{"id":4918,"date":"2015-04-27T04:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-04-27T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/americaneditor.wordpress.com\/?p=4918"},"modified":"2016-09-19T19:10:29","modified_gmt":"2016-09-20T01:10:29","slug":"lyonizing-word-shifting-styles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/editorium.com\/archive\/lyonizing-word-shifting-styles\/","title":{"rendered":"Lyonizing Word: Shifting Styles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Shifting Styles<\/h3>\n

by Jack Lyon<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In its undying efforts to be \u201chelpful,\u201d Microsoft Word can cause no end of problems. Among the worst of these are what I call \u201cshifting styles,\u201d which can change the formatting of your document without your consent and sometimes without your knowledge. Yow! I know of five ways this can happen. Here\u2019s how to identify and fix each one.<\/p>\n

Automatically Update Document Styles<\/h3>\n

The Problem<\/em><\/h4>\n

You go through your document, fine-tuning its style formatting to the peak of perfection. Then you carefully save your document for posterity. A week later, you reopen your document. What the\u2026? All of your styles have shifted back to their original formatting. You\u2019ll have to do all of that work over again! And how can you be sure it will stick?<\/p>\n

The Solution<\/em><\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Open the document.<\/li>\n
  2. Click the Developer tab. (If you don\u2019t have such a tab, click File > Options > Customize Ribbon. In the big window on the right, put a check in the box labeled \u201cDeveloper. Then click the OK button.)<\/li>\n
  3. Click the Document Template icon.<\/li>\n
  4. Remove that dadburned checkmark in the box labeled \u201cAutomatically update document styles.\u201d<\/li>\n
  5. Resave your document.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    The next time you open the document, your exquisite style formatting will remain intact.<\/p>\n

    So what\u2019s the point of the \u201cAutomatically update document styles\u201d feature? Well, let\u2019s say that your boss just loves to tinker with the look of your company\u2019s forms and stationery, mandating Helvetica one week and Comic Sans the next. If you turn on \u201cAutomatically update document styles\u201d for every company document you create, changing the formatting is a snap. Just open the template on which the documents are based, modify the styles, and resave the template. The next time you open one of those documents, its styles will automatically update to match those of the template.<\/p>\n

    It\u2019s a slick feature, as long as you know when \u2014 and when not \u2014 to use it.<\/p>\n

    Automatically Update Styles<\/h3>\n

    The Problem<\/em><\/h4>\n

    You\u2019ve just opened a new document from a client, and you italicize the first paragraph, which is a short quotation introducing the chapter. But suddenly all <\/em>of the chapter text is italicized. What in the world is going on?<\/p>\n

    You\u2019ve just bumped into Word\u2019s \u201cAutomatically update\u201d feature for styles. (This feature affects only the styles in the current document, making it different from the \u201cAutomatically update document styles\u201d feature discussed above.) If you don\u2019t know about the \u201cAutomatically update\u201d feature, you can spend hours trying to adjust formatting, only to have everything in sight messed up beyond belief.<\/p>\n

    The Solution<\/em><\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. Click the Home tab.<\/li>\n
    2. In the Styles section of the Ribbon, right-click the style (such as Heading 1) applied to your text. (If you can\u2019t see the style, click the little gray button under the Change Styles icon to open the Styles task pane.)<\/li>\n
    3. Click Modify.<\/li>\n
    4. Near the bottom right of the dialog, remove the checkmark from the box labeled \u201cAutomatically update.\u201d<\/li>\n
    5. Click the \u201cOK\u201d button.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Now when you modify some formatting in your document, you\u2019ll change only the local selection and not everything that\u2019s formatted in the same style. But really, you should avoid using directly applied formatting anyway. Using paragraph and character styles is much more efficient \u2014 the True Way<\/em> \u2014 and avoids a multitude of problems.<\/p>\n

      So what\u2019s the point of the \u201cAutomatically update\u201d feature? It allows you to modify styles without drilling down, down, down through multiple menus. Well hey, that\u2019s good! It means you can change formatting directly, see the result immediately, and have the styles updated automatically to reflect that formatting. Pretty neat!<\/p>\n

      So here\u2019s my recommendation:<\/p>\n