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Positioning Paragraphs

After you add a paragraph or heading to a topic, you can adjust its positioning on the page. For example, you can float it to the left of the page layout frame to create a side heading. You can do this by applying a positioning setting on the style used by the paragraph. See About Styles and Style Sheets and Editing Styles.

Note: For examples of the different ways you can configure headings, including creating side headings, see Heading Examples.

How to position a paragraph on a page using a style

Open the topic style sheet that you want to modify.
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 is better for new users. It provides an easier way to apply properties to styles, with format options available from a toolbar (similar to the way one would use the Text Format toolbar to change the look topic content without a style). In many cases, only the most common property options are available in the Simplified view (e.g., font, letter/word spacing, paragraph alignment/indentation, auto-numbering 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 style classes and properties in hierarchical tree structures. It is not as quick as using the Simplified view, but it allows you to edit a great deal more settings than are available in the Simplified view.
Warning: When editing styles, make sure the proper medium is selected in the Stylesheet Editor before you begin (you can do this from the Medium drop-down list). Flare remembers the last medium that you used when working in the style sheet, so it may or may not be the one that you want to use the next time around. If you want all mediums to use the same setting, select the "default" medium and the properties will "trickle down" to the other mediums. If you are not using different mediums, you do not need to worry about selecting one when you edit styles. See About Style Sheet Mediums.

If using the Simplified view:

In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Simplified view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
In the upper-left corner of the editor, click in the Show Styles field and select Show Paragraph Styles.
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).
In the local toolbar of the editor, click . The Properties dialog opens.
Select the Position tab.
In the Position section, you can select a Float and a Clear setting. You can also set the Vertical Alignment of the paragraph.
Float Use this field to specify where to place the paragraph on the page.
- None Does not place the paragraph in a specific location.
- Left Positions the paragraph on the left side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the right of the paragraph.
- Right Positions the paragraph on the right side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the left of the paragraph.
- Center of Column Positions the paragraph in the center of the column on the page.
- Outside Left Margin Positions the paragraph beyond the left margin of the topic text.
- Outside Right Margin Positions the paragraph beyond the right margin of the topic text.
- Outside Frame Positions the paragraph outside of the page frame.
- Outside Frame, Top Align Positions the paragraph outside of the page frame, as well as aligning it with the top of the frame.
- Left of Frame Positions the paragraph to the left of the page frame.
- Right of Frame Positions the paragraph to the right of the page frame.
- Center of Frame Positions the paragraph both vertically and horizontally in the middle of the page frame.
Clear Use this field to position a paragraph so that it is "clear" of an adjacent paragraph. For example, let's say you have already inserted a paragraph and applied the float left property to it. If you then insert another paragraph immediately after the first paragraph, you want to make sure that the second paragraph doesn't rest next to the first paragraph. Instead, you want the second paragraph to be placed completely below the first paragraph. Therefore, you can apply a clear property to the second paragraph.
- None Does not apply the clear property to the paragraph.
- Left Side The paragraph will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous paragraph that is floating left.
- Right Side The paragraph will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous paragraph that is floating right.
- Both Sides The paragraph will be placed below the a previous paragraph, whether it is floating left or right.
Vertical Alignment Use this field to adjust where the item is positioned vertically.
- Baseline The baseline of the box will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box.
- Text Top The top of the box will be aligned with the top of the parent element's font.
- Text Bottom The bottom of the box will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
- Top The top of the box will be aligned with the top of the line box.
- Middle The vertical midpoint of the box will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box, plus half the x-height of the parent.
- Bottom The bottom of the box will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
Click OK.

If using the Advanced view:

In the local toolbar, make sure the first button displays (which means that the Advanced view is currently shown in the editor). If the button displays instead, then click it.
In the upper-left corner of the editor, click in the Show Styles field and select Show Paragraph Styles.
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).
From the Show Properties drop-down list on the upper-right side of the editor, select Show: Property Groups.
Use any of the following set of instructions to select "float," "clear," and "vertical alignment" settings for the paragraph.
Float You can specify where to place the paragraph on the page.
In the Properties section, click the plus button next to Unclassified to expand the group. Click in the value column to the right of the mc-float property and select any of the available options.
- center Positions the paragraph in the center of the column on the page.
- frame-center Positions the paragraph both vertically and horizontally in the middle of the page frame.
- left Positions the paragraph on the left side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the right of the paragraph.
- none Does not place the paragraph in a specific location.
- outside-frame Positions the paragraph outside of the page frame.
- outside-frame-left Positions the paragraph beyond the left margin of the topic text.
- outside-frame-right Positions the paragraph beyond the right margin of the topic text.
- outside-frame-top Positions the paragraph outside of the page frame, as well as aligning it with the top of the frame.
- outside-left Positions the paragraph to the left of the page frame.
- outside-right Positions the paragraph to the right of the page frame.
- right Positions the paragraph on the right side of the page frame, allowing you to type text to the left of the paragraph.
Clear You can position a paragraph so that it is "clear" of an adjacent paragraph. For example, let's say you have already inserted a paragraph and applied the float left property to it. If you then insert another paragraph immediately after the first paragraph, you want to make sure that the second paragraph doesn't rest next to the first paragraph. Instead, you want the second paragraph to be placed completely below the first paragraph. Therefore, you can apply the clear property to the second paragraph.
In the Properties section, click the plus button next to Box to expand the group. Click in the value column to the right of the clear property and select any of the available options.
- both The paragraph will be placed below the a previous paragraph, whether it is floating left or right.
- inherit Uses the same setting as the parent tag.
- left The paragraph will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous paragraph that is floating left.
- none Does not apply the clear property to the paragraph.
- right The paragraph will be placed below the bottom outer edge of a previous paragraph that is floating right.
Vertical Alignment You can adjust where the paragraph is positioned vertically.
In the Properties section, click the plus button next to Block to expand the group. Click in the value column to the right of the vertical-align property. In the popup, click the arrow in the upper-right corner and select any of the available options. Click OK when you are finished.
- baseline The baseline of the box will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box.
- bottom The bottom of the box will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
- middle The vertical midpoint of the box will be aligned with the baseline of the parent box, plus half the x-height of the parent.
- sub The baseline of the box will be lowered to the proper position for subscripts of the parent's box. (This value has no effect on the font size of the element's text.)
- super The baseline of the box will be raised to the proper position for superscripts of the parent's box. (This value has no effect on the font size of the element's text.)
- text-bottom The bottom of the box will be aligned with the bottom of the line box.
- text-top The top of the box will be aligned with the top of the parent element's font.
- top The top of the box will be aligned with the top of the line box.
- Inherit Uses the same setting as the parent tag.
- Length Lets you enter a specific measurement.

Press CTRL+S or click to save your work.

Note: If you want to adjust the space between a floating paragraph and the text that flows next to it, you can modify the margins on the paragraph (using the Indentation section on the Paragraph tab).

Note: For additional details on the rules for floating objects, see http://www.w3c.org.

Note: You can also position objects, such as images and text boxes, as well as auto-numbers. See About Object Positioning, Positioning Objects, Positioning Pictures, Positioning Text Boxes, and Creating Auto-Number Formats for Styles.