NEW ONSTYLE UPDATE 3.7 – Improvements and New Features
What’s New in OnStyle 3.7 at a Glance
The most important updates include:
- A new interactive Guide that helps Essential and Professional users get familiar with the OnStyle Ribbon.
- New checks and fixes for internal links, number formatting, page numbering, alignment, headers, footers, section breaks, and font sizes.
- Improved support for structured documents, including clearer behavior in locked Content Controls.
- Better visibility for enterprise users, including clearer information about licensed active extensions and improved license handling.
- Enhanced existing checks and fixes, including duplicated heading numbering, page number checks, and caption correction for legacy documents.
A New Guide for Getting Started
A new Guide tool has been added for Essential and Professional users. The Guide provides an interactive UI tour of the main parts of the OnStyle Ribbon by highlighting relevant controls and displaying short explanatory messages. The Guide can start automatically the first time a user launches a new OnStyle version. It can also be started manually from: Help > Start Tour. This is especially helpful for new users because it explains where key tools are located and what they are used for.
Stronger Support for Structured Documents
Improved Handling of Locked Content Controls
The behavior of Authoring Tools has been changed when they are used in locked Content Controls. Tools that cannot be used in a protected area are now shown as unavailable on the Ribbon, making it easier for users to understand what they can and cannot edit. This supports a more controlled authoring experience in structured documents.
Enhanced Highlight Text Content Control
OnStyle 3.7 adds the possibility to include the entire Highlight Text content control, including color selection.Highlighted content can be handled more consistently.
New Inspection and Correction Modules in OnStyle 3.7
OnStyle 3.7 introduces several new checks with related fixes. These help users detect common formatting and structure problems, then correct many of them more efficiently.
Availability may depend on the installed edition and configuration. The table below reflects the available features for Essential and Professional Editions.
| Check and Fix | OnStyle Essential | OnStyle Professional |
| Incorrect Internal Link Type inspection and Fix Internal Link correction | X | |
| Incorrect Number Format inspection and Normalize Number Format correction | ||
| Inconsistent Page Numbering inspection and Normalize Page Numbering correction | X | |
| Incorrect Narrative Text Alignment inspection and Normalize Alignment correction | X | X |
| Incorrect Header Style inspection and Fix Header Style correction | X | |
| Incorrect Footer Style inspection and Fix Footer Style correction | X | |
| Incorrect Section Break Style inspection and Apply Section Break Style correction | X | X |
| Small Font Size inspection and Remediate Font Size correction | X | X |
Enhanced Internal Link Validation
Internal link validation has been enhanced by improving the Internal Link Not Set inspection and introducing the new Incorrect Internal Link Type inspection. Together, these modules provide more comprehensive validation of internal references by detecting both unlinked reference-like text and existing internal links that do not use the configured reference type. This means, for example, finding cases where a Cross-Reference is used instead of a Hyperlink, or the other way around.Identified issues are also grouped by target, making repeated references easier to review and correct efficiently.
The connected new Fix Internal Link correction can repair missing or incorrectly created internal references. Depending on the configuration, OnStyle can create either a Hyperlink or a Cross-Reference to the correct target.
Incorrect Number Format
The new Incorrect Number Format inspection checks whether numbers follow the expected format for the configured proofing language. It checks decimal separators, thousands separators, and grouping patterns, and can treat special numeric expressions separately.
The related Normalize Number Format correction can reformat incorrect numbers according to the expected locale-specific rules.
Inconsistent Page Numbering
The new Inconsistent Page Numbering inspection checks whether page numbering continues correctly throughout the document. It can evaluate both automatic page numbers and manually inserted page numbers.
The new Normalize Page Numbering correction restores continuous automatic page numbering across sections where built-in page numbering is used.
Incorrect Text Alignment
The new Incorrect Narrative Text Alignment inspection checks whether paragraphs use the expected alignment.
The related Normalize Alignment correction can restore the expected paragraph alignment by removing conflicting direct formatting and, where necessary, applying the configured alignment.
Header and Footer Style Validation
OnStyle 3.7 introduces new inspections for header and footer style consistency. The Incorrect Header Style inspection checks header paragraphs against the configured header style, including inherited and variant headers such as Different First Page and Odd/Even Pages. The Incorrect Footer Style inspection performs the same type of validation for footer paragraphs.
The related Fix Header Style and Fix Footer Style corrections apply the configured style to affected header or footer paragraphs.
Incorrect Section Break Style
The new Incorrect Section Break Style inspection checks whether paragraphs containing section breaks use the required style.
The related Apply Section Break Style correction applies the configured style, with Normal as the default, to the paragraph containing the section break.
Small Font Size Inspection
The new Small Font Size inspection finds text that is smaller than the configured minimum font size.
The related Remediate Font Size correction updates them to the required minimum font size while preserving other direct formatting such as bold, italic, underline, and highlight.
Enhanced Inspection and Correction Modules
Improved Duplicated Heading Numbering Module
The Duplicated Heading Numbering module has been improved to provide more robust detection of duplicated numbering scenarios. It also now includes Included Styles and Excluded Styles settings, which allow validation to focus on the relevant styles.This helps users catch duplicated heading numbers more reliably, especially in documents where only certain heading styles should be checked.
Enhanced Page Number Missing Module
The Page Number Missing module now includes a Skip Cover Page setting. This is useful when the beginning of a document should not be checked for page numbers.Users can avoid unnecessary page-number warnings on cover pages or front matter where page numbers are not expected.
Improved Fix Caption Correction
The Fix Caption correction has been enhanced to support the transformation of legacy documents, improving correction coverage in migrated or older-format content.Older documents can be brought closer to the expected format with less manual caption repair.
Technical Changes in OnStyle 3.7
Behind the scenes, OnStyle 3.7 includes improvements to the framework and plugin layers. In everyday use, this means OnStyle has a stronger technical foundation for current tools and future enhancements.
Extended About Dialog
The About dialog now shows a summary of the licensed active extensions available in your OnStyle environment. This is useful because users can more easily see which OnStyle features are available to them without searching through separate license or configuration information.
Improved License Handling
OnStyle 3.7 also includes improved license protection by preventing manual or silent reactivation. This will provide enterprise users better control when managing licenses across their organization.
Exploring OnStyle 3.7: Present and Future
OnStyle 3.7 brings practical improvements for both new and experienced users. The new Guide tool helps users become familiar with the OnStyle Ribbon more easily, while the improved inspections and corrections strengthen document validation across links, numbers, page numbering, alignment, headers, footers, section breaks, and font size.
Together, these updates make OnStyle 3.7easier to learn, easier to manage, and more helpful in everyday Microsoft Word document work. From structured authoring to automated formatting checks and built-in corrections, OnStyle continues to help users reduce repetitive manual work and create more consistent Word documents.