Questions about hierarchal features

[hmm]

I have general questions about oulines that I hope will allow me to use Word
2007 more efficiently.

1. Why does Word have both features "Document Map" and "Outline View"? They
seem to do the same thing: show hierarchal tree of the document.

2. Are both features based on exactly the same map/outline, or are there
some subtle differences?

3. I associate Outline levels with Heading styles. Is there more to outline
levels than that?

4. I have had times where I thought I was outlining, but I was really making
a multi-level list. What is the difference between these features? How does
one decide which to use? Are they ever both used together, or should they be
kept off the same document like the Hatfields and McCoys?

5. When I type in "document map" or "outline view" in Help, I get no exact
matches (I didn't check the pages of matches, but I assume a direct match
would come out near the top). Is there an overview of these feature anywhere
in the help section, and if so where is it?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I'll try to answer some of these questions:

1. The Document Map is intended primarily as a navigation feature, allowing
you to jump to some other point in your document easily. Think of it as
being comparable to the Bookmarks in a PDF document. Outline view is an
editing view that allows you to see the structure of your document
(including Body Text if desired) and manipulate it easily (see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/UsingOLView.htm)

2. The Document Map can be set to show a specific number of heading levels,
but it doesn't ever show Body Text. Although the levels in the Document Map
are described as Heading 1, Heading 2, etc., they're really just outline
levels, same as in Outline view. For example, the Title style is defined as
Level 1, and it will show up in the Document Map (and Outline view) at the
same level as Heading 1. You can assign outline views to any style, and you
can remove them from some styles (but you can't change the outline levels of
the built-in heading styles, I think).

3. See #2.

4. It is very easy to confuse outline levels and list levels. An
"outline-numbered list" can be made up of numbered (or bulleted) paragraphs
that have heading outline levels; some of the built-in outline list
numbering formats are built on Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. But it can equally
well be made up of styles that all have an outline level of Body Text.
Again, though, it is well to remember that Outline view is just a view that
shows you the organization of the document (whether styles are numbered or
not). If you want paragraphs that are actually in outline format, you have
to apply outline (multi-level) numbering and the appropriate indents.

5. Word 2003 does have some Help topics about the Document Map. Word 2007
Help is still rather sketchy and spotty, but we're told it can be updated
dynamically with service packs and patches, so there may be some hope for
it. By design, though, a lot of Office Help is located online. For some
non-Microsoft articles on the Document Map, see

How the Document Map works in Microsoft Word
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/documentmap/index.html

Outline Levels and the Document Map
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/DocumentMap.htm

 

[hmm]

Thanks, Suzanne, for giving such a comprehensive answer to my questions, and
for the additional references.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You're very welcome.