Re: Formatting a Newsletter Containing an Index
Thank you to Martin and Brian I have now sorted this out. I knew there were Hard Returns and Soft Returns but never consciously used them. I now have to understand which, when and where to use them as I add items to the Newsletter. I do not know how I have managed to format the Newsletter for the last several months without encountering the problem that started this week. For Martin - I use the Index part of the template I work from and update it when I change the items that are changed in the next week's Newsletter. For Brian - I made an error in using the words "Body Text" instead of "Text Body" for Writer. The term becomes "Body Text" in Thunderbird email. " the appearance of the relevant parts of the text changes or are you actually looking at the applied paragraph style name?" The appearance of the text actually changes along with the style name" Thank you both for your help sorting this out for me. Jean On Thu, Dec 10, 2020 at 12:13 AM Brian Barker wrote: > At 20:13 09/12/2020 +1000, you wrote: > >I have a template for a weekly newsletter with an index which I use. > >I open the template and below the index copy into it the body of the > >previous weeks newsletter as some of the items remain the same each > >week or have minor date changes etc. Also new items are added. The > >basic layout is > >Heading 1 > >Body Text > >Heading 1 > >Body Text > >Occasionally I use a Heading 2 > > I'm guessing that by "Body Text" you actually mean the built-in "Text > body" paragraph style? > > >When an item is copied to or written in the Newsletter it needs to > >be formatted as Heading and Body Text. The index is then Updated. > >The problem starting this week is that when a Heading is formatted > >as Heading the Body Text is also changes to Heading. When that body > >text is highlighted and changed back to Body Text the Heading also > >changes back to Body Text. I can change the Heading back to Heading > >and the Body Text also changed to Heading again. > > In taking about these changes, do you mean that the appearance of the > relevant parts of the text changes or are you actually looking at the > applied paragraph style name? > > >The procedure I have been given to use has worked well for months > >until this week. > > So the question is: what have you changed? There are various > possibilities, I think: > > o You have changed the details of one or other of the paragraph > styles involved to match the other - or at least have sufficient > changes to show the problem. > > o You have applied local formatting to some parts of your material to > mimic the appearance of the other style without actually changing the > style. > > o You do not have proper paragraph breaks (as created by pressing > "Enter") between your various elements. If you have line breaks > instead, or if the text flows from one line to the next without any > break, there cannot be a change in paragraph style. If you are not > careful about how you paste material, you may be deleting necessary > paragraph breaks. Have you (perhaps temporarily) toggled on the > display of "non-printing characters", so that you can see what is > happening? > > It's impossible to tell exactly what you are doing from your > description, and you may need to send a sample copy to someone for > diagnosis. > > I trust this helps. > > Brian Barker - privately > >
Re: Formatting a Newsletter Containing an Index
At 21:05 10/12/2020 +1000, Jean Lear wrote: I knew there were Hard Returns and Soft Returns but never consciously used them. I now have to understand which, when and where to use them as I add items to the Newsletter. The terms "hard return" and "soft return" are probably unhelpful. Indeed, Wikipedia explains a "soft return" as the line break that occurs as text flows naturally from line to line. These will move about in the text as fonts are changed (or substituted) or paper sizes or margins change (or the text is modified), so they do not exist within the word processor document and you cannot "use" them, as you claim. The useful distinction - and one that will help you understand your problem - is between line breaks and paragraph breaks (both of which are varieties of "hard return"). I do not know how I have managed to format the Newsletter for the last several months without encountering the problem that started this week. Luck, rather than judgement. "... the appearance of the relevant parts of the text changes or are you actually looking at the applied paragraph style name?" The appearance of the text actually changes along with the style name Er, yes - well, of course it does: that's the idea! But the question was whether you were detecting the apparent change of paragraph style by looking at the style name or *just* by observing the appearance of the text. In the former (and more probable) case, it must be that you had changed the paragraph style applied to some text, but in the latter you may instead have changed the properties of the existing paragraph style. Incidentally, there was one point that I forgot to mention. You said "When that body text is highlighted and changed back to Body Text ...", which suggests that you think the change is applied to the selected text. But no: "Text body" is a *paragraph* style (not a character style), so any such application is to the entire paragraph containing the current cursor position or to all paragraphs (possibly only partially) included in the selection. Don't select anything: just put the cursor somewhere in the required paragraph. Understanding that will help you see what is happening. Brian Barker - To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: users-h...@openoffice.apache.org
Re: Formatting a Newsletter Containing an Index
On 10/12/2020 18:33, Brian Barker wrote: At 21:05 10/12/2020 +1000, Jean Lear wrote: I knew there were Hard Returns and Soft Returns but never consciously used them. I now have to understand which, when and where to use them as I add items to the Newsletter. The terms "hard return" and "soft return" are probably unhelpful. Indeed, Wikipedia explains a "soft return" as the line break that occurs as text flows naturally from line to line. These will move about in the text as fonts are changed (or substituted) or paper sizes or margins change (or the text is modified), so they do not exist within the word processor document and you cannot "use" them, as you claim. The useful distinction - and one that will help you understand your problem - is between line breaks and paragraph breaks (both of which are varieties of "hard return"). The definition from PC Magazine What is the difference between a hard and soft return in Word? *Hard return*: Pressing the *Enter* key in *Word* ends a paragraph. It's officially known as typing a *hard return*. ... The *soft return*, or *line break*, is used primarily in titles and headings; when you have a long title and need to split it up *between* two lines, you press Shift+*Enter* to insert the *soft return*. I do not know how I have managed to format the Newsletter for the last several months without encountering the problem that started this week. Luck, rather than judgement. "... the appearance of the relevant parts of the text changes or are you actually looking at the applied paragraph style name?" The appearance of the text actually changes along with the style name Er, yes - well, of course it does: that's the idea! But the question was whether you were detecting the apparent change of paragraph style by looking at the style name or *just* by observing the appearance of the text. In the former (and more probable) case, it must be that you had changed the paragraph style applied to some text, but in the latter you may instead have changed the properties of the existing paragraph style. Incidentally, there was one point that I forgot to mention. You said "When that body text is highlighted and changed back to Body Text ...", which suggests that you think the change is applied to the selected text. But no: "Text body" is a *paragraph* style (not a character style), so any such application is to the entire paragraph containing the current cursor position or to all paragraphs (possibly only partially) included in the selection. Don't select anything: just put the cursor somewhere in the required paragraph. Understanding that will help you see what is happening. Brian Barker - To unsubscribe, e-mail: users-unsubscr...@openoffice.apache.org For additional commands, e-mail: users-h...@openoffice.apache.org
