Re: parallel columns
From: Robert M. Franz (RMF) (robert.franz_at_mvps.org)
Date: 02/18/04
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Date: Wed, 18 Feb 2004 23:55:49 +0100
Hi Chip
Chip Orange wrote:
> We're creating a template for many users to use and we're trying to recreate
> the parallel columns feature in WordPerfect (we're converting from wp to
> Word 2002).
>
> We have 2 columns, the left hand one will be empty most of the time, and the
> right hand one will contain free-form text which may span pages.
>
> We don't want to use tables because of the problems we've read about in
> controlling the breaking of a large row over multiple pages.
Tables only seem a good idea when the paragraphs in the right "column"
are relatively short. Note the term "columns" since it's not what Word
knows under that topic (and you definitely don't want to use that here!
:-)).
> We don't want to use styles with hanging indents because often, text will be
> pasted from other documents, and this text will have its own styles applied
> for formatting.
If you want consistent layout in your document, you will have to get rid
of almost any foreign style when you paste (esp. numbering). But I
wouldn't venture into paragraph properties alone here: If your left
margin might have a couple of Words which should break onto the next
line, you are lost with this setup.
> We've tried using the left advance, textboxes, and frames (all in
> conjunction with an extra large left margin to form our left-hand column),
> and run into problems in each case (either problems getting to the left
> column for editing, or, getting the text to be able to appear in the table
> of contents).
Usually, Frames are the way to go here. They ARE tricky to setup (and
IIRC it was easier in Word 97 than later on), but when you're there, you
can make them part of a style and off you go; applying them gets very,
very easy, and quickly. No problem with finding stuff in frames for
references in TOC, INDEX, etc. (though usually, I can hardly imagine why
I wanted to do that with a real margin, unless you want to put your
headings into the left "column"?).
Greetinx
.bob
..Word-MVP
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