Step 2: Headings and Subheadings

This PDF explains Step 2 of the step-by-step instructions that will help you correctly format your ETD to
meet UCF formatting requirements.
Step 2 shows you how to set up heading styles. Heading styles allow you to format your headings and
subheadings consistently throughout the document as a group without changing the formatting of each
heading individually; heading styles allow you to change the formatting once then apply those format
attributes (or look) to multiple headings and subheadings at one time.
Heading styles are extremely important, as they help Word index the location of each heading and
subheading so you can later have Word automatically insert a table of contents of those headings and
subheadings and also create the bookmarks when your file is converted to PDF format.
IMPORTANT: Before applying heading styles to your document, you will want to ensure that all of your
major headings (e.g. Abstract, Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, chapter headings, etc.) are
physically typed using the Caps Lock key. Do not change the font settings or the headings styles to be in
All Caps. The reason for this is explained later in the Table of Contents instruction file.

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Identifying the Normal Style

Whenever a new document (Word 2007 and newer) is opened, a set of visual attributes will already be
built in. For example, there will be a default font style (Calibri), font size (11 points) and line spacing
(1.15 spaces with an additional 10 points after each line).
This default template is called the Normal style.
The Normal style is automatically applied to everything in the document unless you change it. You can
see the Normal style highlighted in yellow in the Styles pane:

To change the visual attributes of their document, people typically use the settings in the Home tab Font
and Paragraph tool bars (as illustrated below) to reset their font style and size to a desired appearance,
adjust the line spacing, and more:

However, this approach is not advisable for electronic thesis and dissertation formatting. It is best to
change this default template rather than change your body text in a random way. Changing the Normal
style will ensure consistency throughout your document and will enable much easier global document
changes. Otherwise, Word can revert back to the default style at certain times and cause inconsistency if
it does not look how you would like it to.
We will advise you on how to change the appearance of the headings and subheadings later in this
document, but you first need to change the default, or Normal, style.
The Normal style should be applied to body text of your thesis or dissertation. If you already have body
text in your document you have already changed the appearance for manually, you will still want to
change the Normal style. You will just want to make sure your Normal style reflects the same attributes
as the existing text (same font style, size, etc.).

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Modifying the Normal Style

In the Home tab, you will see a section of the ribbon called Styles. In the lower right-hand corner of
this section you will see a little diagonal arrow. Click on the arrow to bring up the Styles menu.

A menu containing a list of all of the styles in the document so far will appear on the right side of your
document. The menu will look similar to the following image (your view may vary slightly):

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Your first step will be to modify the Normal style.

Find the style called Normal in the Styles task pane.

Click the arrow button next to the word Normal (not the word itself) that appears when you
mouse over it. This should bring up a drop-down menu:

Select Modify in this box. Another menu called Modify Style will pop up.

This menu has all of the same buttons you usually find on the toolbar. This is where you can change the
default font style, size, spacing and more for your entire document. Additional options are available
under the Format button on the bottom left. Remember: all body text should be double spaced, so
this is where you can make this change.
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About Heading Styles

As you learned in the Normal style instructions above, Word automatically has built in styles listed in the
Styles menu. The Normal style is typically applied to the body text. However, this same style should not
be used for your headings and subheadings. For these items, you will need to use Heading styles.
Word automatically creates Heading styles in the Styles menu. These are labeled as Heading 1,
Heading 2, Heading 3, etc. Each time you apply a Heading style to a heading, Word will automatically
create the next Heading style for you. For example, when you first apply Heading 1, Word will
automatically add the Heading 2 style for you.
The following chart illustrates the styles you will be using and how they should be applied to each
heading/subheading:
Document Section
Body Text
Title page

Copyright page
Abstract
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Table of Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
List of Media/Abbreviations/
Nomenclature/Acronyms
Chapter Headings
First-level subheading
Second-level subheading
Third-level subheading
Fourth-level subheading
Appendices
References

Heading Style
Normal style
Normal style, (manually change
the line spacing for this text to
single spacing and centered)
Normal style
Precontent Heading style*
Normal style
Precontent Heading style*
Precontent Heading style*
Heading 1 style
Heading 1 style
Heading 1 style
Heading 1 style
Heading 2 style
Heading 3 style
Heading 4 style
Heading 5 style
Heading 1 style
Heading 1 style

*Note: you will not see the Precontent Heading style in the Styles menu, but these instructions will
teach you how to add this style later.
IMPORTANT: Always use the existing Microsoft Word Heading styles. DO NOT change the name of the
built in Heading styles. If you need to, make a separate list of what each Heading style means to you
(e.g. Heading 1=APA chapter heading in another document or note.
Also: Ensure you have at least one hard return between your headings/subheadings and the following
text (hit the enter key after typing the headings/subheadings). You want to ensure that your body text
reverts back to the Normal style and does not take on the formatting of the heading style.
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Modifying Major Heading Styles

Just as we modified the Normal style for the body text, we now need to modify the Heading 1 style and
apply this style to all of your major headings. Major headings include your chapter headings as well as
your other major section headings including the Abstract, Acknowledgments, Table of Contents, List of
Figures, List of Tables, Appendices, and References.
To modify Heading 1:
Find the style called Heading 1 in the Styles task pane.

