Styles in Word 2003

J

Jeff

I have been using styles for a long time but I am baffled
by how they work in Word 2003. I used to define a style
then I could edit in the document and the edit would be a
one time application. If I wanted to change the style
based my editing I could reapply the style and chosse
whether to update the existing style with the new changes
or revert to the original definition.

Now every time time I apply any change, even to a few
characters within a paragraph, a whole new style is
automatically created specifying the change. So I end up
with "Body Text 2" then "Body Text 2 + Font: italic"
and "Body Text 2 + Indent 0.5"" etc.

It's driving me crazy! What can I do to either turn this
off or learn how to work with it??
 
J

Jeff

-----Original Message-----
I have been using styles for a long time but I am baffled
by how they work in Word 2003. I used to define a style
then I could edit in the document and the edit would be a
one time application. If I wanted to change the style
based my editing I could reapply the style and chosse
whether to update the existing style with the new changes
or revert to the original definition.

Now every time time I apply any change, even to a few
characters within a paragraph, a whole new style is
automatically created specifying the change. So I end up
with "Body Text 2" then "Body Text 2 + Font: italic"
and "Body Text 2 + Indent 0.5"" etc.

It's driving me crazy! What can I do to either turn this
off or learn how to work with it??
.
OOPS! I meant "Word 2002" that I'm having trouble with.
 
S

Shauna Kelly

Hi Jeff

Things like "Body Text 2 + Font: italic" aren't styles. They're a
description of the formatting you've used for some text (at some point
in the history of this document, you applied Body Text 2, and then made
some text italic).

See http://www.microsoft.com/office/previous/xp/columns/column14.asp
under the heading "What do the symbols like ¶ and a in the list of
styles mean?" for a picture that demonstrates this, and shows how to
distinguish a style from a description of formatting.

These descriptions won't show up if you un-tick the box at Tools >
Options > Edit > "Keep Track of Formatting".

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia
 
J

Jeff

Thanks, Shauna. I'll check out your article. It sounds
like just what I've been looking for.
 

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