Formatting conref text so that every insertion of it retains that formatting

Hi,

(Structured FM V10, DITA V1.2, Windows XP)

I've created several conrefs, and they work fine. But when I apply formatting to the text of a conref in the conref file, that formatting does not stick. I save the conref file, but when I close it and then open it, the formatting of the conref text is gone. Here's the details:

I created a conref called "about". It looks like this:

<ph>About this topic</ph>

I want to use the "step.callouts" style from the F Catalog. I apply the step.callouts formatting, the text is formatted, and all is well. I save the conref file, close it, and then open it, and now the formatting is gone.

So then I tried another tactic. Instead of applying the style from the F Catalog, I use the paragraph designer. I highlight the conref text (still in the conref file), and in the Paragraph Designer, I select Myriad Pro, Italic, SmallCaps, and GrayDark -- now the text looks just like I applied step.callouts to it. I save the file, close it, open it, and again, the formatting is gone!

As an experiment, I tried formatting with bold. I get the following:

<ph><b>About this task</b></ph>

I save the conref file, close it, open it, and now the formatting sticks. I open the topic that references this conref, and sure enough, About this task is in bold. Great, but I don't want it in bold, I want it in step.callouts (Myriad Pro, Italic, SmallCaps, and GrayDark). So how do I do this?