Style Paragraphs

Instead of applying a paragraph style to each paragraph via Word’s menus or style list, you can use the eXtyles Style Paragraphs function to easily apply the styles from your eXtyles template.

The efficient style palette used in eXtyles lets you quickly and easily apply the correct styles to each individual paragraph. Each of the WisBar paragraph styles is mapped to the eXtyles style palette, where it appears as a button. You can also quickly traverse the document and confirm or change the style of each paragraph using the convenient “Undo,” “Next,” and “Previous” buttons.

The following sections describe the organization of the WisBar eXtyles palette, the styles on the tabs, and what the styles should be used for.

How to Use the eXtyles Style Palette

1. Select Style Paragraphs from the eXtyles menu. Styles in the eXtyles style palette are divided into different groups, or Tabs. The WisBar style palette tabs are:

  • Front: covering paragraphs in the front matter of the document
  • Body: covering items pertaining to content that will appear primarily in the body of a document
  • Lists: covering list types
  • Special: covering case and statute content as well as special paragraphs

2. When the Paragraph Styles dialog appears, select the desired tab and begin traversing the document, clicking the desired button to apply a style to the selected paragraph, or by using the navigation buttons at the bottom of the palette (see the section, WisBar Styles for more information about the navigation buttons).

The selected paragraph is highlighted in its entirety. After you click a style button to apply a style to paragraph, the highlight advances automatically to the next paragraph.

Warning

The "Undo" history is cleared when you click into the Word document or close the palette.

You can also press the designated hot key—indicated by an underscored letter or number in the button’s label—rather than clicking with the mouse. For example, you can press the “x” key on the keyboard instead of clicking “Next.”

Note

Users of Word 2013 and 2016 may notice that the underscored hot key does not appear when the eXtyles style palette is opened. This is the result of an unfortunate default Windows accessibility setting that suppresses access-key visibility. To configure Windows to enable the underlining of the hot keys on the eXtyles style palette, follow the steps outlined here.

Styling Options

You can also use the Word Paragraph Style menu as usual if you are applying a paragraph style to just a few paragraphs. If you use this method, please keep these points in mind:

  • The name on the eXtyles Paragraph Style palette is not necessarily the same as the name of the actual Word style. Be sure to use the correct Word paragraph style.
  • Word has a bug (Microsoft calls it a “feature”) in which italic or bold markup or Symbol font changes in the middle of a paragraph may be lost when styles are applied from the Word Paragraph Style menu or ribbon. This problem is especially nasty in genetics papers, in which a gene may inadvertently be turned into a protein as a result. If you use this method of styling, be sure to proof the paragraph carefully.
On This Page