MyDocStyle: learning and applying a document format

The difference from "My writing style"

My writing style is about language. MyDocStyle is about appearance: which paragraphs get which Word style, how headings, lists and body text are set.

Task menu ▸ Improve ▸ Learn MyDocStyle / Apply MyDocStyle

Step 1: learning a template

You need a sample document in which every kind of paragraph appears once and is described. Write the paragraphs in the form STYLE NAME: description … so the parser can name them automatically. For example:

• Heading 1: chapter heading, stands alone on its line
• Quote: indented paragraph for verbatim passages

While learning, the add-in asks for:

• Save location – Central (shared) or Local (personal). Central means others use it too; change it only by agreement. If no path is configured, the file goes to your desktop and the add-in tells you so.
• Style template name – if the name already exists, it asks whether to overwrite.

You can then edit the template straight away. If individual styles could not be named automatically, the add-in tells you how many – you then fill in the userStyleName and whenToApply fields for those.

Step 2: applying the template

Select the range, or invoke the feature with nothing selected – it then asks whether the whole document is meant.

Then the configuration window. The settings that matter:

• Style Template – which of the templates found is used.
• Apply only style, no text updating (faster, safer) – the calm route. Only formatting is applied; the wording does not change. Start with this.
• Apply in Track Changes – the changes appear as a tracked revision.
• Preview each change – asks paragraph by paragraph, showing the style it recognised, the corresponding Word style, the confidence and the start of the text. Slow, but you see every decision. You can skip individual paragraphs.
• Use confidence threshold and Confidence threshold (0-100%) – paragraphs below the threshold are left alone. That way anything the matching was unsure about stays as it was.
• Create/update Word styles from template – creates missing Word styles in the document. If they already exist, the add-in warns: updating repeatedly can upset the formatting.
• Process table cells, Remove empty paragraphs after styling, List numbering reset (off / rule-based / LLM-assisted), Maximum heading levels.
• Document context (optional) – a hint about what the document is about; it helps the matching.
• Show report at end – shows what was matched. The report also lands in the clipboard.

Applying twice: don't

The add-in warns explicitly against applying a MyDocStyle template twice to the same document. On the second pass the matching meets already-formatted paragraphs and can classify them differently than the first time.

If you do want to repeat it, undo the first pass first or work on a fresh copy.

When it does not work

• "No valid style templates found." – there is no learned template yet, or it is not in one of the configured locations.
• "No style template paths are configured." – your administrator has to set up the storage locations.
• "Invalid JSON in template file" – the template was edited by hand and damaged in the process. Learn it again or fix the file.

A practical routine

1. Work on a copy of the document.
2. First pass with Apply only style and with the report on.
3. Look at the report and improve the template if paragraphs were matched wrongly.
4. Only then, if needed, work with the other options.