Is there a way to mark a text, say a paragraph with a vertical sidebar for emphasizing a text - for editing purpose? (Highlight or italics would be used by the author of the document).
I couldn't find any way to do it - maybe I missed it - or if it doesn't exist, could it be added?
Peter
side-bar
In MS Word, you’d use a text box. However, Atlantis doesn’t yet support text boxes.
But you can still use a workaround in Atlantis, if you create a custom Format Template in your Format Palette with the following paragraph and tabulation format properties:
Please, have a look at the attached document to see if it suits your purpose.
Of course, you can adapt the font, paragraph, and tabulation properties of that Format Template to your liking.
When the Format Template is available in your Format Palette, you only have to select the target paragraph(s) in the document and apply the template with a double-click on the template name, or a press on the dedicated toolbar button at the bottom of the Format Palette.
HTH
Robert
But you can still use a workaround in Atlantis, if you create a custom Format Template in your Format Palette with the following paragraph and tabulation format properties:
Please, have a look at the attached document to see if it suits your purpose.
Of course, you can adapt the font, paragraph, and tabulation properties of that Format Template to your liking.
When the Format Template is available in your Format Palette, you only have to select the target paragraph(s) in the document and apply the template with a double-click on the template name, or a press on the dedicated toolbar button at the bottom of the Format Palette.
HTH
Robert
- Attachments
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- Vertical_Bar_for_Emphasis.docx
- (4.92 KiB) Downloaded 609 times
Creating a Sidebar
My thanks to Robert for pointing out the "bar" use with a Tab. I guess I have been looking right past the "bar" option for a lot of years.
Anyway, I want to point out one or two things.
The workaround with the Tab/bar is fine if you type documents as you would on a typewriter and hit the Return key as often as needed for putting space between paragraphs.
However, that method for spacing is crude and is definitely not the preferred way to create a professionally formatted document. For example, if you are writing a "how to" book, it is common to use Internet style for spacing between the body paragraphs. And even that amount of space can vary, depending on the paragraphs that you are dealing with.
The upshot of all this is that most serious writers of nonfiction use paragraph styles (at least I hope so). Usually the best approach is to create styles that place space ABOVE a paragraph. In some instances placing space BELOW is more advantageous, and sometimes space ABOVE and BELOW is helpful.
What happens with the Tab/bar workaround is that the line at the left of the paragraph extends too far upward or downward if you have a paragraph style that automatically puts space above or below the paragraph. The workaround sees the spacing as part of the paragraph, and the bar line goes there, too, even though there is no text (it is just space between paragraphs).
The same thing happens in Word 2010, too. I checked.
This is an unavoidable situation when you are spacing between paragraphs with styles and you are using the Tab/bar workaround. However, you can make the proper handling of the bar line easy if you use a few styles. See the attached file for further explanation in an example.
I hope all of this helps.
Anyway, I want to point out one or two things.
The workaround with the Tab/bar is fine if you type documents as you would on a typewriter and hit the Return key as often as needed for putting space between paragraphs.
However, that method for spacing is crude and is definitely not the preferred way to create a professionally formatted document. For example, if you are writing a "how to" book, it is common to use Internet style for spacing between the body paragraphs. And even that amount of space can vary, depending on the paragraphs that you are dealing with.
The upshot of all this is that most serious writers of nonfiction use paragraph styles (at least I hope so). Usually the best approach is to create styles that place space ABOVE a paragraph. In some instances placing space BELOW is more advantageous, and sometimes space ABOVE and BELOW is helpful.
What happens with the Tab/bar workaround is that the line at the left of the paragraph extends too far upward or downward if you have a paragraph style that automatically puts space above or below the paragraph. The workaround sees the spacing as part of the paragraph, and the bar line goes there, too, even though there is no text (it is just space between paragraphs).
The same thing happens in Word 2010, too. I checked.
This is an unavoidable situation when you are spacing between paragraphs with styles and you are using the Tab/bar workaround. However, you can make the proper handling of the bar line easy if you use a few styles. See the attached file for further explanation in an example.
I hope all of this helps.
- Attachments
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- Sidebar.docx
- (4.22 KiB) Downloaded 570 times
First, let’s remind ourselves that Atlantis does not yet support paragraph borders or text boxes, which might be used to create makeshift “sidebars”. So this is rather a moot point when it comes to Atlantis.with LibreOffice you can create a style that uses borders around a paragraph. You indent the left border of the paragraph in the style, add a little bit of padding, and then delete all the borders except the left one. The result is great. You can just click to apply the style when you need it. The line at the left does not extend upward to include the space above. Also, you do not have to create a special paragraph style for the preceding paragraph.
