heading styles

[feagin]

I am using Word 2002, and I am having major problems
moving from the normal view where I have just three styles
operating in a manuscript, normal and heading 1 and
heading 2. When I switch to "print layout view" or try to
print it somehow the styles for the headings force crazy
thigs in the manuscript, such as overlappning type, mixes
of heading and type in some paragraphs, and huge spaces in
the printed version. Sometimes the heading will not allow
themselves to be moved to a previous page. They block all
attempts to move them up.

I have set the styles for the headings with nothing
checked and just the minimal heading styles.

This is six hours wasted so far. If you cannot help, do
you know where I can find help for things like this. I am
willing to pay.... Thanks.

 

[Mark Tangard]

Feagin,

This sounds like it may involve the 'char char' syndrome,
in which Word 2002 mangles ordinary paragraph styles if
they've been applied with *part* of a paragraph selected.
This never mattered in prior versions, but in 2002, you
need to apply paragraph styles with the cursor just *in*
a paragraph and not with any of it highlighted.

One assist in beating down that effect is to uncheck the
option "Keep Track of Formatting." I'm not sure where
it is (it's new in 2002 and I'm using 2000), but look
under Tools­> AutoCorrect­> AutoFormat As You Type, and
also under Tools­> Options­> Edit.

But it also sounds like something else may be going on.
For starters, almost nobody needs Normal View anymore,
unless you have copious graphics that burden the program
while scrolling (and even then, there's easier escapes in
many cases). Especially if this is indeed a manuscript
(= plain text and minimal formatting), I'd say stay in
Print Layout View where you'll be able to spot these
things before they get out of hand.

Is there a chance the file is corrupted? Have you ever
saved it directly to, or opened it directly from, a
floppy disk? Are you using the cursed Versions feature?
Does the file has a lot of section breaks? Has it been
emailed frequently or carelessly and opened directly from
the email program? Does the behavior subside if you
select the whole file minus its final paragraph mark
(CTRL+A, then SHIFT+LEFT ARROW), copy it, then paste
into a new fresh empty document?

If this doesn't lead you somewhere, email me the file
(or part of it if it's enormous), and I'll have a look.
Unmunge my address first.

Incidentally, you don't *ever* need to offer to pay to
get ground-level troubleshooting help here. Only a few
rare and, in my view, shameless posters -- and none of
the MVPs -- actively solicit on the newsgroups for paid
work.

 

[feagin]

Hi, Mark, thanks for the ideas. I will try them. I think
one problem is that I have been working mainly in outline
view, then I go to print layout view and print (I just use
normal to try to figure out what is going on), that is
when the overlapping headings and type happens. (and
somestime a half page blank)

I have, I think, narrowed the problem down to Heading 1
style. Somehow the heading 1 style takes priority over the
normal style, and will not allow heading 1 headings (the
type) to be anywhere but at the top of a page . So as you
adjust the regular paragraphs up and down over several
pages that heading stays in place and does not move in the
print layout view?? I don't have anything set in the
heading 1 style to do that (like line or page breaks
before headings), so this is very puzzling. Any ideas?

Also, the 'select all' button on the styles and formatting
pane is shaded out. Any idea why? Many thanks. Joe

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

All of Word's built-in heading styles are by default formatted as "Keep with
next." This assumes that they will be followed by Normal or Body Text
styles. But if you have a long series of headings (as in an outline
constructed purely of heading styles), then Word will get confused.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

Hi, Mark, thanks for the ideas. I will try them. I think
one problem is that I have been working mainly in outline
view, then I go to print layout view and print (I just use
normal to try to figure out what is going on), that is
when the overlapping headings and type happens. (and
somestime a half page blank)

I have, I think, narrowed the problem down to Heading 1
style. Somehow the heading 1 style takes priority over the
normal style, and will not allow heading 1 headings (the
type) to be anywhere but at the top of a page . So as you
adjust the regular paragraphs up and down over several
pages that heading stays in place and does not move in the
print layout view?? I don't have anything set in the
heading 1 style to do that (like line or page breaks
before headings), so this is very puzzling. Any ideas?

Also, the 'select all' button on the styles and formatting
pane is shaded out. Any idea why? Many thanks. Joe

 

[feagin]

Actually, the many headings in my long manuscript, at two
heading style levels , have much text, mostly after the
level two headings. And the text is in the normal style.
The headings styles are set for normal text to follow too.

Apparently Word does not allow creation of heading 1
styles in outline, with heading 2 and text afterwards, and
then switching to print layout mode? The headings that are
heading 1 behave the in the strange ways described in my
earlier post....

thanks, Joe

 

[Mark Tangard]

And you're sure the Normal style hasn't been messed with
somehow, to endow it with Keep With Next. As Suzanne says,
that's a common cause of jumpy headings; the text basically
ends up chasing its tail. (Still, I've never seen it do
what you describe, and I work with long documents all day,
many assembled by total novices.) Outline view is usually
pretty stable -- in contrast to Document Map, which isn't.
(You're not using one thinking it's the other, eh?)

Please do send me a piece of it and I can probably figure
out what's happening.