Thanks Joe lost me, what is: "I also remember being able to make the formatting tags visible "
Whether you can see them or not, all word processors use some sort of tag to identify the various formats within a document. Conceptually, not unlike
UBB,
XML,
markdown, or
HTML although often more complex. In word processors, these tags are either in non printable codes or the editor simply chooses not to display them. Microsoft Word is an example of the former type of tagging and WordPerfect was of the latter type, but offered an option to display and edit the tags in a separate pane of the WP window. The WP editor was not the best or most sophisticated so it was possible to end up with some almost surreal tag tangles, particularly in often edited and re-edited documents, making the ability to directly edit the tags an essential facility. I have no idea it that still exists in today's WordPerfect or not as I haven't used it in decades.
By-the-way Word was/is subject to many of the same kinds of error as WordPerfect but because you cannot see or directly edit Word's tags, users are less aware of some of the junk that exists undetected in Word files.
I also remember being able to make the formatting