Compared with Adobe FrameMaker, this is true. FrameMaker is very
stable, but can be awkward to use. You cant even scroll down the screen.
Ill admit it! I prefer Microsoft Word any day.
Bloated file sizes are a real problem. No-one will deny this. But, in the course of
creating some long documents in MS Word, I've learned a few small secrets.
And these small secrets are guaranteed to save you ALOT of time.
The first offender is Bullet Lists. If there is one thing that's guaranteed to destroy
Word, its bullet lists.
Here's what tends to happen.
When you click Bullet List from the Word toolbar, Word points this Bullet List to the Normal.dot file.
In other words, it uses the default settings in Normal.dot and applies these. Fine. No
problem!
But, if you then cut and paste a Bulleted List from another document into your working
file, it gets very confused.
What Normal.dot file do I now link to?
AND, if you then use a special bullet style, it has a nervous breakdownˇ
What happens? Suddenly, your machine starts to grind while Word struggles to resolve this
issue. And as it cant, it crashes!
Here's what to do instead1. In Word, create separate styles for each different bullet lists that you need, for
example Bullet Regular, Bullet Indent, Bullet Square and so on.
2. When you need to use a bullet list, select the correct style from the drop-down menu.
3. If you want to import a bullet list from another document, first select the Clear
Formatting option from the drop down menu (this removes all formatting) and then cut it
into the working document. Then apply the correct style.
Follow these three steps and you'll keep your Word docs happy and healthy.
In the next article, well look at another way to reduce large word files.
This is our first insider secret on taming Microsoft Word. What's been
your experience?
Want more tips? Try
IvanWalsh.com. |
I'm Ivan Walsh, the person behind this site. I help people improve how they write, publish and extend their business assets.