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Mysteriously Moving Margins in Word

In Microsoft Word 2008 (and older versions), if you put your cursor in a paragraph and then move a tab or indent marker in the ruler, the change applies to just that paragraph. If your markers are closely spaced, you may have trouble grabbing the right one, and inadvertently work with tabs when you want to work with indents, or vice-versa. The solution is to hover your mouse over the marker until a yellow tooltip confirms which element you're about to drag.

I recently came to appreciate the importance of waiting for those tooltips: a document mysteriously reset its margins several times while I was under deadline pressure, causing a variety of problems. After several hours of puzzlement, I had my "doh!" moment: I had been dragging a margin marker when I thought I was dragging an indent marker.

When it comes to moving markers in the Word ruler, the moral of the story is always to hover, read, and only then drag.

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Published in TidBITS 348.
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07 Oct 1996 | Print Printer-Friendly Version of This Article

Aladdin Sponsoring TidBITS

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Aladdin Sponsoring TidBITS -- It is with great pleasure that I welcome our latest sponsor, long-time Macintosh developer Aladdin Systems. Aladdin ranks as one of the best-known small Macintosh developers, especially in the online world where their signature product, StuffIt, has become the compression format of choice. The reason for the ubiquity of the StuffIt format is simple - StuffIt started out as shareware and Aladdin has always maintained a full range of StuffIt products, some freeware (the essential StuffIt Expander), some shareware (DropStuff and StuffIt Lite), some commercial (StuffIt Deluxe, Aladdin Desktop Tools, CyberFinder), and some that span the gamut, such as the easy-to-use StuffIt InstallerMaker, which has a range of licensing options.

Aladdin has always been a strong supporter of the Macintosh online community. Many of their commercial programs are available for download and free trial, with lower prices for those who register online. In addition, various members of the Aladdin staff spend a good deal of time in a number of Internet and Macintosh mailing lists, and contribute their time, talents, and expertise to a variety of online projects and organizations.

Recently, Aladdin hired a new CEO, John Nesheim, who aims to help Aladdin manage its fast growth and expand its stable of products. We wish them the best of luck and are pleased that they're helping to support TidBITS. [ACE]

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