controlling the indents of a bulleted list in Visio

[ruben302]

Hi Everyone!

I am trying to create a shape with indented lists smaller than standard indentations. I can fairly easy create an indented list, but when the text flows to the second line, the default indentation is used (6.35mm) instead of my adjusted value (5mm). I can fix this by changing the value in the shapesheet or changing the ruler. The problem is that when i remove the text, the value for the indent is also removed.

I attached a file and screenshot explaining my problem.

Is it possible to adjust the default indentation (6.35mm to a custom value)?

Thanks in advance,
Ruben

[Paul Herber]

I think you can do this with styles. In the Drawing Explorer window, expand the Styles section and create a new style, then change the text paragraph formatting.

[ruben302]

Hi Paul,

I've tried but cannot get it to work. How would i apply these styles to the whole shape?

[ruben302]

Anyone have an idea on how to fix this issue?

[Visisthebest]

Ruben I don’t know but very interested in the solution as well, because neatly layed out bullet lists are pretty important!

[Paul Herber]

In the Drawing Explorer, go to the Styles section, right-click -> Define Styles
and enter a name for the new style (let's call it Fred).
Click the Change -> Text button, go to the Bullets tab, select the bullet style you want and the text position, click OK.

What you might not have is Styles enabled on the ribbon ...
goto File -> Options
then Customize Ribbon or Quick Access Toolbar
select All Commands
and move the two Styles items into your ribbon or toolbar.
Now you can select your shape and the new style to go with it,

[Visisthebest]

Super Paul thank you I will try this too!

[Visisthebest]

Hi Paul,

I tried this and good reminder to use styles(!) (very handy that a style = automatic update on all style-inheriting texts so superhandy in any case) but it does not solve the indentation issue Ruben identified.

If I set text position to for instance 4mm or 8mm the second line remains at another position around 6mm.

It would be very useful to use a smaller indentation (for me 4mm) to get more text in to a shape, but then the second line with a different indentation looks messy.

Any other ideas about how to solve this much appreciated!

(also, I added the Style Explorer item to the QAT but it doesn't seem to do anything when I click on it)

[Visisthebest]

Ruben, using the ruler is a good solution for me (thank you for the sample file), I never use the ruler option how does this work?

[Visisthebest]

Ok I've found the text ruler option, I checked what happens in the macro recorder when you set the text ruler. Seems like you need to identify each set of Characters that constitute one bullet point, then set the ruler for that set of characters.

Dim vsoCharacters1 As Visio.Characters
    Set vsoCharacters1 = Application.ActiveWindow.Page.Shapes.ItemFromID(24).Characters
    vsoCharacters1.Begin = 32
    vsoCharacters1.End = 68
    vsoCharacters1.ParaProps(visIndentFirst) = -15#
    Set vsoCharacters1 = Application.ActiveWindow.Page.Shapes.ItemFromID(24).Characters
    vsoCharacters1.Begin = 32
    vsoCharacters1.End = 68
    vsoCharacters1.ParaProps(visIndentLeft) = 20#

[ruben302]

Ok I've found the text ruler option, I checked what happens in the macro recorder when you set the text ruler. Seems like you need to identify each set of Characters that constitute one bullet point, then set the ruler for that set of characters.

Dim vsoCharacters1 As Visio.Characters
    Set vsoCharacters1 = Application.ActiveWindow.Page.Shapes.ItemFromID(24).Characters
    vsoCharacters1.Begin = 32
    vsoCharacters1.End = 68
    vsoCharacters1.ParaProps(visIndentFirst) = -15#
    Set vsoCharacters1 = Application.ActiveWindow.Page.Shapes.ItemFromID(24).Characters
    vsoCharacters1.Begin = 32
    vsoCharacters1.End = 68
    vsoCharacters1.ParaProps(visIndentLeft) = 20#

Hi Visisthebest and Paul, thanks for thinking with me! Yes i can also see this in the macro recorder. My VBA knowledge is however very basic, so I am of no much help on that part.