Microsoft Word 2010 : Creating an Outline (part 3) - Building an Outline - Expanding and Collapsing Parts of an Outline , Reorganizing an Outline

Expanding and Collapsing Parts of an Outline

If a heading contains multiple subheadings, you can “collapse” the main heading to hide the subheadings and create more space on the screen. You can expand a collapsed heading to see its subordinate headings again. Here’s how:

1.	Point to the plus sign that appears before a heading that contains subheadings. The pointer changes to a four-way arrow, as shown in Figure 5. Figure 5. Preparing to collapse a heading that contains multiple subheadings.
2.	Double-click the plus sign to collapse the heading and hide its subheadings. A thick line appears under the collapsed heading, indicating that it contains hidden subheadings, as shown in Figure 6. Figure 6. A black underline indicates that a heading contains hidden subheadings.
3.	To expand the collapsed heading, double-click its plus sign again.

You can also expand or collapse a section by clicking its heading and then clicking Expand or Collapse on the Outlining tab.

Reorganizing an Outline

In Outline view, you can reorganize an entire document in seconds simply by rearranging its headings. You can move headings around in the following ways:

• Click the icon to the left of a heading to select it (and any subordinate headings underneath it). Drag the icon up or down, and then drop it in the desired position. As you drag, a black line indicates where the heading will land when you drop it, as shown in Figure 7.
  
  

  Figure 7. Dragging a heading and its subordinate headings to a new location.

  
  
• Click a heading’s icon to select it (and its subheadings, if any), and then click the Move Up or Move Down button on the Outlining tab. The heading moves up or down one position each time you click a button.
  
  
• To move a major heading but leave its subordinate headings where they are, click the major heading (not its icon) to place the insertion point in it. Then click the Move Up or Move Down button.
  
  

If you’re going to move a heading that contains subheadings, collapse the heading before selecting it. This hides the subordinate headings so they don’t trip you up. Don’t worry; when you move a heading, its subheadings move right along with it.