How can I change 'Normal' Style for Word e-mails to 'Normal (Web)'?

[CJSnet]

Hi, I'm using Word as my e-mail editor in Outlook 2003 and want to change
the default Style for e-mails from 'Normal' to 'Normal (Web)'.

The problem is that new e-mails and replies in HTML format use the 'Normal'
Microsoft Word 'Style', and this has no gap after paragraphs. The upshot of
this is that when sending an e-mail, I have to press return twice to create
a gap, but when the recipient views this, their software shows it as four
gaps (the extra carriage return I typed + their correctly viewed HTML
carriage return after each line).

E.g. I type this:

Dear Mr Gates

Why is it always so difficult?

Kind regards

And they see this:

Dear Mr Gates



Why is it always so difficult?



Kind regards

The simplest solution is if I change the style of the e-mail to 'Normal
(Web)' before typing each message, but this is obviously a lot of trouble
and we really need it to happen automatically.

Adjusting the Paragraph settings in Word itself has no impact on the default
settings for e-mails.

There is a New E-mail Message template in Word's New Document template list,
but I can't seem to edit this as it is an Outlook template. If I edit it in
Outlook, it doesn't offer the 'Normal (Web)' Style, and if I edit it in
Word, I can't save it back as the required Outlook template format!

I have also tried adjusting the Stationary to include the paragraph breaks
correctly, and this works fine for new HTML messages, but for replies it
doesn't use my Stationary, so the problem recurs. Help!
--
Thanks in advance!

CJSnet

(Remove TEETH to reply by e-mail.)

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

Have you tried using SHIFT+ENTER for the line breaks instead of just ENTER?

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In

 

[CJSnet]

I don't think you read my message properly! Shift+Enter would do the
opposite of what I need, plus it's not automatic.

My question was "How can I change 'Normal' Style for Word e-mails to 'Normal
(Web)'?"
--
Thanks in advance!

CJSnet

(Remove TEETH to reply by e-mail.)

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

I realize I didn't answer your bottom-line question, but you were concerned
that your line breaks were doubling on the recipient's end. If you are
adding a manual line break, the only way that it won't turn into two line
breaks on the other end is to use SHIFT+ENTER for the break rather than
ENTER.

Have you tried editing and saving the Normal.dot template in Word so that it
uses the styles you want? AFAIK, WordMail in Outlook 2002 or later uses
Normal.dot -- older versions of WordMail used a separate Word template
(Email.dot).

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In

 

[CJSnet]

Okay, thanks for clarifying Jocelyn, that's a great help I think we may
be getting somewhere too...

Editing Normal.dot itself didn't help, so I can confirm Wordmail doesn't
seem to use that file, BUT going into word and choosing to Modify the
'Normal' Style did... sort of. Now all new e-mails follow whatever style I
use for the Normal style, so I chose there a 12pt gap after paragraphs. So
you're sort of right - Wordmail e-mails actually use the Normal style, not
Normal.dot.

However, still when I reply to someone else's HTML e-mail, it doesn't use
the Normal style, I get a 0pt gap instead of a 12pt gap, and therefore when
I make the e-mail look correct on my screen, when they receive it, it has
twice as many gaps, as I illustrated previously.

So, my question has now changed to:
"How can I change 'Normal' Style for Wordmail *replies*?"
--
Thanks in advance!

CJSnet

(Remove TEETH to reply by e-mail.)

 

[Jocelyn Fiorello [MVP - Outlook]]

Unfortunately, I've reached the end of my "expertise" on this one ;-)
Hopefully someone else will pick up the thread. Good luck.

--
Jocelyn Fiorello
MVP - Outlook

*** Messages sent to my e-mail address will NOT be answered -- please
reply only to the newsgroup to preserve the message thread. ***


In

 

[Doug Robbins - Word MVP - DELETE UPPERCASE CHARACT]

I believe that the normal.dot template is being used. It is almost
certainly the normal style in the normal.dot template that you have
modified.

I think that you will find that in a reply, the formatting that is being
applied is based on that used by the originator. Reply to a message that
you send to yourself and see what happens.

--
Please post any further questions or followup to the newsgroups for the
benefit of others who may be interested. Unsolicited questions forwarded
directly to me will only be answered on a paid consulting basis.
Hope this helps
Doug Robbins - Word MVP

 

[CJSnet]

You are right, it is using the formatting used by the sender.

So we have a problem - an issue - with Wordmail. If the sender isn't using
Wordmail, when I reply to their message and press return, I get a 0pt space
after the paragraph. However when they view my reply, they see a 12pt
space, because they are using an HTML reader like normal Outlook or Outlook
Express, that correctly always expects 'Return' = '12pt space'.

The issue is, Wordmail doesn't display the correct space, so I press return
twice.

When it looks right on my screen, it looks wrong on theirs. When it looks
wrong on my screen, it looks right on theirs. Surely this isn't the way
Microsoft intended it?

Can this be fixed, worked-around, or submitted as an issue to the Wordmail
development team?
--
Thanks in advance!

CJSnet

(Remove TEETH to reply by e-mail.)


"Doug Robbins - Word MVP - DELETE UPPERCASE CHARACTERS FROM EMAIL ADDRESS"

 

[CJSnet]

Ok, I give up, I'm going back to normal e-mail and ditching Word. It's
useless if it can't format consistently.
--
Thanks in advance!

CJSnet

(Remove TEETH to reply by e-mail.)