Intermediate
Writing Long Documents
Using Microsoft Word
Introduction
This document details the main techniques that may be used within Word to format
and maintain control over long documents, such as essays and dissertations. The
techniques discussed are generally good practice and thus equally useful for short
documents, though there their use is not so crucial.
Beginners should first see the document Getting Started with Word 2003, no. 5.132.
This and other documents covering Word may be found on the ITS website, at
www.bbk.ac.uk/its/help/documentation/its_documentation/office_applications/word
1.
One large file vs master documents
2
2.
The basics
3
3.
Controlling text with format paragraph
4
4.
The Format Painter
6
5.
Headers and footers
7
6.
Footnotes
8
7.
Using sections
10
8.
Styles
14
9.
Table of contents
18
10.
Master documents
20
11.
Assembling a long document
22
12.
Useful shortcuts
23
About this Document
Words in bold
Will need to be typed or chosen from a menu
or window
Small capitals – e.g. ALT
Indicate keys that you press
•
Are guidelines on how to perform a task
Bulleted lists
Press KEY1 + KEY2
Press both keys together
Press KEY1, KEY2
Press each key consecutively
Choose Insert – Picture
Show menu commands – in this case, choose
the option Picture from the Insert menu
1. One large file vs master documents
Objectives To look at different ways of producing long documents with Word
1.1
Master vs Long
Word allows two distinct ways of collating information to make a long
document. You may either use one file which contains everything, or
write each section/chapter in a separate file, linking them using a master
document.
Word used to have problems with master documents but so long as you
are using Word 2003 or later these no longer apply, so it is
recommended that you use whichever method fits your style of working.
A suggested ‘hybrid’ method – writing chapters in different documents
then combining them into one long file – is at the end of this document.
Long file
One long document contains the whole of your thesis, book etc. It is
possible to write chapters in separate documents and collate them at the
end using the Insert – File command. To use that, use the mouse to
position the cursor where the file should go (at the end of the current
document if you are inserting file sequentially), choose the command and
browse to the file to be inserted.
Master document
To use a master document you should create a new file and then insert
the subdocuments. Those documents should still be edited
independently, opened either on their own or by following the link from
the master document; in effect, the master document links each one
together, rather than actually containing their contents.
2
2. The basics
Objectives A checklist of the basic essentials for long documents
2.1
Essentials
A few rules and techniques that you may know already;
•
•
•
Don’t press return at the end of every line – allow text to flow,
Word will automatically wrap it around at the end of the line
Use page breaks to jump to a new page (rather than pressing
return) – Insert – Break
Use Word’s page numbers to label pages where needed (Insert –
Page Numbers)
After working through this document you will also know how to use
•
•
•
•
Format paragraph to control/fix the appearance of text
Styles to format the document (and not to use too much
‘ordinary’ formatting)
Headings to format text and add a table of contents if necessary
Section breaks to split up chapters, allowing different headers,
page and or footnote numbering
3
3. Controlling text with format paragraph
Objectives To understand the formatting that is available from the command,
both to format a document and to fix errors that may occur
3.1
Format paragraph
The format paragraph dialog box is available from the Format menu, and
allows you to control the spacing and indentation of text, along with
some special commands to control ‘widow/orphaning’ of text.
•
•
•
Open the document article.doc from Departments:\CCS\. The
file is also available to download from
www.bbk.ac.uk/its/help/resources if you cannot find that drive
Click into the first paragraph of that document
Choose Format – Paragraph and click OK
Note the options available on the first tab
•
•
•
3.2
Use the drop-down below Line spacing, as shown below, to
change the spacing of the first paragraph to double
Click OK
Use Format – Paragraph again to return the line spacing to
single
Paragraph options
For widow/orphan options, see the Line and Page breaks tab at the top of
that box – note also the Keep with next and Keep lines together
options, which may cause paragraphs to drop off the end of a page if
inadvertently selected.
