

Change two other nearby paragraphs to the List Bullet 5 style.

Modifying paragraph styles

We can make global changes to the appearance of paragraphs by changing the paragraph style.

From the menu, choose fOrmat, Styles, Modify.

Select fOrmat, Font. Choose a font style, size, colour etc. Confirm and close out of the dialogue.

Observe the change in the current paragraphs.

Observing styles

Choose View, Normal; Choose Tools, Options, View and set Style Area Width to be three centimetres.

More!

Style template sheets are the driving force behind Word documents. In this introduction we have barely scratched the surface.

Character Styles

Character styles are preferable to Text attributes. For that reason we present them before text attributes in the fond hopes that you will be successful in your work.

Unlike Paragraph styles, Character styles formatting will be lost when local formatting is changed.

Enhancing text

Text enhancement through the fOrmat Font menu should be avoided as much as possible. In particular, avoid using fOrmat Font to change the appearance of a paragraph. Use paragraph styles ("fOrmat Styles" from the menu system) to change the appearance of complete paragraphs.

Use Character Styles for Local text formatting.

Avoid the use of the B, I and U toolbar buttons.

Clearing local formatting

Use Ctrl-space to remove local formatting.

Use Edit, Select All; Ctrl-Space to cleanse a document.

Alternatively use Notepad as a filter to remove local formatting and graphics

Style Structures

Hierarchical styles ease the burden of keying in text, and ease the burden of doing something with it.

Based On

Professionals set a base style each for paragraph and character styles, then build all subsequent styles on those two bases. Changing a base will effect a change in all dependant styles

Following paragraph

The following paragraph is an intelligent way to generate text. For example, define "Heading 2" with a following style of "Text 2", and define "Text 2" with a following style of "Text 2".

Styles – how to fix them

From time to time your style definitions will become confused. For example, you may have imported text from another source. The paragraphs are correctly tagged as Heading 1, Heading 2 etc., but there is some weird formatting evident. A check of the paragraph style definition shows that everything is in order.

Try using the Edit Replace command to reapply the style definitions to the text paragraphs: Choose Edit Replace. Empty the find-what box, and choose Format, Style, select Heading 1; Empty the replace-with box, and choose Format, Style, select Heading 1; choose ReplaceAll. Word will reapply all the style definitions and the paragraph text should now appear correctly formatted. Repeat this procedure with each style that needs to be reapplied.

Paragraph Text Flow

Choose Format, Styles, Modify, Format, Paragraph, Text Flow

Widow/Orphan control

Do not leave the first line of a paragraph on the preceding page; do not leave the last line of a paragraph on the following page.

Keep Lines Together

Do not split a paragraph across a page boundary

Keep With next

Make sure that this paragraph and the following paragraph are not isolated by a page boundary.

Page Break before

Force a page break to ensure that this paragraph starts on a fresh page.

Character styles

Choose Format, Styles, New, StyleType=Character

Enter a name for the character style

Modify the font to be your favorite typeface and colour

Create a second character style

Back in the document, select a word or two, apply the character style; apply the same character style to other selected words throughout the document.

Change the host paragraph style. Do the selectively styled words change?

Change the character style.

Note the difference between the Styles list through the menu and the styles list through the toolbar.

Multiple Style definitions

Create three new templates, each with a definition of “Style 1”.

Name these templates Dot1, Dot2, Dot3

We now have three definitions of “Style 1”

Create a document based on Normal.dot.

Define a style “Style 1”.

We now have four definitions of “Style 1”

Delete the style “Style 1” from the document.

• What happens?

Attach the template Dot1, automatically update styles

• What happens?

Change the definition of Style1 in Dot1.

• What happens in our document? Why?

Attach the template Dot2, automatically update styles

• What happens?

Attach the template Dot1, automatically update styles

• What happens?

Delete the style “Style 1” from the document.

• What happens in our document? Why?

Move the style “Style 1” from Dot3 to the document.

• What happens in our document? Why?

Move the style “Style 1” from Dot2 to the document.

• What happens in our document? Why?

Change the format of the style “Normal”

• What happens in our document? Why?

Normal.dot

When I create templates, I consider it an error for me to use the Normal style or any style based on Normal.

I've adapted the Body Text style and Heading 1 styles as my base styles. Neither is based on normal. All other paragraph styles are based on one of these two. Heading 2 is based on Heading 1, Heading 3 on Heading 2, etc. This way, changes to a base font ripple through the document.

This gives me more control over how my documents look, on my computer and on other people's computers.

Unused Styles in a Document

Microsoft’s definition of “Used” and “in Use” differs from mine.

We agree that applying a style from a template to a document renders that style “Used” and “In Use” within the document.

To my mind, once the styled paragraph(s) are deleted, the style is no longer in use within that document.

Microsoft disagrees.

Microsoft should use the word “Lodged”.

Macros exist or can be written to DeleteUnwantedStyles.

Clearing styles

In addition to the Ctrl+Q & Ctrl+Spacebar to remove direct formatting, you should also make sure that you check a couple of things that change formatting without your "approval". There are several options that Word has that cause what appears to be inconsistent behavior.

1. Go to Format/Style/Modify & make sure that "Update Automatically" is not ticked. When that is ticked, your document styles will be replaced by template styles, if they both have the same name.

2. Go to Tools/Templates & add-in & make sure "automatically update document styles" is not ticked. If it is, then Word changes your styles when you apply direct formatting to a paragraph.

3. Go to Tools, AutoCorrect, Autoformat as you type & uncheck, at the very least, "Define styles based on your formatting".

Conclusion

If you are not using styles, you are not Word Processing.

Next: Style Hierarchies

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