[Solved] Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

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MissingBlink399
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[Solved] Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by MissingBlink399 »

Hi,

I am having a bit of trouble trying to alter a bullet.

I selected the format bullet command (could not find an insert bullet command) and selected a bullet from the list. The problem is that the bullet and the text are indenting too much.

I noticed that after inserting a bullet, the ruler will show sliders that depict the position of the bullet and the text position and these can be moved, however I don't feel comfortable doing this by sight and hand because it is not precise and this is for a resume. Is there a way I can format the bullet and type in an exact measurement for the indent of the bullet and the text, I know this can be done for the page margins by selecting format/Page/Page.

Thanks. :)
Last edited by MissingBlink399 on Wed Jul 21, 2010 6:01 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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exegete77
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Re: Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by exegete77 »

Howdy. Probably the best route is to use Paragraph Styles, which can then be standardized throughout the document.
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Robert Tucker
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Re: Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by Robert Tucker »

Try the "Position" tab at Format>Bullets and Numbering.
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acknak
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Re: Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by acknak »

I would not recommend using the paragraph formatting to control bullet position. You may be able to get that to work, but the bullet position and the paragraph indents are both trying to control the left side of bulleted paragraphs, and sometimes they can't decide who should have the last word. You can get some very odd behavior when both are in effect.

It's more predictable if the bulleted paragraph have indents all at zero, and any indenting is controlled through Format > Bullets & Numbering, even better, through a list style. For a short document like a resume, a style is probably not worth the effort.

Here's what I would do:
1) Select one of the bulleted items; put the cursor at the beginning of the item.

First, we remove any existing bullet or paragraph indenting:

2) Click the "Bullets On/Off" button once or twice, until there is no bullet.
3) Format > Paragraph > Indents & Spacing > Indent: Before text: 0, First line: 0

Add & configure the bullet. Don't use the rulers, they change the paragraph format.

4) Click the "Bullets On/Off" button on the toolbar.
5) Format > Bullets & Numbering > Position > Aligned at: ___, Indent at: ___ (whatever you want).

Copy the formatting to the other list items:

6) Click on the "Format Paintbrush" in the toolbar
7) Click somewhere in any of the other paragraphs that need bullets.

Repeat steps 4/5 for the other items. When you click the paintbrush button, it picks up formatting from the current paragraph, then that formatting is applied to the paragraph you click on with the paintbrush. If you double-click the painbrush button, you can apply the formatting to more than one paragraph. Press "Escape" ("Esc") to turn it off when you're done.
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MissingBlink399
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Re: Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by MissingBlink399 »

acknak wrote:I would not recommend using the paragraph formatting to control bullet position. You may be able to get that to work, but the bullet position and the paragraph indents are both trying to control the left side of bulleted paragraphs, and sometimes they can't decide who should have the last word. You can get some very odd behavior when both are in effect.

It's more predictable if the bulleted paragraph have indents all at zero, and any indenting is controlled through Format > Bullets & Numbering, even better, through a list style. For a short document like a resume, a style is probably not worth the effort.

Here's what I would do:
1) Select one of the bulleted items; put the cursor at the beginning of the item.

First, we remove any existing bullet or paragraph indenting:

2) Click the "Bullets On/Off" button once or twice, until there is no bullet.
3) Format > Paragraph > Indents & Spacing > Indent: Before text: 0, First line: 0

Add & configure the bullet. Don't use the rulers, they change the paragraph format.

4) Click the "Bullets On/Off" button on the toolbar.
5) Format > Bullets & Numbering > Position > Aligned at: ___, Indent at: ___ (whatever you want).

Copy the formatting to the other list items:

6) Click on the "Format Paintbrush" in the toolbar
7) Click somewhere in any of the other paragraphs that need bullets.

Repeat steps 4/5 for the other items. When you click the paintbrush button, it picks up formatting from the current paragraph, then that formatting is applied to the paragraph you click on with the paintbrush. If you double-click the painbrush button, you can apply the formatting to more than one paragraph. Press "Escape" ("Esc") to turn it off when you're done.
Hi,

Thank you, so much, I couldn't figure it out. :mrgreen:

This is such a great board, every problem I had is always tended to with a solution promptly, you guys are the best! :bravo:
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Re: Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by WardXmodem »

acknak wrote: ...
6) Click on the "Format Paintbrush" in the toolbar
...
First, acknak, thanks for all your great work that goes into this forum! I was amused by your screen name, as I wrote the Xmodem file transfer protocol back in 1977, based upon the "ack", "nak", "soh", "eot", etc I saw on my ASCII reference card!

I couldn't find a "format paintbrush" in any toolbar, but I did find a paint-bucket icon called "Apply Style".
Is that what you meant? It doesn't work for me - when I click to make the button visible, instead of the paint bucket icon being added to the toolbar, it creates the [Default____[v]] dropdown! ...and THAT applies a style only if I DO a dropdown and click it. Grrrr.

Thanks for any ideas.
Ward Christensen, Inventor of Xmodem & BBSs
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RoryOF
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Re: [Solved] Is there a way to alter the indent of a bullet?

Post by RoryOF »

Format paintbrush is an icon of a brush and is visible on the Standard toolbar. You may have this toolbar turned off. Try /View /Toolbars, and ensure there is a check against "Standard".
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