4
3.3
Troubleshooting with format paragraph
Format paragraph is almost more useful to fix a document’s formatting
than to arrange it.
Look again at article.doc, the document you have open. There is a gap
between the first and second paragraph that looks like an extra paragraph
has been added (i.e. an extra press of the RETURN key), but if you try and
delete the space, the paragraphs merge.
•
•
Click into the second paragraph
Choose Format – Paragraph
Note the number next to spacing – that
is telling Word to leave a 12 point gap before that paragraph.
•
•
Change the number to 0 – you may type a 0 or use the arrows
Click OK
You may find that sometimes parts of the Format Painter screen are
blank. That is usually because more than one paragraph is selected before
the command is chosen, as in the screenshot below, but may mean that
the formatting within the paragraph is confused.
In either case, to fix the problem you should enter something into those
boxes, even if they do not seem relevant to the glitch. E.g. a problem
with the spacing before a paragraph may be caused by the line spacing if
one paragraph is only one line long.
Conclusion
If a paragraph is formatted incorrectly, either ‘dip’ the format painter in a
good paragraph and ‘paint’ that formatting (see next exercise), or open
the Format Paragraph dialogue box and make sure there is an entry in all
the main boxes – for the example above, you would type a 0 next to
Before and make sure the Line spacing box had “single” in.
5
4. The Format Painter
Objectives To use the format painter to save multiple icon clicks and correct
formatting problems
4.1
Format painter
The format painter is one of Word’s lesser-used features but is
extremely useful. It allows you to take formatting from one section of a
document and apply it to any other, whether an individual word or whole
paragraph. That can save you clicking several icons, or allow you to fix a
rogue paragraph.
The third paragraph in article.doc also has some space before it. Again,
this has been set using the Format Paragraph command but this time to
fix it we will use the Format Painter.
The order in which you click on different areas in the instructions below
is crucial.
•
•
Click into the first or second paragraphs of the document (either
should have no space before them; you need not select the whole
paragraph)
Click on the Format Painter
•
Click into the third paragraph
Usage is slightly fiddly – essentially you click on the text that has the
formatting to copy, then click on the format painter and then on the text
to be updated.
The format painter works only once – to switch the format painter on
for multiple uses, double-click it. You may then click on as many pieces of
text as needed. The format painter will be de-selected when you click a
different icon or press the ESC key.
It can also be used to fix list-numbering issues.
6
5. Headers and footers
Objectives
5.1
To understand how to add and edit text in a header or footer
Accessing the header and footer
Page numbers are automatically entered into a footer if you use the
Insert – Page Numbers command.
•
•
•
Choose Insert – Page Numbers
Accept the defaults and click OK
Scroll to the bottom of a page to see the page number – although
it appears greyed out, it will print in the same colour as the rest
of the text
To enter other text in either header or footer, you must first move into
the header/footer area. You cannot do so by clicking unless there is text
in place. Instead;
•
•
•
Choose View – Header and Footer
Use the down arrow key to move to the footer
Add your name at the left-hand side of the footer
The icon on the header and footer toolbar also allows you to switch
between them;
Icons on the left allow you to add page numbers, the time, date and so
on. Click Close or double-click the body of the document to return to
editing the main document.
The Insert Autotext command carries a number of useful options. Most
commonly used are
Filename and path
Page X of Y
Name of document and where it is saved
Current page of total no. of pages
7
6. Footnotes
Objectives To insert and edit footnotes, and control their numbering using
section breaks
6.1
Adding footnotes
Footnotes are straightforward to add, and Word will automatically look
after the numbering to keep them in sequence.
A footnote is added wherever the cursor is waiting;
•
•
•
Click into the document at the end of a sentence
Choose Insert – Reference – Footnote
Accept the defaults and click Insert
The footnote is entered and the cursor moves to the bottom of the
screen to edit it.
•
Add the text Keegan, 1996, Distance Education to the footnote
Although usage can be a little fiddly, a double-click on either footnote
reference (the number in the text or that in the footnote itself) will
switch between the footnote and the main text.
