Sidebar text in a box

[Savannah Liz]

I want to do something simple. I've used Word Help and get no results when I
follow the instructions. I just want to position a box with text in it as a
sidebar and have the regular text of the main document wrap around the box.
I've tried doing this with a text box and utterly failed (although I'm sure I
did it once with an earlier version of Word). I have Office XP for Teachers
and Students. I tried doing it with a table, clicking on what seemed to be
the logical things in the Table Properties dialogue box. To no avail. I know
there is nothing advanced about what I am trying to do, but I can't do it.
I've read various postings here, hoping for help, but all I realized was that
everybody knows so much more than I do that I can't even follow their
messages back and forth. Many thanks to anyone who can give me step-by-step
instructions for the simple-minded technoditz.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

A text box should work provided you have the appropriate wrapping applied,
but you might find a frame easier to work with (and you will be able to see
the contents in Normal view and reference them in a TOC or with
cross-references). You can insert a frame using the button on the Forms
toolbar, or you can restore Frame to the Insert menu.

 

[Savannah Liz]

Thank you so much for responding. Alas, I do not understand the answer. Here
are my points of confusion? 1) How does one apply appropriate wrapping around
the outside of a text box? What I see in the dialogue box with text box
options is wrapping inside the text box. 2) What is a frame? What is the
Forms toolbar? I tend to use keyboard shortcuts, a full screen, and no mouse
-- to the extent I can manage this within the constraints imposed by Word.
Thus, you are talking a language I don't understand. Why would I be
"restoring" Frame to the Insert menu? What happened to it? How would I
restore it?
Group #2 questions I can probably flounder around and figure out most of the
answers to. But #1 is really the question that led me to post a message. If I
already knew how to apply appropriate wrapping, I wouldn't have asked for
help to begin with. As I said, I do what I think Word Help is telling me to
do and I fail.
Again, many thanks for your help. It is comforting to have some place to turn.
Savannah Liz

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you double-click on the outside border of the text box, you will get the
Format Text Box dialog. On the Layout tab, you can choose the wrapping
style. The Advanced... button gets you to another dialog where you can set
the position of the text box more precisely.

A frame is something like a text box except that it isn't in the drawing
layer, which gives it distinct advantages over a text box. You don't have as
many wrapping options (basically, you can wrap text around it or not), but
you have pretty much the same positioning options. The Forms toolbar is the
one used to create online forms. You display it by right-clicking on any
toolbar and choosing it from the list (or use the View | Toolbars menu). The
only point of displaying the Forms toolbar (which you don't otherwise need)
is that it is an easy way for users of Word 97 and above to find an Insert
Frame command. This command used to be on the Insert menu until Word 97. If
you decide you like frames, you can use Tools | Customize to put it on the
Insert menu.

For more on frames, see “WD2000: General Information About Floating Objectsâ€
at http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=268713. You will *not* find anything
helpful about this kind of frame in Word's Help, which seems to understand
"frame" only in the context of a frames Web page (you'll also find a
misleading Frames menu on the Format menu; leave it strictly alone!).