List formatting not working

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ymeroz
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:49 am

List formatting not working

Post by ymeroz »

I am creating a list (using the built-in bullet style). If I try to change the appearance of the list using the attribute pane in the palette, or by modifying the list style, only changes to the font family are reflected in the text. Any other changes (font face, size, color, etc.) affect the list marker (bullet, number, etc.) but not the body of the list.

Not sure if that was covered before. I am using Mellel 4.1.
Icelander
Knows everything, can prove it
Posts: 366
Joined: Mon Aug 18, 2014 10:59 pm

Re: List formatting not working

Post by Icelander »

If I try to change the appearance of the list using the attribute pane in the palette…
If you are talking about the attributes pane in the list's palette, then clicking on the frame next to the encircled T reveals a sort of a drop-down pane. Changing settings in that pane will only affect the list marker (bullet, number, etc.) This allows full separation of list markers and the following text.

Changing the text itself can be done by a Character Style or a Paragraph Style. The default templates that come with Mellel do have such Character and Paragraph styles, and they are simply called "List." Another way to change the text ad hoc would be to use the Attribute's Pane of the Character Pane. That only affects the text, not the list markers.

To sum up: it is my understanding that, unlike some other word processors, Mellel strictly separates list markers from the following text. This allows full individual control of both elements. But it comes at a price: attribute changes cannot be done simultaneously, and changing the attributes of list markers affects ALL continuous list markers indiscriminately. So the only way to change some list markers and some not, is to insert a reset empty line before and after the part we want to change, i.e. to interrupt the continuous list flow with Edit –> List –> Reset list.

One would have to do that in the following example in order to have each bullet appear in different color (if this was a list):
• This is black
This is red
This is blue
This is green

Other word processors allow you to select the bullets and change their attributes individually, which can be both convenient and a huge time saver.
ymeroz
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Oct 09, 2008 12:49 am

Re: List formatting not working

Post by ymeroz »

I had hoped that the list style would include specifying paragraph and character styles for each level in the list. That doesn't seem to be the case, then.
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