Click the arrow button (not the words Heading 1) that appears when you mouse over it.
This should bring up a drop-down menu:

Select Modify. A small menu will pop up.

This menu will have all of the same buttons you usually find on the toolbar. However, this menu will only
allow you to change items that you have designated as Heading 1s.
This is where you should change items like font size and type, single or double spacing, centering,
bolding, etc.

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To meet UCF formatting for major and chapter headings, you should modify the style to an easily
readable font, like Times New Roman, font size 14, bold, centered, and single-spaced.

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You will also need to change the spacing before and after the heading, as the default settings typically
have too much extra space.

Select the Format button in the lower left hand corner in the open Modify Style window for
Heading 1

Then select Paragraph from the drop menu that appears.

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A new window will appear labeled Paragraph.

Where it says Spacing, make sure Before is set to 0 pt and After is set to 24 pt, which
is equivalent to one extra double space (this will ensure that you always have consistent spacing
between your headings and the following body text).

Where it says Line Spacing make sure it is set to Single

Click OK out of all the windows.

Follow these same instructions to modify the spacing for the remainder heading and subheading styles.

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Now you can apply the Heading 1 style to all of the major headings in the document.
Place your cursor at the beginning of the heading (or highlight it) then click on Heading 1 in the
Styles task pane.
You should see your heading take on the attributes of Heading 1 you set up in the Styles menu
(centered, bold, etc.)

Apply the Heading 1 style to all of your major headings (see the chart on page 5 for list of
headings that need this style).

After applying the style, the heading should look like this:

You have successfully applied the Heading 1 style. If you need to make changes to any Heading 1
formatting, go back into the Styles task pane and make the change, repeating this process.

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REMEMBER: DO NOT use the main Home tab toolbar functions to change the formatting of your
headings! Instead, follow these same instructions and make the changes through the Modify menu.
Any changes made through the normal Word toolbar can inadvertently create extra styles and create
extra (or missing) bookmarks in the final PDF document.

Formatting Subheadings
After the major and chapter headings are formatted with the Heading 1 style, you can format your
subheadings.
As a reminder, you will be using Heading 2 for your first-level subheadings, Heading 3 for second-level
subheadings and so on. As stated previously, the next Heading style will appear as soon as you use a
level. Since you have already used Heading 1, Heading 2 should already appear in your Styles menu.
To modify Heading 2:

Click the arrow button (not the words Heading 2) that appears when you mouse over it. This
should bring up a drop-down menu.

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The Modify Style box will appear:

You will make the changes to Heading 2 here the same way you modified Heading 1.
While the UCF Thesis and Dissertation manual offers some flexibility about subheading formatting
(provided each level of subheading has a unique format), this explanation will use the base subheading
examples in the TD manual. Also remember that subheadings should be in a 12-point font size.
For the purposes of this help file, Heading 2s will all be centered, underlined, and 12-point Times New
Roman font.

From the Modify Style menu, click on the Centered button, as well as the Underline button. The
Preview section should reflect the changes.

Hit OK.

As before, you can now apply the style by placing your cursor at the beginning of the
subheading (or highlighting it) and clicking on Heading 2 in the task pane.

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Your first-level subheading has been modified. Repeat the same process to create each level of
subheading using Heading 3, Heading 4, and so on.
All other subheadings should be modified the same way. Use the Styles menu to change heading styles
to UCF and department standards.
AGAIN, be sure to use Modify Styles menu to adjust heading and subheading styles to meet UCF
requirements. DO NOT use the main menu toolbar functions to change a subheading styles.

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To Clear Formatting
When mistakes happen and you accidentally attribute a style to a section, you can clear the formatting
to remove the style you applied. This most commonly occurs when a heading style accidentally gets
applied to body text which should be in the Normal style.

Highlight the portion of the document that needs clearing. At the very top of the task pane list
of styles should be an option to Clear All.

Click this.

You can now apply the proper style needed.

Remember: DO NOT try highlighting the section and changing it manually using the main Word toolbar.
This will only create additional styles.

