Basic Working Procedures > Text Formatting and Styles

Manual formatting in Help & Manual works exactly as it does in a modern word processor. You apply formatting to text manually with the tools in the Write tab of the Ribbon, where you can select formatting options for Font, Paragraph and Borders and Background.

Generally, however, you should use styles for formatting your text. Styles are more efficient, create uniform-looking documents and enable you to reformat your entire project quickly just by changing your style definitions. When you are working on a project in a team styles are essential for uniformly-formatted documents

Productivity Tip

You can assign keyboard shortcuts to most manual formatting tools. Select View > Program Options > Keyboard Shortcuts to access the settings.

There are two ways to apply formatting manually: Select a formatting option and start typing, or select text and then apply a formatting option.

Select a formatting option and start typing:

If you select a formatting option without selecting text first the formatting options you select will apply to all the text you type from that point onwards (unless you move the cursor again). If you press Enter to create a new paragraph after applying formatting like this the new paragraph will also have all the formatting attributes you have just applied.

Select text and then apply a formatting option:

If you select text in the editor and then select formatting options the options will be applied to the selected text and paragraphs. If you then place the cursor directly after the formatted text any new text you type in that position will also have the formatting.

To see what a formatting tool does just position the mouse over it for a second or two and a description will be displayed.

The Font and Paragraph tools:

The tools in the Font and Paragraph groups of the Write tab all apply formatting manually in the current position. If text is selected the options are applied to the selected text. If no text is selected the options apply from the cursor position onwards when you start typing.

For more detailed formatting settings you can display the Font, Paragraph and Borders and Background dialogs. To display them just click on the little arrow icons at the bottom right of the Font and Paragraph groups.

The Borders and Background tool:

This tool is included in the Paragraph group in the Write tab. You can display a full dialog of options by clicking on the little arrow next to the Border Tool.

Please note that the obsolete Winhelp format that lacks support for a number of modern formatting options. These include table borders, nested tables, text and paragraph borders, background colors, superscript and subscript. It is advisable not to use these features if you are still using Winhelp.

For details please see Classic Winhelp in the Help Formats chapter in the Reference section.