If you look at the first attached document (“Vertical_Bar_for_Emphasis.docx”), you should notice that vertical spacing between paragraphs was not achieved through the use of empty paragraphs. It relies on the Spacing Before and Spacing After properties of the Normal paragraphs.The workaround with the Tab/bar is fine if you type documents as you would on a typewriter and hit the Return key as often as needed for putting space between paragraphs. However, that method for spacing is crude and is definitely not the preferred way to create a professionally formatted document.
Again, if you read my post carefully, and look at the properties of the Format Template that I suggested using, you should notice that the paragraph properties associated with that Format Template include Spacing Before = 0 pt and Spacing After = 0 pt. This is to make sure that the vertical tab bar associated with that Format Template will not extend too far upward or downward. The spacing between paragraphs has to be taken care of through appropriate paragraph properties of the adjacent styles.What happens with the Tab/bar workaround is that the line at the left of the paragraph extends too far upward or downward if you have a paragraph style that automatically puts space above or below the paragraph. The workaround sees the spacing as part of the paragraph, and the bar line goes there, too, even though there is no text (it is just space between paragraphs).
There’s more than one way to skin a cat…
Robert
More on Sidebar
Robert ...
I had, of course, already looked carefully at the format commands in your example. And I went back and looked at them again just now.
The Normal style in your example has no format instructions for space above or below (those settings are blank).
It appears that you used a style override (right-click, select Paragraph) to add 12 points of space above and below to each paragraph that was not a "bar" paragraph.
I had already checked all of this, but I rechecked.
My comment about hitting the Return key to provide empty paragraphs was not directed at you. My point was that some people do this and that the problem with the bar line does not occur in that circumstance. You might (or might not) be amazed at how many people try to use computers like typewriters.
Anyway, I am honestly sorry that I brought the whole matter up. I waited awhile before I did so. I just did not want somebody out there, who was using styles, to get confused and frustrated.
As you said, more than one way to do something. And I really do like the Tab/bar method that you offered. I will probably use it by incorporating it into a style (as I did in my previously attached example).
Best ...
I had, of course, already looked carefully at the format commands in your example. And I went back and looked at them again just now.
The Normal style in your example has no format instructions for space above or below (those settings are blank).
It appears that you used a style override (right-click, select Paragraph) to add 12 points of space above and below to each paragraph that was not a "bar" paragraph.
I had already checked all of this, but I rechecked.
My comment about hitting the Return key to provide empty paragraphs was not directed at you. My point was that some people do this and that the problem with the bar line does not occur in that circumstance. You might (or might not) be amazed at how many people try to use computers like typewriters.
Anyway, I am honestly sorry that I brought the whole matter up. I waited awhile before I did so. I just did not want somebody out there, who was using styles, to get confused and frustrated.
As you said, more than one way to do something. And I really do like the Tab/bar method that you offered. I will probably use it by incorporating it into a style (as I did in my previously attached example).
Best ...
Actually, I did not use a style override, not manually anyway. To insert the Lorem Ipsum dummy text into “Vertical_Bar_for_Emphasis.docx” above, I copy/pasted part of attached “Lorem ipsum (3).docx” into it. If you look at the Normal style in “Lorem ipsum (3).docx”, you’ll notice that its paragraph properties include Spacing Before = 12 pt and Spacing After = 12 pt. Now, if you copy/paste part of “Lorem ipsum (3).docx” into a new Atlantis document (Ctrl+N), you’ll notice that the paragraphs of the pasted text include Spacing Before = 12 pt and Spacing After = 12 pt as a kind of automatically inherited property. I left this AS IS since it suited my purpose, and the OP’s own purpose.The Normal style in your example has no format instructions for space above or below (those settings are blank). It appears that you used a style override (right-click, select Paragraph) to add 12 points of space above and below to each paragraph that was not a "bar" paragraph.
People using styles are most likely to know what they are doing, and use styles appropriately.I just did not want somebody out there, who was using styles, to get confused and frustrated.
I am well aware that the universal recommendation among word processing experts is to use the Spacing Before/After paragraph properties to create vertical spacing between paragraphs. And to use them as part of dedicated styles.You might (or might not) be amazed at how many people try to use computers like typewriters.
But I am equally aware that most ordinary end-users do not follow these recommendations. They just cannot be bothered.
I personally do not expect them to make the effort. This has been beyond my wildest dreams and expectations for a very long time…
Robert
- Attachments
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- Lorem ipsum (3).docx
- (7.98 KiB) Downloaded 592 times