Switching between styles

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Josh W - 16 Apr 2008 07:05 GMT

I have a long list of different styles. Each time I choose a style I have to
scroll through the whole list. Is there any quick way that I can choose a few
styles which I use most often and save them in a separate list or create a
shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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DeanH - 16 Apr 2008 08:31 GMT

If you click on "Styles and Formatting" under Format, the Task Pane will show
the recently used Styles at the top of the listing (may not initally when you
open the document but will once you start working).
This Task Pane can be dragged to somewhere useful, and does not need to be
in the "Toolbar area").
Also at the bottom of this Task Pane, the little drop-down gives the option
called Custom. This allows you to customise the look of the Style box in the
Formatting Toolbar simply by checking or unchecking the appropriate styles in
the listing.
Hope this helps.
Come back if you need more info.
DeanH

> I have a long list of different styles. Each time I choose a style I have to
> scroll through the whole list. Is there any quick way that I can choose a few
> styles which I use most often and save them in a separate list or create a
> shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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Josh W - 16 Apr 2008 08:57 GMT

Thanks Dean for the clear instructions. It is all clear now.

> If you click on "Styles and Formatting" under Format, the Task Pane will show
> the recently used Styles at the top of the listing (may not initally when you
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> > styles which I use most often and save them in a separate list or create a
> > shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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DeanH - 16 Apr 2008 09:22 GMT

You are most welcome.
DeanH

> Thanks Dean for the clear instructions. It is all clear now.
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> > > styles which I use most often and save them in a separate list or create a
> > > shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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Suzanne S. Barnhill - 16 Apr 2008 13:59 GMT

The problem with the task pane is that the style currently in use is not
highlighted, which I find disorienting. If you find that, even after
controlling style visibility, you're not satisfied with the task pane, you
can create a custom toolbar with buttons for just the styles you're using
frequently. Or you can assign keyboard shortcuts for them. Both these
operations are done in the Tools | Customize dialog.

Signature

Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

> Thanks Dean for the clear instructions. It is all clear now.
>
[quoted text clipped - 24 lines]
>> > create a
>> > shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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Josh W - 16 Apr 2008 18:46 GMT

But, Suzanne, in the top white window of the task pane the current style
shows? Also, in the style box the current style is highlighted by a blue
border (although you do have to scroll down to find it).

> The problem with the task pane is that the style currently in use is not
> highlighted, which I find disorienting. If you find that, even after
[quoted text clipped - 31 lines]
> >> > create a
> >> > shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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Suzanne S. Barnhill - 16 Apr 2008 22:42 GMT

Yes, you're right: the style *is* highlighted, but the task pane doesn't
scroll to the position of the style (as the Styles dropdown does).

Signature

Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

> But, Suzanne, in the top white window of the task pane the current style
> shows? Also, in the style box the current style is highlighted by a blue
[quoted text clipped - 41 lines]
>> >> > create a
>> >> > shortcut for quick reference? Windows XP Office 2003. Thanks.

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Klaus Linke - 17 Apr 2008 23:00 GMT

> Yes, you're right: the style *is* highlighted, but the task pane doesn't
> scroll to the position of the style (as the Styles dropdown does).

Well, it didn't need to in Word 2003 since it had the extra field at the
top?

It was high on my wish list for 2007, after the field was removed.
But allegedly it "irritated" users in early Betas when the list kept
scrolling up and down as they moved through the document, so allegedly they
removed the scrolling due to customer feedback...
Sonds kind of lame, considering the lack of scrolling now defeats most of
the purpose of the styles pane.

It seems pretty unusable, if you haven't added the old styles dropdown to
your QAT.

I've added a macro for toggling format scanning too:

Options.FormatScanning = Not Options.FormatScanning

... and use that dozens or hundreds of times daily to work either with the
styles only, or see manual formatting.

Regards,
Klaus

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