Sorry for the delay.
Are you using Word, or Excel, or some other Office application?
If it is Word, how do you separate the question from the answer in the same line? Do you use tables? Or are the questions in paragraph, and each answer below the question paragraph? If so, where is the hidden text?
If you do not use tables, have you thought about doing so? You can hide the borders of tables, and then have a 3 columned table so that the columns list the Question in the first column, the answer in the middle, then the hidden text, (if required), in the 3rd.
That way, keeping track of hidden text and formats may be easier.
Mark
I am using WinXP with Office 2003.
I am a teacher, and I have homework made up where the answers are in hidden text. I have a "Numbered question" style and a "Lettered answer" style. Sometimes at the end of a numbered question or a lettered answer, I have some hidden text on the same line as an answer guide for me and my fellow teachers.
Sometimes the styles get messed up and I have to correct it. In most cases, I can just go to the styles window and click on the style and the formatting comes back fine including the hidden text. Sometimes, however, the hidden attribute of the hidden text gets erased making the text visible to my students. They appreciate that, but I don't.
The problem is extremely strange. The paragraphs that have the problem have it consistently, and the paragraphs that don't have it don't have it consistently. No differences (other than the words) are visible between a good and bad paragraph. I have used the format compare between a good and bad paragraph and can see no differences. I have also used the format painter, painting the formats from a good paragraph to a bad paragraph; but to no avail. I also can't see any differences in the fonts. The visible text and hidden text are the same in both good and bad paragraphs.
There is another problem that may be related. It consists of the fact that sometimes when I have a paragraph of visible text followed by hidden text, the number or letter itself turns red and becomes hidden even though it was never selected to get that way.
More information that may apply:
give up the convenience unless I absolutely have to. I tried very hard to make it easy for my fellow instructors to use. I use a lot of macros.
Once I select text to hide, I have a macro (Alt-M) that hides it, capitalizes it, and turns it red.
When I want to put a paragraph in in the numbered question style, I hit Alt-N. Likewise Alt-L for the lettered answer style. Alt-H hides the text marked as hidden, Alt-S shows all text. There are more macros that don't relate to this.
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