In a word processing document or text frame you can use an outline style to organize your ideas before writing, or to reorganize existing text. You can have multiple outlines in one document.

 

An outline shows each paragraph as a topic. Each topic is preceded by a topic label, which can be a diamond, bullet, number, or some other label. To show relationships between topics, you can make a topic into a subtopic by indenting it to another level. An outline can have up to 16 levels.

You can quickly reorganize your material by moving topics up and down or by changing their level. To focus on major topics, you might find it handy to hide (collapse) or show (expand) subtopics under selected topics or all topics. You can select a preset outline style for a topic's label style and text format. You can also modify the preset outline styles. You can create a topic at the current outline level or one level to the left or right. An outline can have up to 16 levels.

 

When you first start working in an outline, you see all topics and subtopics (as shown in the example on the left). If you want to focus on major topics, you can hide (collapse) a topic's subtopics from view. You can show the subtopics again by expanding the topic. You can expand or collapse selected topics, or you can collapse or expand all topics to a specific level.

 

1.Select the topics you want to collapse or expand.

To select a single topic, click anywhere in the topic's text.

To select multiple topics, drag the pointer across the topic text.

2.Choose Collapse or Expand from the Outline menu.

1.Select the outline by dragging the pointer across the topic text.

2.Choose Expand to from the Outline menu.

3.In the Expand To dialog box, type the number of levels you want to see.

4.Click OK. 

 

To collapse or expand all topics:

1.Select the outline by dragging the pointer across the topic text.

2.Hold down the Option key while selecting Collapse All or Expand All from the Outline menu.

Return to Ideas for Using Technology in the Classroom