Help creating sidebar

[Jeff]

In a book I am working on, I would like to create a few sidebars
containing timeline text. Similar (but not exactly) to the example at

http://www.orthohelp.com/sidebar.JPG

I can think of some ways to do this including using tables, textboxes,
etc. but would like to know what experts would consider the best way to
achieve this.

Some necessary criteria:
1) this will only be on the first page of only some chapters. So it will
be for only 4-5 pages of a 150 page text. (Use text box, section, etc.?)

2) The printout will be in grayscale but within the sidebar it would be
nice to have 2 different "color" texts for the timeline (ie 2 merged but
distinct timelines in one). Can this be done legibly and well enough in
grayscale? Using fonts? Using different shades of grayscale?

3) It would be 'nice' if text in this sidebar could be available for
indexing, captions, etc.

4) The "main" text on the right needs to flow to the next page and n ot
be limited bhy the sidebar. I think this rules out using a table.

I have Word 2007 though I prefer to work in Word 2002.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Jeff

 

[Jeff]

In a book I am working on, I would like to create a few sidebars
containing timeline text. Similar (but not exactly) to the example at

http://www.orthohelp.com/sidebar.JPG

I can think of some ways to do this including using tables, textboxes,
etc. but would like to know what experts would consider the best way to
achieve this.

Some necessary criteria:
1) this will only be on the first page of only some chapters. So it will
be for only 4-5 pages of a 150 page text. (Use text box, section, etc.?)

2) The printout will be in grayscale but within the sidebar it would be
nice to have 2 different "color" texts for the timeline (ie 2 merged but
distinct timelines in one). Can this be done legibly and well enough in
grayscale? Using fonts? Using different shades of grayscale?

3) It would be 'nice' if text in this sidebar could be available for
indexing, captions, etc.

4) The "main" text on the right needs to flow to the next page and n ot
be limited bhy the sidebar. I think this rules out using a table.

I have Word 2007 though I prefer to work in Word 2002.

Appreciate any suggestions.

Jeff

No need to repond. I succeeded in doing what I needed using a text box
on the left of the page and within the text box I put the text in 2
columns, one of the dates in bold and the rest in non bold on the right.

I separated the text of the 2 types of timelines by using gray highlight
on one type and none on the other.

Remaining Question:
There seems to be only one gray highlight available (in Word 2002) which
is marked as 25% gray. I would like a lighter gray highlight but that
does not seem to be an option. Is there a way to use a lighter gray
highlight?

Thanks.

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you are referring to text highlighting, available via the Formatting toolbar,
there is a limited set of colors available, yes.

But note that there is a larger selection of colors for *shading* (which can be
applied to text or to other objects) via Format | Borders and Shading; click the
Shading tab of the dialog box.

 

[Jeff]

If you are referring to text highlighting, available via the Formatting toolbar,
there is a limited set of colors available, yes.

But note that there is a larger selection of colors for *shading* (which can be
applied to text or to other objects) via Format | Borders and Shading; click the
Shading tab of the dialog box.

Aha! Thank you. I had never used shading. Will explore.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, if you want the text to be available for indexing, etc., in versions
before Word 2007, you need to use a frame rather than a text box; see
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/MarginalText.htm for tips.

Another advantage of a frame is that it can be part of a style definition,
so that applying the style inserts the frame.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Jeff]

FWIW, if you want the text to be available for indexing, etc., in versions
before Word 2007, you need to use a frame rather than a text box; see
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/MarginalText.htm for tips.

Another advantage of a frame is that it can be part of a style
definition, so that applying the style inserts the frame.

Thanks Suzanne.

I use frames a lot for images. I learned from you <g>. Very useful.

But, it seems to me that the use of frames may sometimes mess up the
location of pages in the index. That's happened to me in another long
(600 page) document with many sections, many revisions, etc. Index
update would give certain pages and on re-updating other (wrong) pages
in the index. Not sure if it was due to the many frames I used in that
document, the many images, or something else like the printer driver.
After numerous tries, the publisher finally got it resolved but it was a
real hassle. So I now try to keep my documents "simple" when possible.

Have you come across that problem?

Jeff
P.S. Sidebar is now looking quite good!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, of course, whenever you generate an index, you must be sure that the
XE fields (which are formatted as Hidden) are hidden.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Jeff]

Well, of course, whenever you generate an index, you must be sure that
the XE fields (which are formatted as Hidden) are hidden.

The XE fields were hidden. I suspected either the frames or the images
they contained would sometimes pull the images onto one page and other
times onto the next thus changing on which pages the surrounding text
would be found. Or else it was a problem with the printer driver that
created the pdf. Never quite found out.

If you have never seen it as a problem caused by frames anchored to one
page and then shifted to another page as a result of text being added
preceding it that would be reassuring to know.

Jeff

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, if a frame does move as a result of text reflow, then I would expect
the index to change to reflect that (if something in the frame is indexed).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Stefan Blom]

If the frame could be anchored to a first page header, it wouldn't move. But the
table of contents wouldn't work properly. Well, actually it does work (in Word
2007), but I don't think it would be backward compatible.

 

[Jeff]

If the frame could be anchored to a first page header, it wouldn't move. But the
table of contents wouldn't work properly. Well, actually it does work (in Word
2007), but I don't think it would be backward compatible.

I think that is somewhat like what happened.

Anyway, it was only in that one document and is past history.

 

[Stefan Blom]

OK, thank you for the follow-up.