Setting Body Text Style to show and be useful - a simple macro

Question

Word, for some time has deprecated the Body Text Style.

It is given the preference of last and is hidden until used. It is not in the [Quick] Styles Gallery.

This makes it very difficult for the ordinary user to find it.

Many experienced users like to use it for Body Text and have it divorced from the Normal Style.

I tend to have most of my other styles based on the Body Text style rather than Normal and set them to use Body Text for the following paragraph.

See Use Body Text Style Instead of Normal Style, my addendum to Shawna Kelly's tutorial Using Styles to Format Text. My addendum shows how to do this process manually if you are not comfortable using a macro.

I was in the process of modifying some 70 [Quick] Style Sets to have them include the Body Text Style.

I tried to write a macro to do this and failed until I found Greg Maxey's question on Managing Styles. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/manage-styles-hide-until-used/8ec16864-b992-431f-a340-ea733c9b6aec

That gave me the clue that to have the style show, I had to set the visibility to "False." That is, to have the style be visible, you have to set the visibility property for it to be "false!"

Here is the macro I ended up with:

Sub StylesBodyTextElevateShow()

' Charles Kenyon

' Turns on preference settings for the Body Text style so that a user can find it

'

    With ActiveDocument.Styles("Body Text")

        .BaseStyle = ""

        .QuickStyle = True

        .Visibility = False ' that's right - False

        .Priority = 5

    End With

End Sub

Here are two excellent resources with instructions for the beginner on how to use a macro you find online.

• Install/Employ VBA Procedures (Macros) by Greg Maxey
• Instructions for Installing Macros from Forums or Websites by Graham Mayor, MVP

Answer 1

You are welcome.

why it is a good idea to use Body Text style instead of Normal style for body text

Answer 2

Updated the article to include links to Greg Maxey and Graham Mayor pages on how to use macros.

Updated the article to include link to my writing on why it is a good idea to use Body Text style instead of Normal style for body text.

Answer 3

In this thread Jay Freedman posted a macro to change all the Based On Normal and Next Paragraph Normal styles to be based on and style for next paragraph to the Body Text Style. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-to-change-the-style-for-following-paragraph/64644dfc-92a7-44b7-baa8-53fe622344b8

Here is that macro with comments made when posted as well as a few I added.

Sub StylesToBodyText()

    ' Jay Freedman 2023-12-18

    ' Change next style to Body Text, Based on style to Body Text in Normal

    ' You can use the macro below to change all of the "based on Normal" and "following paragraph Normal" styles

    '    in the Normal.dotm template to be based on and followed by Body Text.

    ' Before you run the macro, save a copy of the Normal.dotm template in some folder other

    '    than the Templates folder, as a backup in case something goes wrong.

    ' I deliberately did not include a Save in the macro,

    '    as you should examine the results in the Styles pane before you manually 
    '    save and close the Normal.dotm window.

    '    If anything is amiss, close the window without saving and see where the problem occurred.

    ' https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/how-to-change-the-style-for-following-paragraph/64644dfc-92a7-44b7-baa8-53fe622344b8

    '

    Dim sty As Style

    NormalTemplate.OpenAsDocument ' Comment this line out to apply active document or template and not normal template

    For Each sty In ActiveDocument.Styles

        If sty.Type = wdStyleTypeParagraph Then

            If sty.BaseStyle = "Normal" Then

                sty.BaseStyle = "Body Text"

            End If

'

            If sty.NextParagraphStyle = "Normal" Then

                sty.NextParagraphStyle = "Body Text"

            End If

        End If

    Next sty

    '   After checking styles, save and close normal template

End Sub

I have had no problems running the macro.

To make the changes last, you need to close and save the normal template.

Answer 4

Word, for some time has deprecated the Body Text Style.

It is given the preference of last and is hidden until used. It is not in the [Quick] Styles Gallery.

This makes it very difficult for the ordinary user to find it.

Many experienced users like to use it for Body Text and have it divorced from the Normal Style.

I tend to have most of my other styles based on the Body Text style rather than Normal and set them to use Body Text for the following paragraph.

See Use Body TextStyleInstead of Normal Style, my addendum to Shawna Kelly's tutorial Using Styles to Format Text. My addendum shows how to do this process manually if you are not comfortable using a macro.

I was in the process of modifying some 70 [Quick] Style Sets to have them include the Body Text Style.

I tried to write a macro to do this and failed until I found Greg Maxey's question on Managing Styles. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/all/manage-styles-hide-until-used/8ec16864-b992-431f-a340-ea733c9b6aec

That gave me the clue that to have the style show, I had to set the visibility to "False."

Here is the macro I ended up with:

Sub StylesBodyTextElevateShow()

' Charles Kenyon

' Turns on preference settings for the Body Text style so that a user can find it

'

    With ActiveDocument.Styles("Body Text")

        .BaseStyle = ""

        .QuickStyle = True

        .Visibility = False ' that's right - False

        .Priority = 5

    End With

End Sub

Here are two excellent resources with instructions for the beginner on how to use a macro you find online.

• Install/Employ VBA Procedures (Macros) by Greg Maxey
• Instructions for Installing Macros from Forums or Websites by Graham Mayor, MVP

Great insights, Charles Kenyon! The Body Text style is often overlooked, but it’s a real gem for experienced users. The macro you shared is a lifesaver for anyone struggling with visibility. Thanks for the helpful tip!