Disable "demote/promote" in Outline View

[sheAnnagins]

I am adapting a template to alphabetize a list of vocabulary words for
1st grade students using the Outline View for Word 2004, Mac.
Everything is great except that in addition to placing the word in the
correct alphabetical order, if students move the cursor to the right,
the bulleted word will be demoted creating an undesirable staggered
left margin. Is there any way to disable the demote/promote feature or
to limit the bullets to a single level.

Any suggestions?

Anna

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hmmm... I'm not sure why you would be using an Outline for this. The whole
purpose of outline view is to easily promote/demote "levels".

I think there must be some other functionality you're using that you don't
mention: tell us what that is, and we may be able to suggest a more suitable
mechanism.

If all you want is a sorted list, use a Table.

Promote and demote work off the Tab key, not the Cursor keys. So the
students can move the "cursor" anywhere they like without effect, but if
they type tab characters or backspace, they will affect the left margin.

You can disable this, but only for the Application (the whole of Word on a
particular machine) not for a single document.

In Outline View, the only way to disable this function is to leave Outline
View, which is why I think we need to find you another way to get the job
done.

Cheers

I am adapting a template to alphabetize a list of vocabulary words for
1st grade students using the Outline View for Word 2004, Mac.
Everything is great except that in addition to placing the word in the
correct alphabetical order, if students move the cursor to the right,
the bulleted word will be demoted creating an undesirable staggered
left margin. Is there any way to disable the demote/promote feature or
to limit the bullets to a single level.

Any suggestions?

Anna

--

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

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[sheAnnagins]

I realize that disabling the promote/demote feature in Outline View is
contradictory to the whole purpose of Outline View =^).. I am looking
for a way to easily drag a list of words into alphabetical order. I do
not want it to sort automatically since the whole exercise is for the
students to click and drag the words in order. The purpose of the
document is a first grade worksheet for alphabetizing.

My use of "cursor" is erroneous.. what I mean to say is that when the
student clicks on the "plus" or "minus" sign to the left of the bullet
and drags the mouse right instead of straight up or down, the word will
no longer be left-aligned but demoted.

If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. If there is no
other way to click and drag words in Word then we'll just have to find
another application that'll do it. Thank you for your time!

Regards,
Anna

 

[sheAnnagins]

I realize that disabling the promote/demote feature in Outline View is
contradictory to the whole purpose of Outline View =^).. I am looking
for a way to easily drag a list of words into alphabetical order. I do
not want it to sort automatically since the whole exercise is for the
students to click and drag the words in order. The purpose of the
document is a first grade worksheet for alphabetizing.

My use of "cursor" is erroneous.. what I mean to say is that when the
student clicks on the "plus" or "minus" sign to the left of the bullet
and drags the mouse right instead of straight up or down, the word will
no longer be left-aligned but demoted.

If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. If there is no
other way to click and drag words in Word then we'll just have to find
another application that'll do it. Thank you for your time!

Regards,
Anna

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Anna -

I had the impression this is what you had in mind. Just a couple thoughts:

1) If you create a 2 column by X rows table you can list the words in any
order in the 1st column. The kids can simply select the word (by
double-clicking, perhaps) then drag the word using the mouse to the
appropriate cell in the 2nd column.

2) For a little more 'entertainment value' you could create different
AutoShapes for each word (format each one in a different color etc) & have
the kids drag the shapes into the right order. Just make sure the shapes
have some sort of Text Wrapping applied (as opposed to InLine with Text). It
will also be easier on the kids if you have them click the Select Objects
tool on the Drawing Toolbar before they start. Use of a table would still be
helpful, but optional.

There are probably other suggestions that will be offered as well.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Clive Huggan]

Would holding down the Command (apple) key before clicking on the mouse to
select be easier for them? Just a thought.

Clive Huggan
============

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi Anna:

Well, it's time they learned the difference between single-click,
double-click (whole word) and tripple-click (whole paragraph)

If they triple-click a paragraph in Normal or Page Layout views, then drag
and drop, they will move the entire paragraph without breaking the
formatting.

Or if they do it in Excel, you can drag rows there.

Or if you do it in a table, of they click to the left of the row to select
the whole row, then drag, the whole row will move.

Cheers

I realize that disabling the promote/demote feature in Outline View is
contradictory to the whole purpose of Outline View =^).. I am looking
for a way to easily drag a list of words into alphabetical order. I do
not want it to sort automatically since the whole exercise is for the
students to click and drag the words in order. The purpose of the
document is a first grade worksheet for alphabetizing.

My use of "cursor" is erroneous.. what I mean to say is that when the
student clicks on the "plus" or "minus" sign to the left of the bullet
and drags the mouse right instead of straight up or down, the word will
no longer be left-aligned but demoted.

If you have any suggestions I would appreciate it. If there is no
other way to click and drag words in Word then we'll just have to find
another application that'll do it. Thank you for your time!

Regards,
Anna

--

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

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[sheAnnagins]

Thank you Clive!
Holding the cmd key while clicking effectively disables the
promote/demote feature!
It works perfectly!
Thank you very VERY much! =^D

Anna

 

[sheAnnagins]

Thank you for your suggestions John,

I didn't know that triple-click will select the whole paragraph! Thank
you for that info =^)
When not in Outline View, double-clicking the word in a bulleted list
works well. I like this option and will work with it. You are right,
the students should learn the difference between single, double and
triple clicks.

I tried the table and Excel suggestion as well but those did not work
as well. Both these options are too cumbersome and Excel actually
replaces the data in the cell instead of moving it.

Thank you very much for your time! What a great forum this is. I will
definitely return in the future.

Regards,
Anna

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Excel provides the option to either "Move and Replace" or "Move and Insert",
depending on where you get hold of the cells when you drag.

How much do you want to teach your students?

Cheers

Thank you for your suggestions John,

I didn't know that triple-click will select the whole paragraph! Thank
you for that info =^)
When not in Outline View, double-clicking the word in a bulleted list
works well. I like this option and will work with it. You are right,
the students should learn the difference between single, double and
triple clicks.

I tried the table and Excel suggestion as well but those did not work
as well. Both these options are too cumbersome and Excel actually
replaces the data in the cell instead of moving it.

Thank you very much for your time! What a great forum this is. I will
definitely return in the future.

Regards,
Anna

--

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

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410