Difficulty with columns in Word X for Mac

[jenbad108]

I'm working on a long document in Word X. Part of the document contains
recipes; I want the list of ingredients to appear as 2 columns.

I set my column formatting by using the "Format/Column" command. I set
the width and spacing, specifying the spacing between the 2 columns to
"0". Despite this, I can't get the columns to appear as close together
(which really isn't that close) as I would like. To override this, I've
been selecting text and moving the margins in the ruler.

My problems are compounded by the fact that the text does not remain
within the column sizes that I set for it. I format the columns how I
want, then save the doc. When I reopen the doc, the formatting is gone,
and the text is outside even the original column perameters I set.

Also, I've been using section breaks to delinieate column text from
regular body text (I've applied different style formatting. Is this a
problem? I read in archive messages to stay away from using section
breaks. If this is true, how do I seperate the column areas from
non-colum areas? The macro I made to convert text to columns, for some
reason, converts the whole document into columns when I apply it, even
though I only select the specific text that I want organized into
columns.

Any help with this is much appreciated!
Jen

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Jen:

I'm working on a long document in Word X. Part of the document contains
recipes; I want the list of ingredients to appear as 2 columns.

I set my column formatting by using the "Format/Column" command. I set
the width and spacing, specifying the spacing between the 2 columns to
"0". Despite this, I can't get the columns to appear as close together
(which really isn't that close) as I would like. To override this, I've
been selecting text and moving the margins in the ruler.

Don't Do that Create a new style for the column text, and set the
paragraph margins accordingly. The separation of your columns will be
Column Margin + Paragraph left margin + paragraph right margin. Ideally,
set the paragraph margins for the column text to 0.

My problems are compounded by the fact that the text does not remain
within the column sizes that I set for it. I format the columns how I
want, then save the doc. When I reopen the doc, the formatting is gone,
and the text is outside even the original column perameters I set.

I think you may have an Attached Template with the "Automatically update
styles on open" checkbox set ON. Either attach the document to Normal
template (which will ignore that setting) or turn the setting off. You get
to it with Tools>Templates and Add-ins>Attach...

The Automatically update setting updates the settings of all the styles in
the document to match those in the attached template every time you open the
document. It's a power tool designed for workgroups in which the templates
are stored on a network server and you want all documents to adopt the
template's formatting whenever it changes. You need version control in
place on the templates before it becomes useful (and a high level of user
skill...)

Also, I've been using section breaks to delinieate column text from
regular body text (I've applied different style formatting. Is this a
problem?

No. It's the only proper way to do columns.

I read in archive messages to stay away from using section
breaks.

The advise should have been "Minimise section breaks. Do not use more than
you actually need." This advice is indented for users who cannot
distinguish between a section break and a page break. A section break is a
very complex property container that is susceptible to corruption. The
fewer you use, the more stable your document will be through heavy heading.
However, there are some things you can do only with section breaks. If you
need them, use them.

The macro I made to convert text to columns, for some
reason, converts the whole document into columns when I apply it, even
though I only select the specific text that I want organized into
columns.

Show me your code: this may be a macro you cannot record. Pop your code in
an email to me and I will take a look. You must put a password in the
Subject of your email to get it through my Spam filter: yours is
1139510@f14g2000cwb.

Cheers

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Aside from John's comments, another option might be to put the recipes in a
borderless two-column table, thus avoiding the entire issue of sections and
margins, because you can set the size of the table.

DM