Word tips (was "Word XP Graphics Page Margins")
Generally, working harmoniously with Word for long documents means
keeping the file as simple and "pure" as possible.
Definitely.
Paragraphs and paragraph styles for everything. Character styles only
when they make absolute sense. No empty paragraphs to create spaces.
Good practice in *any* program.
No anchors of any sort.
Definitely.
NO TABS. EVER.
Gotta disagree. I know of no problem associated with the use of tabs.
No text boxes.
Yep.
No grouped "objects" to make diagrams
I've used them in short documents without any problem. I've never had a reason to try them in a long document, somehow.
Minimum use of page and section breaks. Minimum use of columns ...
I use section breaks to start chapters on odd-numbered pages, and I've never seen a problem associated with them, as long as you understand how headers and footers work. I also use section breaks to switch temporarily into two-column layout and back. Inserting an INDEX field automatically inserts two section breaks, too. I also use column breaks to balance columns in an index.
Use fields that pick up on heading styles and document properties info
to populate headers and footers
Play around with headers and footers until you understand how they work, and you'll wonder why you were ever confused. (See the Techwr-L archives for a good recent discussion of Word's headers and footers.)
This means NO section breaks are needed in the body of the document
between sections.
They are if you want headers and footers that differ on the first page of a chapter or chapters that *automatically* start on odd-numbered pages.
I even use fields in the document title page...
Yes, fields are your friends.
Oh, and keep your paragraph marks and breaks visible at all time. You
need to be able to SEE what is happening.
Show bookmarks and hidden text, too--bookmarks because it's so easy to accidentally delete them or change the text between them with realizing it; hidden text because it's the only way to see index entry fields, which are also easy to delete or move away from the corresponding text.
(Of course, you have to turn hidden text off before generating the final TOC and index.)
--David
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