•
•
•
Double-click on the footnote’s number
Move the cursor (with the mouse or the arrow keys) to earlier in
the document
Insert another footnote by choosing Insert – Reference –
Footnote and then Insert
Word will make this footnote no.1, and the later one no.2.
6.2
Troubleshooting
There is a known bug with some versions of Word which can cause
footnote numbering within the text to become out of sync with the
footnotes themselves. The fix is straightforward but note;
•
•
You should not tick this option unless a document develops the
problem mentioned above
You may find that even once you have ticked the option shown
below, the problem recurs – in that case, untick the box
To fix the error, choose Tools – Options and on the compatibility tab,
tick Lay out footnotes like Word 6.x/95/97
8
9
7. Using sections
Objectives Use a section break to divide the document up and allow different
notes, page numbering and page layouts
7.1
Mixing page formats
Word’s section breaks allow you to divide your document so as to mix
portrait and landscape pages, re-start page or footnote numbering in each
chapter or have a different header/footer.
•
Go to page 4 of the document (CTRL+PAGE DOWN takes you down
a page at a time)
The table on that page is spilling over the edge – we will make that page
landscape and those that follow revert to portait.
•
•
•
•
Click into the line above the table
Choose File – Page Setup
Change the orientation to
landscape, and use the drop-down
to change its application to This point
forward, as shown
Click OK
That will have made page 4 and every
following page landscape. We must now
change page 5 and onwards to portrait.
•
•
•
Click into the beginning of the first line following the table (“Higher
quality performance…”)
Choose File – Page Setup
Change the orientation to portrait, and again apply to This point
forward
The text that was previously on page 4 is moved to page 5; Word cannot
mix portrait and landscape layouts within one page, so has inserted a
section break: next page, which acts like a page break.
7.2
Non-printing characters
Note that you can see any characters that are not printed – paragraph
marks, spaces, tabs, page and section breaks – by toggling the Show/Hide
view. That view can look a little messy but is extremely useful in allowing
you to remove unwanted portions of a document. Paragraph marks,
section breaks and so on can all be removed using the delete key.
10
Show/hide off
Show/hide on
7.3
Manual section breaks
You may also insert section breaks manually, allowing you to mark the
beginning and end of a chapter and thus restart page and/or footnote
numbering in a new chapter, for instance.
•
Go to page 15 (CTRL+G brings up the Go to dialog, into which you
may type a page number and press RETURN to jump there)
We will mark a new section just before the heading “Synchronous and
asynchronous DE”
•
•
Click just before that heading
To add a break, choose Insert – Break
Next page and continuous
are the most common
types of section breaks
•
To keep things neat, we will start a new page – select Next
page, as above, and click OK
The section break is added, and the heading moved onto the next page. A
continuous section break is not useful in this context, but is used when
you want, for instance, to combine multiple and single column text on the
same page.
Even/Odd page section breaks are used to ensure a new section starts on
either an odd or even page – often in magazine publishing, for example, a
new article will start on the right-hand page for impact. With these
section breaks, Word will insert a blank page where necessary to make
the new section start in the right place.
11
7.4
Header and Footers
With a document divided into sections, you may differentiate the items
mentioned above.
•
With the cursor in the new section just created, choose View –
Header and Footer
The screen now shows more information than
before – the current section is displayed. Because
we have created two sections to incorporate the landscape page above,
this is section 4.
Headers and footers are automatically joined to one another; so despite
the presence of section breaks, changing a footer on one page changes it
for all pages. If you want to have a different footer or header in one
section (e.g. to put the chapter name at the top of the page) you must
first break the link.
•
With the cursor still in the header for section 4, click on the Link
to previous icon – this will be selected, so you are clicking to
break the link between this and previous sections
•
•
Type the text Synch and asynch DE into the header
Click Close
That text will only be visible in section 4, pages 16 onwards. The footer is
still linked to the previous sections, and so will not change.
The linked footers and headers can be confusing but it is strictly logical.
