Getting different footers

[Joe McGuire]

I have a fairly long Word 2002 document and want to have a different footer
for each section. So far I find that each time I set up a new footer in a
subsequent section the same footer now shows up in the previous section
which until then had had its own footer. I have started each section with a
Section Break (Continuous) and ended it with a page break. I had originally
used Section Break (Next Page) but when I saw my footer pop up on the
preceding page I figured I should use the combination of Page Break and
Continuous section Break.

Here is an example of the problem. After setting up all the sections I made
a header for section 1; let's say the text was "111" for illustration. I
used the same footer for section 2 ("111"). At section 3 I made a footer
reading "333". In the process I tried to toggle "Same as Previous" off and
was asked if I wanted to delete my footer and attach this to the privious
section. I answered no; after all, I want a new footer here, and NOT the
previous one. I get the new "333" footer for sure at this spot. But now
when I check the prior section, its footer is now . . ."333!" Am I doing
something wrong? Is there a special setting that everykbody else
knows--except me? Going to Word Help seemed to show that I was doing
everything right. But, of course, coming out all wrong. Any suggestions?
(Sadly, yelling at the computer does not seem to have eny effect.)

Joe McGuire

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Joe,

After you insert a section break, while the cursor is in the new
section, open the header area. Notice that the top right edge of the
header's boundary box says "Same as previous" -- that means the new
section's header is linked to the previous section's header. Changing
one changes the other.

On the Header/Footer toolbar, find the Same As Previous button and
click it. It's a toggle that turns the linkage off and on. You want it
off, so the tag doesn't appear on the header boundary. Only then
should you change the new header.

This is completely independent of whether the section break is
Continuous or New Page. However, if you have parts of more than one
section on a page, separated by continuous breaks, the header and
footer will be the ones from the section that occupies the top of the
page.

 

[Joe McGuire]

Thanks! Getting this to work (approximately) has been a harrowing
experience. This will be the last time I attempt this--and I thought I was
pretty good with Word. Which, I guess, means that you get to the point
where you occasionally see something that is either deeply flawed in the
program or how the program is subject to supposed random "corruption."

Once I got the footers pretty much right I realized that Word had in the
interim shifted many of my Section Break/Next Page to Section
Break/Continuous. To make matters worse, this switcheroo screws up the
footers because they start to connect with the previous footer, like it or
not. At least that seemed to be the pattern. As I was about to heave my
new Dell laptop out the window it occured to me to try copying all but the
tail end of the document into a new one on the theory that maybe I was not
up against a Word nightmare but rather just "corruption." Unfortunately,
for some reason unlike Word 2000 copying and pasting the document in Word
2003 did not bring over the styles intact, so I had to spend a lot of time
fixing the styles. Once I got that stuff fixed, I was able to get the
footers under reasonable enough control. Word still seems to alter the
section breaks on its own, so apparently it is not a matter of "corruption."
When I finally got a draft that had all the right footers in the right
places (10 footers altogether) I figured it was time to quit. Perfect,
after all, is the enemy of good.

Joe McGuire

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

When Word changes a section break start on you, don't try to "fix" it by
deleting and reinserting or selecting and replacing the existing break.
Instead, go to the Layout tab of Page Setup and change the section start
type.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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[Joe McGuire]

Thanks--I had no idea! After a few minutes of finagling the document now
seems to be 100% right. Every section actually starts on a new page, with
the correct section break type, and every footer changes at the right spot.

I take it all back about never doing this again with footers. (Now if only
there were a way to get all those wasted hours back--and to be excused for
the nasty things I muttered, well, yelled--well it was under duress)