Bullets and Tabs

[elenih]

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

Up until a few weeks ago, everything with my Microsoft Word was working fine. Now, when I select the bullet picture on the formatting palette, the bullet is indented a couple of times and I must move it manually back to the very left side of the page. Once I have fixed this, I begin typing and then press enter to create a new line. When I want to tab the newly created line to the right in order to be a sub-category of the previous line, the cursor tabs to the right but the bullet remains left-justified. Therefore, I must manually tab each bullet over and it takes forever to type notes in class, etc. Please help!

 

[John McGhie]

Are you working in Notebook Layout or some other View?

If you are not in Notebook Layout, then which style are you using for your
text?

In Notebook Layout, the bullets button gives you a predefined bullets
format. In any other view, you can choose the format.

So I need to know which view you want to use.

Cheers

Version: 2004
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger)

Up until a few weeks ago, everything with my Microsoft Word was working fine.
Now, when I select the bullet picture on the formatting palette, the bullet is
indented a couple of times and I must move it manually back to the very left
side of the page. Once I have fixed this, I begin typing and then press enter
to create a new line. When I want to tab the newly created line to the right
in order to be a sub-category of the previous line, the cursor tabs to the
right but the bullet remains left-justified. Therefore, I must manually tab
each bullet over and it takes forever to type notes in class, etc. Please
help!

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[elenih]

I was unaware that I was working in any particular style. I simply open a new blank document in Word and begin taking my notes. I will click the bullet button and type a sentence, when I press enter and then tab to create a new line underneath the first, the cursor moves but not the bullet.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

You are always working in a style, no matter what, just FYI. That's how
Word works.

For 2004--Word | Preferences | Edit, make sure "tabs and backspace set
left indent" is checked.

 

[elenih]

Yes, but I was not aware that I ever changed the style in Word from the original style that it is set up in. Either way, it still does not solve the problem I am having with the bullets.

 

[John McGhie]

Yeah, I understand: but your formatting is controlled by formatting
"styles", whether you choose them or not

The intent of my question was to get you to give me the information I need
to help you:

1) Are you in Notebook Layout? (The rules all change if you're not)

2) If not, look in the top left corner: what Style is shown there? (If
it's other than 'Normal' then we need to do something different).

3) Have you done what Daiya suggested? (If not, it's not going to work
either way).

I "think" that what has happened is that you have re-defined the formatting
for your default bullets style. But I need to be able to prove it before I
recommend any action, otherwise what I suggest might make the problem worse


Cheers

Yes, but I was not aware that I ever changed the style in Word from the
original style that it is set up in. Either way, it still does not solve the
problem I am having with the bullets.

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[elenih]

Okay...so I am NOT in notebook format. Also, my style says that I am in "Normal"....However, taking the action that Daiya suggested made the problem worse. Now, when I make a bullet, press enter, and then indent - the bullet actually moves backwards and FURTHER left justified than the original bullet...

 

[John McGhie]

Great! Now I know where you are and what condition the document is in, I
can begin to work

OK, are you pressing TAB, or SHIFT + TAB? Shift + Tab is "Back tab" and it
will take the paragraph margin to the left.

Secondly, in your Normal style, where are the tabs set? There's two places
you have to look:

1) Format>Style> (highlight the Normal style) then Modify>Format>Tabs...

Any tabs set in there will be added to the tab positions in the paragraph.
There should be "none".

2) Format>Paragraph>Tabs... This is confusing, it looks like you are going
to the same place. In fact you are not, tabs can be a property of either a
paragraph or a style: now we're checking in the paragraph. There should be
NO tabs listed, and "Default Tabs" set every 1.27 cm (half an inch).

If that's OK, go to View>Ruler and turn the Ruler on if it is off. Now look
carefully: there should be no tabs shown there.

If that's all OK, then we have to look at the list styles.

3) Go to Format>Bullets and Numbering... Go to the "Bullets" section.

If your cursor is in a bulleted paragraph when you do this, the highlighted
square shows you which Bullet List Template you have applied. It should
normally be the first one.

Look on the dialog box in the bottom left corner: is the "Reset" button
enabled? If it is, click it. That resets the bullet format in that
position to the default settings for that document.

If that button WAS enabled, check the rest of them while you are in there,
and Reset as needed.

That will fix the current document.

4) Now close that document and create a blank document. Run through tests
1 to 3 again: If there is anything wrong, don't bother to fix it.

5) If there is something wrong, open your Normal template using File>Open.
Now run through the tests 1 to 3 there. When you have finished, SAVE the
Normal template and Quit Word (to make certain that your changes get saved
back).

Now, any new documents you create should be good to go. Any old documents
that you have will need the fix.

There is an interaction between the current tab settings and the paragraph
margin. If the current paragraph margin is sitting within 5 points of a
default tab position, when you hit a tab, you can find that things move
"back" not "forward" on the screen, because Word has tried to honour the
default tab position. It doesn't have enough room on the screen to show the
tab character, so things appear to move backwards

Now: If all this doesn't fix your issue, come back here again. Next time
we will have to really get into the works.

Hope this helps

Okay...so I am NOT in notebook format. Also, my style says that I am in
"Normal"....However, taking the action that Daiya suggested made the problem
worse. Now, when I make a bullet, press enter, and then indent - the bullet
actually moves backwards and FURTHER left justified than the original
bullet...

--
Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]