Formatting text with styles: problem with default Word97 styles

[jk]

Hi,

I'm designing some new Word97 (SR2) (NT4 SP6) templates, and of course in
the middle of a dead-line-just-now-situation I have a little problem with
styles drop-down list in Formatting toolbox.

1) Is it somehow possible to remove or hide those default styles always
shown in drop-down list (Headings 1, 2,3; Normal;Default paragraph font)?

2) Actually I don't understand the logic behind the listing: if you open
menu Format->Style you'll get a dialog window showing styles in use, all
styles and user defined-styles. The listing of styles in use does not
include headings, so why they are shown in the formatting toolbox drop-down
list. Could someone explain this to me?

3) If it is not possible to remove those default styles from listings, then,
am I able to truly rename them, meaning: after renaming "Heading 1" to
"XYZ", the new name shown really is "XYZ" and not "Heading 1; XYZ"

4) If it is not possible to rename default style, am I somehow able to
re-order the listing so that the styles made by my self are listed first and
those default styles are somewhere at the end of listing i.e. out of the
prominent line of sight.

The reason why I am asking this, is that I'm passably able to understand the
basic idea of formatting styles BUT those who are going to actually use the
templates are even less familiar with styles than me. I just think,
renaming, re-ordering and hiding all unecessary styles would be good for
template end users.

Kiitos etukäteen kaikille!

- mr. Juha Korhonen -

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In Word 2002, you actually do have complete control over what styles are
displayed in the Styles dropdown. In Word 97, I'm afraid, what you get is
the "Styles in Use" (meaning every style that has ever been used in the
document/template, unless you have used Delete to remove it), plus, at
minimum, Normal, Default Paragraph Font, and Headings 1-3. To these will be
added any other headings that have been used, and these can't be "deleted."
And no, there's no way to change the order--not in Word 97.

My advice would be to use Headings 1-3 (with modified formatting) for your
first three heading levels. There are many reasons why this is better than
creating your own heading styles; see
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/UseBuiltInHeadingStyles.html. It
should not be too difficult for users to understand the concept of three
levels of headings, but adding the function of the heading (Chapter Title)
to the style name is a reasonable compromise.

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