Headings in MS Word 97?

[RalphTheCow]

I never used headings or styles, but I am trying to understand them because I want to use outlining and document maps.

My problem is that it seems like it is sometimes impossible to change between normal and headings. I select something and try format/style/heading, and it just won't take. And if I open a document that is all normal, then switch to ouline or document map, it seems treat some of the text as headings even though it all says it is normal. This is very frustrating. Can anyone help? Thank you.

 

[Sylph]

What exactly are you trying to accomplish? If you need to change your header between one section and the next - check the setting "Same as Previous". You will also need to use a CONTINOUS break to demarcate the page(s) with different headers. As for "normal" text being treated as a header, it sounds like you might have your views mixed up. Normally, you only see a ghost of your header (or footer) in normal view and the converse is true when you are viewing your headers/footers.

 

[Sylph]

My bad, you're working with Headings as in applying a pre-defined style. Formatting was more than a bit flawed in word 97. You'll find life is much easier with word 2k and even better w/ XP; however, the trouble you are having may be partially to blame on your option settings. Go to Tools/Options and look at the settings for view, edit, format, etc. I don't have a copy of word 97 around anymore so I can't give you the specific verbiage of the options, but I remember a setting that controlled automatic formatting.
If that doesn't solve your problem, you ought to look at how you are applying margins, indents & tabs to not only your headings but to the body of your text. That is one of the key identifiers the document map uses in displaying "headings" text and body text. Changing the font isn't enough.