A book I recently edited had lots of lists--with no terminal punctuation. The lists looked something like this:<\/p>\n
1. Text of the first item<\/p>\n
2. Text of the second item<\/p>\n
3. Text of the third item<\/p>\n
As I worked, I found myself jumping to the end of each line and typing in a period, like this:<\/p>\n
1. Text of the first item.<\/p>\n
2. Text of the second item<\/p>\n
3. Text of the third item<\/p>\n
Then this:<\/p>\n
1. Text of the first item.<\/p>\n
2. Text of the second item.<\/p>\n
3. Text of the third item<\/p>\n
And finally this:<\/p>\n
1. Text of the first item.<\/p>\n
2. Text of the second item.<\/p>\n
3. Text of the third item.<\/p>\n
After two or three lists, I realized how silly this was. The solution is elementary, but I suspect that many readers haven't thought of it. Here it is:<\/p>\n
1. Select all the items in your list, including the paragraph mark on the final item.<\/p>\n
2. Click Edit > Replace.<\/p>\n
3. In the Find What box, enter this (the code for a paragraph mark):<\/p>\n
^p<\/p>\n
4. In the Replace With box enter this (a period followed by the code for a paragraph mark):<\/p>\n
.^p<\/p>\n
5. Click Replace All.<\/p>\n
6. If Word asks if you want to search the rest of your document, click No; all you want to search is the list you selected.<\/p>\n
That should do the trick.<\/p>\n
And, of course, if you want to *remove* periods rather than add them, follow the same procedure but swap the contents of the Find What and Replace with boxes.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
_________________________________________<\/p>\n
READERS WRITE<\/p>\n
Rob Dilworth wrote:<\/p>\n
After Adobe Acrobat Professional 7 was installed on a colleague's PC, he noticed that he could no longer customize his toolbars in Word. Specifically, if he removed a button from a toolbar or tried to add a template that added a button\/pull-down menu to his menu bar, the customizations only lasted as long as his session in Word. Once he started Word again, the customizations were gone.<\/p>\n
For the record, here are the workarounds for the problem that Acrobat creates in customizing toolbars in Word:<\/p>\n
* If the Acrobat add-ins (Adobe PDF and Acrobat Comments) are in Word, the user can save customizations to Word's toolbars by holding Shift on the keyboard; then, in the menu, by pressing File > Save All.<\/p>\n
* The add-ins can be removed from Word by going into the Windows Registry. If the add-ins are removed, then Word works without any problems. Here's how to remove the add-ins:<\/p>\n
Run: regedit. Then go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SOFTWARE > Microsoft > Office > Word > Addins. Then click LoadBehavior and set the value at 0. Once the value is set at 0, the add-ins won't load in Word.<\/p>\n
Thanks, Rob!<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
_________________________________________<\/p>\n
RESOURCES<\/p>\n
Have you checked out the reviewing features in Adobe Acrobat 7 Professional? If not, you really should. You can try the program free for thirty days. I'll be writing an article on these features in the near future:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.adobe.com\/products\/acrobatpro\/main.html<\/p>\n
Before installing, be sure to see the Readers Write column above.<\/p>\n
Michael Coleman wrote:<\/p>\n
I have a minor problem that I thought you might find interesting. Whenever I hold down shift and control at the same time, then let them go, it acts as a keyboard shortcut for formatting the paragraph I'm in as right-to-left. This is described in the Help file:<\/p>\n
--------<\/p>\n
Keyboard shortcuts for right-to-left formatting<\/p>\n
The feature described in this Help topic is only available if support for a right-to-left language, such as Arabic, is enabled through Microsoft Office Language Settings. In addition, you must be running a Microsoft Windows operating system that has right-to-left support--for example, Microsoft Windows 2000.<\/p>\n
CTRL+RIGHT SHIFT: Activate right-to-left paragraph direction<\/p>\n
CTRL+LEFT SHIFT: Activate left-to-right paragraph direction<\/p>\n
--------<\/p>\n
It's actually kind of neat, and I'm sure I'll find a use for it at some point. But I find that I use that key combination often--starting to use the arrows to highlight text and then changing my mind. I'd like to get rid of the shortcut or assign it to a more reasonable key combination. When I check the keyboard shortcuts, it's not listed.<\/p>\n