Re: Wrestling with MS Templates and Styles

[Samuel -dot- Beard -at- tdcj -dot- state -dot- tx -dot- us]

Hey David,

You wrote:
That would be a shame.  It's really useful to base styles on each other, as
long as you plan ahead.

For example, instead of creating a style called Emphasis that's italicized
10-point Times Roman to use in a Normal paragraph that's roman 10-point
Times Roman, you create a style called Emphasis that's Normal+italics.
That way, when you decide to switch to Garamond, all you have to do is
redefine Normal.

Likewise, instead of defining every aspect of Heading 1, Heading 2, and so
on, you base each level on the level above it.  Again, a font change of
ripples through all the heading levels with a single change.

It's a good thing.

I reply:
   Yes, as with so many other things, it CAN be a good thing, as well as a
BAD thing. And, as with so many other things, it all depends. That's one of
the benefits of using styles is that it's easier to change things like a
font from one to another. However, that very capability can also make it a
liability, depending on, among other things, who is using it. Someone that
doesn't understand styles or know that a number of other styles can be
affected by changes made in a single style could REALLY mess with a
document. Which is one of the reasons I stated that I generally only base
them on either the Normal style or one I create in its place. There CAN be
exceptions, they just have to watched.

Sam

Samuel I. Beard, Jr.
Technical Writer, Human Resources
Texas Department of Criminal Justice


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