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Precontent
Once you finish setting up all of your headings and subheadings with styles, Word will be able to index
those styles automatically into a Table of Contents. The next instruction file will explain how to do this.
However, before you have Word create your Table of Contents, some headings will need to be excluded
from it. In order to do this, we need to set up a new style called Precontent that can be applied to the
headings to be excluded.
Note: Some of the Precontent sections will have a heading style applied and some will not. You will not
be applying the Precontent style to every section, but we will still refer to these sections as the
Precontent.
Precontent sections are comprised of the following elements: title page, copyright page, Abstract,
dedication page, Acknowledgments, and Table of Contents

Bookmarks and Precontent

Bookmarks are like a secondary Table of Contents residing in the left margin of a PDF document.
Bookmarks are generated using the Word heading styles already applied to your headings and
subheadings when you convert from Word to PDF format. You can see what the bookmarks menu looks
like in the Sample ETD document, or by clicking on the bookmark icon

to the left in this document.

Unlike the Table of Contents, which only displays the items appearing after the Table of Contents, the
bookmarks menu should show ALL headings within your PDF file. However, if you apply the Heading 1
style to headings like ABSTRACT, ACKNOWLEDGMENTS and TABLE OF CONTENTS, these sections will
appear in the bookmarks AND when you generate a TABLE OF CONTENTS, which is not correct.
To give these headings the same formatting as other major headings and have them appear in the
bookmarks, but not in the Table of Contents entries, you will need to create a new style called
Precontent.
PLEASE NOTE: Before you work with Precontent headings, you will want to have already formatted
other major section and chapter headings using the Heading 1 style; if you have not, please go back and
review the other sections in this document before continuing here.

Setting up the Precontent Heading Style

In order to set up the Precontent Heading Style, you will have to use the Word Styles menu to create a
new style based on Heading 1. We do this so the Precontent style will look like all of the other headings
with the Heading 1 style, but we will later be able to exclude this style (and the headings formatted with
it) from the Table of Contents.
In the Home tab, you will see a section of the ribbon called Styles. In the lower right-hand corner of
this section you will see a little diagonal arrow. Click on the arrow to bring up the Styles menu.
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You will see a list of all of the styles that have been used in the document so far.
Now find the section labeled ABSTRACT in the document.

Place your cursor next to the word ABSTRACT, highlight the heading and ensure it is formatted
with the Heading 1 style.

You want to ensure this heading is in the Heading 1 style because you want Word to base the
new Precontent heading style off of the Heading 1 style, but it wont actually be a Heading 1.

Click on the New Style button on the Styles menu (lower left corner). It will look like this:

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This will bring up the New Style menu.

Since you clicked on Heading 1, the new style will reflect all of the same elements of a Heading 1: In our
example, it is bold, 14 point, Times New Roman, and centered. Youll need to give it another name to
distinguish it from Heading 1s, so rename it Precontent.

In the field next to Name, put Precontent

Hit OK.

Now go back, place your cursor next to the ABSTRACT heading (or highlight it), and click on
Precontent in the styles list.

You have now applied the Precontent style to the ABTRACT heading

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Precontent has now been added as a new Heading style. See the other instruction files to learn how to
create the TABLE OF CONTENTS without including Precontent, but keep these headings in the
bookmarks when converting to PDF.
The following sections illustrate how the Precontent sections should be formatted.

Title Page (no heading style)

UCF title pages follow a strict format for the text, as defined in the TD Manual. You can format this text
with the Normal style, but you will need to center all of the content on this page and change the line
spacing to single spaced just using the regular Home tab tool bar.
For the title and your name, which should appear in ALL CAPS, simply type using the Caps Lock key. Do
not apply the Precontent heading style to this page.

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Copyright Page (no heading style)

Copyright information in the ETD should include the copyright symbol, the year of graduation and your
name, as such:
2012 Jane B. Doe
All copyright information should be centered on the page vertically and horizontally using the regular
tool bar. Do not apply the Precontent heading style to this page.

ABSTRACT (Precontent heading style)

ABSTRACT is considered a major heading and should be formatted like all other major and chapter
headings. However, simply applying the Heading 1 style will cause complications with the TABLE OF
CONTENTS, so we will apply the Precontent style instead.
ABSTRACT body text should follow the same formatting as all other body text. Note that no figures,
tables or inset quotes are allowed here.

Dedication (no heading style)

The dedication, if included, should be centered on the page vertically and horizontally. No heading style,
including the Precontent style, should be used on this page.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS (Precontent heading style)

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS is considered a major heading and should be formatted like all other major and
chapter headings. However, simply applying the Heading 1 style will cause complications with the TABLE
OF CONTENTS, so we will apply the Precontent style instead.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS body text should follow the same formatting as all other body text.

TABLE OF CONTENTS (Precontent heading style)

The TABLE OF CONTENTS heading is considered a major heading and should be formatted like all other
major and chapter headings. However, simply applying the Heading 1 style will cause complications with
the TABLE OF CONTENTS, so we will apply the Precontent style instead.
Please see the TABLE OF CONTENTS instruction file to have Word automatically set up your Table of
Contents.

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You are now ready for

Step 3: Table of Contents
Questions?
Please contact the Editor
at [email protected]
OR
Submit your Microsoft Word file to the Format Help
page of the Thesis and Dissertation Services site.

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