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 USGS's 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 USGS eXtyles palette, the styles on the tabs, and what the styles should be used for.

In this section

Styling Tables

On this page

How to Use the eXtyles Style Palette

Note

SIM and TM documents have style palettes that are different from those for other USGS publication types. This is because SIM and TM documents have text elements that are either unique to them (e.g., SIM) or are structurally much simpler than other publication types (e.g., TM).

This means that a document Activated as an OFR will have access to the Chap Tab (see below), but a document Activated as a TM will not.

If you do not see the style tab you are looking for when you open the style palette, check to make sure that you have Activated the document as the correct publication type.

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

Title: covering title page paragraphs
Front: covering front matter content paragraphs
Body: covering paragraphs in the body of the document
Chap: covering items pertaining to chaptered documents (tab does not appear for documents Activated as either SIM or TM)
Obj: covering lists, boxes, tables, and figures
DMU: covering the Description of Map Units sections
Back: covering back matter content paragraphs
App: covering appendices and related content

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, USGS 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.

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.”

Warning

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

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.