Quick MS Word question

[Safe-Keeper]

Okay, how do I get word to stop doing this?
(with "this" I of course mean the annoying symbols that now clutter up the screen)

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

Old or new user interface?

With the new interface, it's on the Home tab: the button with the paragraph symbol.

Check the help for "paragraph marks".

~~ Paul

 

[AdMan]

Click on the paragraph symbol in the Home tab toolbar, or Ctrl + * (Ctrl key and asterisk at the same time).

 

[Safe-Keeper]

See it now. Thanks a lot.

 

[SkepticScott]

BTW, they're not "annoying symbols". They show important information about what you're really doing. I always look at a document with those symbols enabled. If I see a document from someone that claims to know how to use Word, but I see white space at the end of lines, ending with lines paragraph marks to wrap text, multiple paragraph marks used to insert vertical white space, or white space used to indent the first line or to center a line, I know the author really means "knows how to use Notepad".

 

[Safe-Keeper]

BTW, they're not "annoying symbols".

When they appears for no apparent reason and clutter up the document when I don't want them, and I don't know how to turn them off, then yes, they annoy the hell out of me.

 

[AvalonXQ]

BTW, they're not "annoying symbols". They show important information about what you're really doing. I always look at a document with those symbols enabled. If I see a document from someone that claims to know how to use Word, but I see white space at the end of lines, ending with lines paragraph marks to wrap text, multiple paragraph marks used to insert vertical white space, or white space used to indent the first line or to center a line, I know the author really means "knows how to use Notepad".

I do that one. What should I be doing?

 

[SkepticScott]

You can set space before or after a paragraph. Format -> Paragraph . I had the advantage of starting with Word 1.0, when it came with a printed manual, and learned incrementally since then. Now Word doesn't have a manual; you have to buy a book.

 

[bobhope2112]

When they appears for no apparent reason and clutter up the document when I don't want, and I don't know how to turn them off, then yes, they annoy the hell out of me.

On your behalf, I have contacted the authorities in Norway to encourage them to strip your roadways of lane indicators so you might avoid being annoyed while you drive. Maybe someone else can tackle the vexing problem of ruled notepaper and pronunciation marks in your dictionaries.

 

[AvalonXQ]

You can set space before or after a paragraph. Format -> Paragraph .

Ah, okay -- you meant after every paragraph as opposed to just providing extra space after specific paragraphs.

 

[BowlOfRed]

Ah, okay -- you meant after every paragraph as opposed to just providing extra space after specific paragraphs.

I think someone might ask you what your reason is to have extra space after a specific paragraph. If it's for page breaks, there are other ways to do that. If it's for... well, I'm not sure why else you'd want it to look differently, but there are probably ways to address that specifically.

 

[AvalonXQ]

I think someone might ask you what your reason is to have extra space after a specific paragraph. If it's for page breaks, there are other ways to do that. If it's for... well, I'm not sure why else you'd want it to look differently, but there are probably ways to address that specifically.

The page needs to look like this:

1) first item:
second line,
third line,
fourth line, and
fifth line.

2) second item:
second line,
third line, and
fourth line.

3) third item:
...

I think that by far the easiest answer is to put in an extra paragraph mark for between each "item".

 

[SkepticScott]

I think that by far the easiest answer is to put in an extra paragraph mark for between each "item".

Until someone says "out standards require 1.5 lines there."

You could define a style for your numbered paragraphs and set them to it. Then you only have to alter one thing.

 

[Pulvinar]

How much effort you put into a Word doc depends on what you expect to do with it. No point in setting up proper paragraph styles for a grocery list.

 

[AvalonXQ]

Until someone says "out standards require 1.5 lines there."

You could define a style for your numbered paragraphs and set them to it. Then you only have to alter one thing.

Could you elaborate?
How exactly would you format the above example to where you can easily "change one thing" to move between 1 line and 1.5 lines, without actually using a blank line between them? Format the last line of each item differently from the other lines in the item?

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

BTW, they're not "annoying symbols". They show important information about what you're really doing. I always look at a document with those symbols enabled. If I see a document from someone that claims to know how to use Word, but I see white space at the end of lines, ending with lines paragraph marks to wrap text, multiple paragraph marks used to insert vertical white space, or white space used to indent the first line or to center a line, I know the author really means "knows how to use Notepad".

Amen, brother.

I do that one. What should I be doing?

Not using Word?

Two fundamental flaws in Word, originating from its days as a typewriter replacement:

• Horizontal space is inserted by typing spaces.
• Vertical space is inserted by typing returns.

There should be tags to do those things. But Word is supposed to be WYSIWYG, so tags are anathema. You can't win.

So I use TeX.

~~ Paul

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

How exactly would you format the above example to where you can easily "change one thing" to move between 1 line and 1.5 lines, without actually using a blank line between them? Format the last line of each item differently from the other lines in the item?

Is each line of an item a separate paragraph, or are they all lines of one paragraph? It must be the former. Why is that?

~~ Paul

 

[Paul C. Anagnostopoulos]

I have managed the production of probably around 50 books that were authored in Word (but produced with TeX).

Number of books that used a style sheet: 2.

~~ Paul

 

[AvalonXQ]

Is each line of an item a separate paragraph, or are they all lines of one paragraph? It must be the former. Why is that?

They're US patent claims. Each "line" can actually be several lines long, but you need to break and start the next element on the next line whenever you're done describing the element. You don't need space between the elements, but you want space between each claim and the next.

Just to make up examples...

1) A method for treating an ear infection, comprising:
measuring a temperature of a patient;
determining that the patient's temperature is greater than a predetermined threshold temperature; and
administering blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah based on the determination that blah blah blah.

2) The method of claim 1, further comprising:
further measuring a temperature of the patient;
wherein administering blah blah blah blah comprises blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah blah.

3) An apparatus for treating an ear infection, comprising:
...

The point is that there are a lot of situations where the formatting is important/nonnegotiable. In some / many cases, separating sections of paragraphs with an extra (blank) paragraph is a straightforward way to do it.

 

[BowlOfRed]

The page needs to look like this:



I think that by far the easiest answer is to put in an extra paragraph mark for between each "item".

Again, for a grocery list with 2 minutes of typing, not worth it. But for something larger where you want to maintain standards then there are other methods:

*) Use soft returns between each line and paragraphs between the numeric sets. Set a larger space for use after the paragraphs.

*) Use a different "style" for the numeric header line(paragraph) which forces extra space before it.


If you don't do this (in a larger work), then eventually someone adds some text earlier in the chapter, and the stuff you've typed moves down to the end of the page. Next thing you know, the next page starts with blank lines. If you take out the blank paragraphs you'd have to notice when it moves again to put them back....