More style questions

[Bruce]

If I understand correctly, Word 2000 outline numbering
assumes certain tabs, indents, and so forth, and these
cannot be reliably changed. I have been struggling for
days now with attempting to customize an outline numbering
scheme that I need for MY documents (not Microsoft's idea
of what I need). Every time I get close, the whole scheme
changes itself. For instance, I attempted to follow an
earlier suggestion in this sapce for a level of numbering
that I sometimes wanted in the format 1.1.1.1, 1.1.1.2,
etc., and sometimes in the format a), b), etc. It was to
be the fourth level of my outline scheme. The suggestion
was to format the a), b), etc. format as level 5 in the
outline numbering hierarchy with the same indent as level
4, and to restart numbering after level 3. I link each
level to a style name. Doesn't work. When I try to link
a level of the outline to a style, then try to link
another level to another style, the first one sometimes
changes to something else. Alternatively, the outline
level remains linked to a style, but the style redefines
itself, with new tabs, indents, etc.
I think the solution to the numbering problem I mentioned
above is to abandon outline numbering when I need the a),
b), etc. format, and use straight numbering at that
point. Actually, it's more of a workaround than a
solution, but Word is a collection of workarounds.
By the way, I have read Shauna Kelly's articles, and MVP
articles, and anything else I can find about outline
numbering and styles. My best guess is that I either need
to take what Microsoft will give me (built-in styles,
etc.) or forget it.
Perhaps what I need to do is to customize an entire
numbering scheme BEFORE I link the levels to styles. I
will try that now. This is much more difficult than it
should be.

 

[Margaret Aldis]

Hi Bruce

Not sure if this helps with all your questions but:

You can reliably set up your own outline numbering scheme, provided each
level is linked to a style and you follow Shauna's instructions exactly.

If you have two different numbering formats for a type of paragraph, then
you need to use two different styles. They can be identical in other
respects, but linked to different levels of the numbering scheme.

Hope this is some comfort and encouragement to give it another try <g>

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To add to what Margaret has said, note that the tabs and indents must be set
in the Numbering dialog; other paragraph properties can be set in Format
Paragraph, but the numbering-related tabs and indents set in Numbering will
override any Paragraph settings.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

To address your first comment, you *do* set the hanging indent in the
Numbering dialog. That's what the "Indent at" setting is. "Tab position at"
is the position to which the tab after the number goes, and it should be the
same as the indent if you want the text on both lines to align.

The important thing in going to Format | Bullets and Numbering is *always*
to approach it through the top-level style of your outline numbered list
(Format | Style | Modify: Numbering) and always to use the currently
selected pane (which may be in a different location at various times). You
can reset all the numbering defaults in a new blank document (with your
document closed) from time to time to clear out the underbrush. But you
*must* follow the instructions in Shauna's article to get the outline
numbering working properly if you want it to be unbreakable and
trouble-free.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I was vaguely aware that Word 2002 had better controls than Word 2000, but
even in Word 2002, you're better off using outline numbering than simple
numbering (which has only "Number position" and "Text position"), not to
mention that you can't link simple numbering to a style (there's no "More"
portion of the dialog).

You can update a numbered style by example provided you've made the changes
the "right" way. This means that you can change the *right* paragraph indent
using the ruler and update the style, but you can't change anything on the
left using the ruler; for that you have to use the Bullets and Numbering
dialog, and since the only really safe way to approach this is through
Format | Style for the top-level style, you're changing the style anyway. It
just takes a little getting used to!

I agree that styles, especially numbered ones, are a difficult concept (and
I still struggle with numbering whenever I try to take shortcuts), but they
really do save so much time in the long run, at least in long, complex
documents, that they are worth learning to use.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://www.mvps.org/word
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.