how do I get the character styles drop down to stay visible?

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Level 1

26 points

how do I get the character styles drop down to stay visible?

prior to Mavericks you could have the character styles draw open up on left or right and keep it visible, now you have to click a drop down each time you want to access one of the character styles to select it, this is an annoying 2 step procedure where I used to use a 1 step click.

how do I get the old behaviour back?

below I`d like to se this set of character styles visible at all times, not by clicking a drop down. Is that possible?

pages, numbers,keynote-OTHER, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.5)

Posted on Oct 26, 2013 2:22 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

PeterBreis0807

Level 8

41,170 points

Oct 26, 2013 2:28 AM in response to snappler

Annoying Multi-Step Procedures (AMSPs) are to bring Pages 5 closer into line with the iOS and iCloud versions of Pages.

If only they did this …but they don't.

Peter

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Answer 2

snappler Author

Level 1

26 points

Oct 26, 2013 3:44 AM in response to PeterBreis0807

very annoying, when software designers aim for brevity and sacrifice efficiency.

increasing click through`s for common tasks like formatting data/text etc doesn`t make sense.

would be nice to detach that styles drop down and place it under the rest of settings. there`s space for it anyway.

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Answer 3

dwb

Level 7

32,920 points

Oct 26, 2013 4:07 AM in response to snappler

snappler wrote:

prior to Mavericks...

I've seen a number of posters which, like Snappler, comment on Pages prior to Mavericks when what they really are talking about is the new Pages 5. Please don't feel like I'm picking on you, but I'd just like us all to be clear that Mavericks didn't change how Pages works. Apple developed a new program called Pages 5 which is very different from Pages 4. (Or Apple developed a suite of programs called iWork '13 which is very different from iWork '09. But we are focusing on Pages here. I haven't even begun to delve into the other two programs yet.)

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Answer 4

snappler Author

Level 1

26 points

Oct 26, 2013 5:03 AM in response to dwb

right , good to be clear.

I installed Mav last night and pages etc came with it hence referring to the installation in general, but yes I see the difference thanks for clarifying.

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Answer 5

snappler Author

Level 1

26 points

Oct 26, 2013 5:07 AM in response to snappler

all in all I love the Mavericks upgrade, super,

just the pages issue was little thing but yea, again I never get what designers are thinking when they sit down together and some smart cookie says "lets put the character styles in a drop down so it takes up less screen space, everything will look tidier"

thats like me putting my pens and brushes in the drawer after each use but the painting has only begun.

I hate re opening drawers.

working with so much software these days, at the end of the year i`ve doubled my click through rate to thousands of extra clicks (or taps) and it all eats up your time, time is what I`m talking about saving here more than anything, working faster is the key to great software design, i couldnt care less for an empty sleek interface if it slows me down.

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Answer 6

comoxbc

Level 1

0 points

Feb 7, 2014 4:45 AM in response to snappler

I have this same problem and request. Make it visible, all the time. In fact, I use an older Pages on another computer, and complain there that you have to click a button to see styles on each document open. Now I see it, and I have to click again to get drop-down!

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Answer 7

Feb 7, 2014 5:04 AM in response to comoxbc

There is increased self-talk involved with Pages v5+ usage.

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Answer 8

Feb 13, 2014 3:40 PM in response to snappler

Putting the Character Styles field in this position makes it appear as though the character style is part of the definition of the paragraph style.

And is quite annoying to me that the Bullets & Lists settings are not really a part of the Paragraph's definition. In my messing around with it -- trying to make it work as most any other word processing or page layout application -- it seems one must always apply the B&L settings separately.

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