How to set default style

Question

Hello all.
I don't like the way iWork default set's some of the settings as far as page layout and certain aspects. Now I know what settings I want to change, is there a way I can change them and make that the new style so that whenever I start a new document it uses those?
I change my settings, "Rewrite" or something on the "body" style but it doesn't change it when i make a new document.
Any help is appreciated
Bryan

Answer 1

Pages has excellent bullet styles.
In an open Pages doc click on the 'view' icon in your toolbar and select 'show styles drawer. At the very bottom right of the styles drawer there is a button to show list styles. Click on it and you will see some options. (Bullet, harvard, legal, etc.) Select some text and click on a style (like harvard or bullets) and that outline style will be applied to the text you create.
List styles have different bullets depending on the style. The commands to increase or decrease the level of the indent (and the bullet used) are:
Decrease list indent level Command-[
Increase list indent level Command-]
When you press these (in most styles) the bullets will change.
Bullet styles can also be customized but it is a pain the neck. You customize them in the Inspector and you need to specify which bullet style is used for which level and amount of indent.
<hr>
From the help menu:
You can use the Text Inspector to format paragraphs as bulleted lists.
Tip: You can also use one of the preformatted list styles in the Styles drawer to create a bulleted list with the click of your mouse.
To format a bulleted list using the Text Inspector:
Press the Return key to start a new paragraph, or select one or more paragraphs to format as a list.
Click Inspector in the toolbar, and then click the Text Inspector button.
Click List.
Choose a bullet style for your list:
To use a typed character as a bullet, choose Text Bullet from the Bullets & Numbering pop-up menu and choose a character from the list or type a new character in the field.
To use one of the image bullets that comes with Pages, choose Image Bullet from the Bullets & Numbering pop-up menu and choose an image from the scrolling list.
To use your own image as a bullet, choose Custom Image from the Bullets & Numbering pop-up menu and choose an image in the Open dialog.
Do one or more of the following to add new topics:
To enter a new topic at the current list indent level, press Return. Pages automatically formats the next paragraph as part of your list.
To enter a new topic at the next lower or higher indent level, click one of the arrows adjacent to the Indent Level field. You can also click and hold a bullet, and then drag to the right, to the left, down and to the right, or down and to the left.
To return to regular paragraph text at the end of your list, press Return and choose No Bullets from the Bullets & Numbering pop-up menu. You may also want to adjust the indent level when you return to regular paragraph text.
Tip: To create an unbulleted paragraph within a bulleted list, press Return while holding down the Shift key.
To position bullets higher or lower relative to text, type a new value in the Align field.
To increase or reduce the size of an image bullet, type a percentage of the original image size in the Size field. Or, select the "Scale with text" checkbox and type a percentage of the text size; this maintains the image-to-text size ratio of the bullets even if you later change the font size of text.
To adjust the space between bullets and the left margin, type a new value in the Bullet Indent field. To adjust the space between bullets and text, type a new value in the Text Indent field.
Kurt