Indenting Paragraphs

You can indent paragraphs so that they start or end at a certain distance from the left or right side of the page frame, whether that means the entire paragraph or just the first line (like a traditional "tab"). 

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How to Indent a Paragraph

  1. Open the stylesheet you want to modify or create a new one.
  2. Complete one of the following sets of steps, depending on whether you want to use the Simplified view or Advanced view in the Stylesheet Editor.

    • Simplified The Simplified view displays styles in a grid view and is often best for brand new users.

      This view provides an easy way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar and dialogs (similar to the way one would use an interface such as Microsoft Word). In some cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, autonumbering format, borders, background). One advantage of the Simplified view is that you can apply a property to multiple styles at the same time. You can also click a check box to hide the properties in the editor, allowing you to see only the styles.

    • Advanced The Advanced view displays styles in a tree structure, and despite the name, is user friendly for authors of all levels.

      For the properties, you can toggle between a grouped display and an alphabetical display. The Advanced view of the Stylesheet Editor lets you edit more settings than are available in the Simplified view. In addition, the Advanced view lets you see and apply settings to multiple mediums and media queries at the same time.

    If Using Simplified View

    1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays The button to change the stylesheet to the simplified view. (which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays The button to change the stylesheet to the advanced view. instead, then click it.
    2. In the upper-left corner of the Stylesheet Editor, click in the drop-down field and select The paragraph style category selected in the types of styles drop-down list..
    3. Select the appropriate paragraph style. For example, you can select the parent p tag, or you can select a class that you may have created for that tag (e.g., p.Tip, p.Note).
    4. In the local toolbar of the editor, click Display properties for the selected item.. The Properties dialog opens.
    5. Select the Paragraph tab.
    6. Use the tab to specify the indentation settings.
      • Left Specify the amount that you want to indent a paragraph from the left margin. Select Length in the top drop-down list and enter a number value. You can then choose from several different units of measurement (points, pixels, centimeters, etc.). See Units of Measurement.
      • Right Specify the amount that you want to indent a paragraph from the right margin. Select Length in the top drop-down list and enter a number value. You can then choose from several different units of measurement (points, pixels, centimeters, etc.). See Units of Measurement.
      • First line indent Specify the amount that you want to indent the first line of a paragraph. Select Length in the top drop-down list and enter a number value. You can then choose from several different units of measurement (points, pixels, centimeters, etc.). See Units of Measurement.
    7. In the Properties dialog, click OK.

    If Using Advanced View

    1. In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays The button to change the stylesheet to the advanced view.. If the button displays The button to change the stylesheet to the simplified view. instead, then click it.
    2. In the upper-left corner of the Stylesheet Editor, click in the drop-down field and select The paragraph style category selected in the types of styles drop-down list..
    3. Select the appropriate paragraph style. For example, you can select the parent p tag, or you can select a class that you may have created for that tag (e.g., p.Tip, p.Note).
    4. From the Show drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select Show drop-down set to display all properties in styles..
    5. (Optional) You can use the toggle button in the local toolbar to show properties below in a group view Stylesheet local toolbar button to show properties in a group view. or an alphabetical view Stylesheet local toolbar button to show properties in an alphabetical view..
    6. Do the following, depending on whether you want to indent the entire paragraph or just the first line:

      To Indent Entire Paragraph

      1. If you are using the group view, expand the Box group. 
      2. To the right of margin-left or padding-left, click Display more options., and select the distance that the paragraph will be indented in the popup. Click OK.

        Note Both margins and padding can affect the space around elements. The margin controls the amount of space from the edge of the page or viewing device to the edge of the "container" holding the element. Padding controls the amount of space from the edge of the element itself and the container holding it. Therefore, if you seem to be experiencing more space than you expected, you might check to see if you have values entered for both the margin and padding.

      3. To the right of margin-right, click Display more options., and select the distance that the paragraph will be indented from the right side of the page in the popup. When you are finished, click OK.

      To Indent First Line of a Paragraph

      1. If you are using the grouped view, expand the Block group. 
      2. To the right of text-indent, click Display more options., and select the distance that the first line of the paragraph will be indented in the popup. Click OK.
  3. Click Save the active file. to save your work.

Note You cannot use stylesheets for this feature in the Review (Full Registered) workflow.

Note This feature is not supported for MadCap Lingo review package (LIREV) files.

Note If you click inside a paragraph (rather than at the very beginning) and press Tab or click in the Home ribbon or Text Format toolabar, you will notice that the paragraph is not indented, but rather the Create Group dialog opens, allowing you to select different types of block styles. These styles let you create block-level content in a unique "container" for different purposes. See Creating Tag Groups.

Note Different browsers may treat margin and padding settings differently. For example, Internet Explorer 8 and Firefox honor padding settings more than they honor margin settings. If you were to set a left margin at, say, 1 inch, Internet Explorer 7 would show it that way. However, in order to get the same results in Internet Explorer 8 or Firefox, you would also need to set the left padding at 1 inch.

What’s Next?

After editing a style, you can apply it to content in a topic or snippet. See Applying Styles to Content.