positioning a sidebar in Word

[Jeff]

I am trying to create a sidebar in a Word 2002 document. To do so, I
created a text-box and inserted my text into it. However, no matter what I
select under format/text box/layout, the text box clings to the very top of
the page, even above the top margin of the surrounding text. If I drag the
text box down, it goes right back up again.

How do I get Word to position it as a sidebar on the right of the page, but
not necessarily starting at the top of the page? Is there a better way to
create a "sidebar"?

Thanks.

--

Jeff McPherson
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[Joseph]

If a manager had entered my cubicle and ordered me
to add a sidebar to a document--and given me twenty
minutes to complete the task--I wouldn't have
thought of using a text box in five years. (Smile.) I would
have created the sidebar using tables to lay out the page.
The rightmost column would have been my sidebar.
Then I could have gone back to playing Solitaire.

I must look into using textboxes. Never used them.

Good luck.

 

[Joseph]

If a manager had entered my cubicle and ordered me
to add a sidebar to a document--and allocated twenty
minutes to complete the task--I wouldn't have thought
of using a text box in five years. (Smile.) I would've
created the sidebar using tables to lay out the page.
The rightmost column would have been my sidebar.
Then I could have gone back to playing Solitaire.

Good luck.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I would not have used a table for this, but I wouldn't have used a text box,
either. I would have chosen a frame. Not that the frame would necessarily be
any better behaved than the text box.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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[DDM]

Jeff, since no one else has asked the question, I will: Under format/text
box/layout, did you click the Advanced button and specify an absolute
vertical position for your text box? When I told my text box to tuck itself
..5" below the margin it slipped right into place.

DDM
"DDM's Microsoft Office Tips and Tricks"
http://ddmara.tripod.com

 

[Joseph]

Sounds like a winner. Will explore text boxes and frames
further.

 

[Jeff]

New to Word, I knew no better. Text box seemed logical.

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Jeff McPherson
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[Jeff]

Aha!. The reason I used text box was because I looked in Word's insert menu
and the only thing I found there was text box. No frames. How does one
insert a frame?

Also, I looked frame in Word's help and most of the topics talked about "web
frames" making me think that frames were for web pages while I need this in
a document to be printed.

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Jeff McPherson
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[Jeff]

I did look at advanced but was reluctant to indicate a "fixed" position,
because the surrounding text might change. Now that I think of it, that
should not really matter for a sidebar.

What is the standard way to create a sidebar in Word? Is it Tables, Text box
or Frames? And, how does one create a Frame in a document?

Thanks.

--

Jeff McPherson
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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

When Microsoft introduced the text box, it was envisioned as a replacement
for the frame, so Frame was removed from the Insert menu. It didn't take
long to figure out that frames are still very necessary (for one thing, in
most versions Word cannot "see" text in text boxes, so they're not
accessible to TOCs, cross-references, etc.). A quick way to try out a frame
and see if it's for you is to use the Insert Frame button on the Forms
toolbar. If this is something you want to go on using, you can add the
command using Tools | Customize. In Word 97, the command is disguised as
"Horizontal" in the Insert category, though correctly listed as InsertFrame
in All Commands. Later versions have it right both places.

A further advantage of frames are that they're a sort of hybrid of plain
text and floating object, so that even though you can wrap text around them
(but not behind or in front of them, as you can do with text boxes), they're
still in the text layer, visible not only to Word (for TOCs,
cross-references, and the like) but also to you in Normal view (though not
in position). Perhaps the greatest advantage of frames, however, is that a
frame can be defined as part of a paragraph style, so that you can create a
Sidebar style that incorporates a frame, making inserting a frame as easy as
applying the style.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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[Jeff]

Again, Suzanne, thank you!

Frames seems to be exactly what I need to create a sidebar and place it
where I want it. I will need to experiment because I see that if I paste
text into the frame, the frame will enlarge to extend down to cover the
footnotes on that page but also not extend into the next page. But that can
be fixed with creative pasting. I have 2 questions:

1. Can I make the frame have a light gray shaded background (to distinguish
it from the rest)? Right clicking does not seem to provide for such an
option - or I could not find it.

2. Is the frame anchored to the text paragraph or the specific page? That
is, if I add text above that page, will the frame move down or stay on the
page I put it?

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

--

Jeff McPherson
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[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

By default frames are set to Auto height, which means they extend to fit the
text. Like other objects, however, they cannot exceed a single page. You can
set an Exact or At Least height instead of Auto if desired.

1. You can format the frame to have a shaded background using Format |
Borders and Shading (while you're there, you can remove the default border
if desired). This also can be part of the paragraph style.

2. A frame is always anchored to a text paragraph and must appear on the
same page as that paragraph (unless the anchor is moved to another
paragraph). The position of the frame, however, can be defined relative to
the page rather than the paragraph if desired.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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[Jeff]

Thank you very much.

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Jeff McPherson
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[EmileeSuzanne]

When creating "pleading paper" for the courts (with numbers and line
down the right side), we put the numbers (or your side bar) in a tex
box in the HEADER. R-click on the text box and under text wrap, choos
"in front of text" then place it where you want on the page. When yo
close the header, nothing will mess with it, and it will stay where yo
put it on the page

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This is useful only if you want the same text on every page.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Jeff]

Fascinating. Thanks.

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Jeff McPherson
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