Breaking the link before making any changes is the best method, and
remember that if you have a section that sits in between two other
sections you will need to break the link both for that section and the one
that follows if you want a unique header or footer.
7.5
Page Numbers
Having page numbers that are different for each section is more
straightforward. Here the only issue is where to put the section breaks –
dissertations may need several pages at the front with no page numbers
(one section), then a few pages with roman numerals (section two) and
then chapters with their own sections (section three…).
12
•
•
•
•
•
•
Click into the newest
section, that beginning
Synchronous and asynchronous DE
Choose Insert – Page
Numbers
Click Format
Click next to Start at
Click OK
Click Close
Page numbers for this section will now begin again from no.1
7.6
Footnotes
Footnote numbering works in a similar way to page numbering.
•
Choose Insert – Reference – Footnote
The options here are fairly self-explanatory, but note that if you want to
have footnotes starting from one within each chapter;
1. Numbering should be Restart each section
2. To save repeating the process in each section, choose Whole
document
3. Be sure to click Apply (Insert will add a new footnote)
13
8. Styles
Objectives Use styles to format the whole document, allowing for easy editing
and changes to different portions
8.1
Styles explained
Styles are fantastically useful to any document and essential when creating
a long one.
The drop-down menu for styles is next to that for typeface;
A new document will typically have the styles listed above, though the list
will increase as you create a document – Word creates styles on the fly,
so emboldening text will see a “Normal + Bold” entry added. Consistent
use of styles will see relatively few of these on the fly styles added.
Usage is straightforward – select the text to be formatted and then
choose a style to use. Headings are hierarchical – Heading 1 is a top level
(e.g. Chapter) heading, Heading 2 a sub heading and so on.
Anything formatted as a heading can (and will) be included in a table of
contents (toc), so if you have text which is to be given prominence but
should not appear in a toc, such as the title of your paper, format it
without styles or create a new style especially for that item.
8.2
Using styles
• Select the text Synchronous and asynchronous DE on page 16 and
use the drop down menu to make it a Heading 1
• Return to the top of the document (CTRL+HOME is the shortcut)
• On page 2, make the text Instruction, Media and DE Comparison Studies
Heading 1
• On page 3, format the text Why Do Comparative DE Studies? as
Heading 2
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8.3
Modifying styles
All aspects of a style may be modified.
•
•
•
Choose Format – Styles and Formatting
The list is shown on the right-hand side of the screen. Move the
mouse over the style you want to change – a drop-down arrow
will appear
Click the arrow and choose Modify
The font, spacing, size and so on can be changed from this initial screen.
Other options are available from the Format button at the bottom left.
Note that the Add to template tick box preserves any changes you
make for future documents – if you do not tick that box, the new style
will only be available in the current document.
Therefore changing the Normal style and ticking the Add to template
box changes the default font used in all new documents.
•
•
•
•
•
Choose Format – Styles and Formatting
Scroll down the list on the right of the screen if necessary, to find
Heading 1
Move the mouse over Heading 1 and click on the drop-down
arrow
Click Modify
Change the typeface to Tahoma and size to 18
15
•
Click OK
Both the headings formatted as Heading 1 have now changed their
appearance. In this way you may easily isolate parts of your document
and change them without affecting the text in between. We will change
the font used for the body text.
•
•
•
•
•
•
On the right-hand side of the screen, move the mouse over the
Normal style
Click on the drop-down arrow and choose Modify
Change the typeface to Trebuchet and the size to 11
Click on Format at the bottom left of the dialog and click
Paragraph
Change the line spacing to double
Click OK
In fact, we could have changed the line spacing from the first screen, but
bear in mind the range of options available under that Format button.
8.4
Creating a new style
Should you want to add your own styles you should first format some
text as you the style to look, and then name the style – Word will save it
with the document.
