Outline view: Grey underline for collapsed headings - make optiona

[michael]

Word 2003 (and 2007 from what I've seen).

In outline view, when you collapse a heading that contains sub-headings, a
grey squiggley line shows up. Some suggestions:

1) Make this optional. I find it distracting and it makes the text harder to
read.
2) At least make it so it underlines the complete text of the heading so it
looks less sloppy. That might also make it a little less distracting.
3) Make it so it doesn't overlap the bottom few pixels of the text. This
makes the text harder to read.

Cheers,
Michael

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[Beth Melton]

I agree, I'd like to be able to turn off the view of the grey underlines
from time-to-time for readability but they're actually quite handy when you
work with larger outlines and/or numbering associated with the outline
levels.

The reason the complete text of the heading isn't underlined is because they
provide a visual indication of the lower levels. For example if you collapse
your outline and are showing only Level 1 headings, as you know, a grey line
appears if there is text that follows the heading. BUT where the grey line
begins below the heading tells you if the following text is body text or if
it's another outline level. If the following text is body text then the grey
line will be indented slightly to the right of the heading, about 2 or 3
characters. If the following text is Level 2 then the gray line will be
indented about 5 characters, and so on. So if the grey line is indented too
much then it's a quick indication that you're missing a level in your
outline.

For larger outlines I start with Level 1, scan the grey lines and correct
any issues I see, then display Level 2, etc.

~Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

 

[michael]

Interesting...a method to the madness!
I can see how that would be useful. I still vote making it an option, or at
*least* making it so it doesn't interfere with readability!