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You'll generally find yourself working with three types of indents: a standard paragraph indent, a hanging indent for bibliographies and such, and a block indent, used to format longer quotations.

As usual, we want to let the computer do the formatting for us. Keep your hands off the tab key, and stay well away from the space bar; those are for amateurs. Here's how to set all three in Microsoft Word using the ruler.

Paragraph Indents

You can configure MS Word to indent for you by setting a first line indent on the ruler. You do this by dragging the top triangle on the left-hand side of the ruler over to the right, as shown below. If you set this up before you begin typing, you'll never have to hit the tab key again...a new paragraph indent will be created every time you hit 'Return.'

Note: I like to set my paragraph indents at about ¼-inch for 12-point text—I think it looks nice. Most style guides (like the MLA, APA, and Chicago, I believe) tend to specify ½-inch, or five-character, indents. If you're typing a paper in MLA (your Junior research paper) or APA (possibly an advanced Psychology paper) format, be sure you follow that particular style. This doesn't, of course, prevent you from setting the first indent marker on the ruler to ½-inch whenever you like...

Hanging Indents

Bibliographies require hanging indents, so that a reader can easily find the beginning of each entry. You can set these on the ruler, the same as a first line indent. Instead of the top triangle, though, grab the bottom triangle and drag it where you need it, as below.

Again, if you set this before you start typing, every line under the first will automatically be indented, until you start another entry.

Block Indents

When you type a longer quotation in a paper, it needs to have a block indent; that means that the text is indented from both the left and right margins. Tricky, unless you use Word's ruler.

To indent a block of text from the left side of the page, first select the text you need to indent. (If it's only one paragraph, simply clicking the cursor in it is enough.) Then, grab the little box under the pair of triangles on the ruler and drag it. Both triangles should move at once, and the whole chunk of text you've selected should move away from the edge of the margin.

Then, move to the right side of the ruler. You'll only find one triangle there, that controls the right indent. With your text still selected, pull that triangle in as far as you need it. When you're done, you should be left with a block of indented text, as shown below.

It is, of course, possible to do all of these things with the tab key, space bar, and return key, but using the ruler gives you the freedom to go back and make changes to the text without losing any of your previous formatting. Happy indenting!