•
•
•
•
•
On page 3, select the short paragraph that begins “In sum, DE
ought…”
Use the indent marks on the ruler or Format Paragraph
command to indent the text from both right and left by about a
centimetre (as you might a quotation)
Click into the style box – not the arrow, but the box itself
Type in the name quotation for the style
Press RETURN – this step is crucial to confirm and save your new
style
Note that the new style is only saved with the current document. This
will usually be exactly what is required, but should you want to save the
style for use with all future documents you should modify it and select
Add to template, as in 8.3, above.
8.5
Using shortcut keys with styles
For speed, you may find it useful to assign a shortcut to one or more of
the styles you use most often. The in-built headings already have a
shortcut key.
•
Select text and press CTRL+ALT+1 for Heading 1, CTRL+ALT+2 for
16
Heading 2 and so on
To assign a shortcut key to, say, the normal style (very useful where text
is copied/pasted and appears in a different typeface);
•
•
•
•
•
Choose Format – Styles and Formatting
Move the mouse over the Normal style and click on the dropdown menu that appears
Select Modify
Choose Format – Shortcut Key
Press the key or combination you want to use – Word will tell
you if that combination is already in use and you may then decide
whether to use it or not.
Many of the function keys are shortcuts but if you do not currently use
them, feel free to reassign them in this way to more useful functions. F2 is
recommended for the Normal style – note that F1 and F12 carry the
useful help and save as functions automatically and should not be
changed.
17
9. Table of contents
Objectives To add a table of contents, with Word automatically adding page
numbers and section/chapter titles
9.1
Table of contents
So long as your document uses the in-built styles provided by Word,
anything formatted in a heading style will be added to a table of contents.
Note that the table of contents is only updated on screen when
requested, or when the document is printed.
We will add a table of contents to the top of the document
•
•
•
•
Return to the top of the document (CTRL+HOME is the shortcut)
Click underneath the main title and press CTRL+ENTER to add a
page break
Choose Insert – Reference – Index and tables
Click on the Table of Contents tab
There are various options here but to add a table of contents you are
not obliged to change anything.
•
Click OK
The table of contents will be added to your document with page numbers
included. If you have page numbers that start at 1 for each section, Word
will pick that up, which may make the table of contents a little strange.
One of the benefits of a table of contents is that it allows you to jump to
different sections of your document.
•
Hold down the CTRL key and click on one of the headings
18
9.2
Updating the table of contents
The table of contents is only updated with new headings at your request
or when the document is printed. You may update it either by inserting a
new table of contents or using update field on the existing one.
•
•
•
•
•
•
Go to page 14 and find the heading “Coding initial coding”
Format it in Heading 2 style
Return to the top of the document – the table of contents has not
changed
Choose Insert – Reference – Index and tables
Make sure you are on the Table of contents tab and click OK
Word will ask if you want to replace the existing table of contents
– click OK
The original toc is replaced. That would be the case no matter where the
cursor was placed – even if the toc is not on screen, if it exists in the
document Word will find it and replace it.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Go to page 11
Find the heading “Method”
Format that heading in Heading 1 style
Return to the top of the document
Right-click on the toc
Choose Update field from the menu that appears
The two options are self explanatory. In this case we want more
than just the page numbers
updated, as there is a new
heading to add – click next to
Update entire table and click
OK
This method preserves any formatting you may have applied to the toc
(e.g. if you had removed the leader lines) but requires that you click on
the toc itself.
The appearance of the table of contents is determined by dedicated
styles; for more on modifying tables of contents, see document 5.133,
Academic Word Processing.
19
10. Master documents
Objectives
10.1
To create a master document, linking in sub-documents
Create a master document using Outline view
Master documents allow you to keep portions (e.g. chapters) of your
document as separate files, with those files then linked together by a
separate document. They are particularly useful where you have Word
documents that are very large files – typically those containing many
images.
Two general rules;
• Apply formats or choose settings for the entire document in the
master document, not in a subdocument
• Apply formats or choose settings for an individual subdocument in
that subdocument only
If you would like to practice master documents, a brief example is shown
below.
•
•
Create a new, blank document (CTRL+N)
Change to outline view by choosing View – Outline
This view allows you to add subdocuments. It may also be useful in
general for drafting the outline of a document.
•
•
•
•
Towards the right of the Outlining toolbar, click on the Insert
subdocument icon
Browse to Departments:\CCS\Chapter1.doc
Click the Insert subdocument icon again
Browse to Departments:\CCS\Chapter2.doc
Word has now inserted a link to both documents. Depending on how
Word is set up, it may be showing the contents of both.
•
Click on the icon to Collapse subdocuments – if Word asks
you to save the master document, click OK and call it mastertest.
Note the icons to the left of the file names;
20
Double-click to
open the
subdocument
Shows the file is
locked
This view allows you to see which documents form the whole, but not
edit them.
•
Click the same icon as before, to expand the subdocuments
The outline view is a little off-putting. The dots mark where Word has
inserted an extra page, to mark the gaps in between each document.
•
Choose View – Print Layout
You may now scroll down and see the document in full.
•
Choose Insert – Page Numbers to add numbers to the
bottom right of each page
The page numbers have been added to the master document, but do not
appear in the subdocuments themselves.
21
11. Assembling a long document
Objectives To recommend a working method that allows you to work on
different chapters independently, putting a long document together
when finished
11.1
Recommended method
Working practices vary from person to person, and you should not take
the recommendation below as an instruction – if you prefer a different
method, by all means use that. Key to any method is that you keep a
backup copy, updated with all files that are changed regularly.
Master documents can be fiddly, their main advantage being that you can
assemble chapters independently, without worrying about the main
document becoming an enormous file. However, it is just as simple to
produce chapters independently and then combine documents at or near
the end of the process.
Pros: One word file avoids confusion and means you have complete
control over section breaks, page numbering, footnotes and so
on. It is easier to read through the whole document without
having to expand and collapse subdocuments.
Cons: You must add your own section breaks.
Once the main document is assembled you will need to be careful
with editing – either make final edits in the chapters and then
reassemble the main document, make edits in both the main
document and individual chapters, or leave the chapters and edit
only the main document.
Method
A worked example is provided below, but in essence it is a case of
opening the first document (e.g. a title page), inserting a section break:
next page at the end, and then using insert – file to insert the next
document. Add page numbering and a table of contents to suit.
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Create a new document – this will be our title page
Move approximately halfway down the page by pressing return
and enter the title “Finished document”
Centre the text and make it size 36
Click after the text and choose Insert – Break
Choose Next page and click OK
Choose Insert – File
Browse to Departments:\CCS\Chapter1.doc
Move to the end of the document (CTRL+END)
Click after the text and choose Insert – Break
22
Choose Next page and click OK
Choose Insert – File
Browse to Departments:\CCS\Chapter2.doc
Save the file as Whole thesis.doc
•
•
•
•
12. Useful shortcuts
Objectives
12.1
Some useful shortcut key combinations
Shortcuts
F1
F12
F7
CTRL+S
Help
Save As
Spelling/grammar check
Save
CTRL+B
CTRL+I
Bold text
Italic text
CTRL+L
CTRL+E
CTRL+R
Left align text
Centre text
Right align text
CTRL+C
CTRL+X
CTRL+V
Copy
Cut
Paste
CTRL+[
CTRL+]
Reduce font size by 1
Increase font size by 1
CTRL+HOME
CTRL+END
CTRL+PAGE DOWN/UP
CTRL+ENTER
Jump to start of document
Jump to end of document
Move a whole page down/up
Insert page break
SHIFT+ALT+UP/DOWN ARROW
SHIFT+File menu
Move bullet point or table row up/down
Enable Close All & Save All commands
SHIFT+ARROW KEYS
CTRL+ LEFT/RIGHT ARROW KEYS
Select text
Move a word at a time
Right-click in the toolbar area
Gives list of toolbars – tick one to see it
Document 5.158
Version23
4 February 2009