Styles in Word 2003 - numbered lists shift margins without permiss

[Benjamin Chambers]

Hello - I've set up a paragraph style for numbered lists I'm using in a long
document in Word 2003. List numbering needs to restart with each new section.
It works great for the first section (for example), but when I apply the
style to the first item in my second section, it automatically begins the
numbering where it left off in the first section.

No problem, right? Just tell it to "restart numbering," rather than
"continue previous list." But when I do this, the bloody thing shifts its
margin in by a quarter inch -- altering my saved style, and every single
instance where I've used it in the document.

The whole *point* of styles is to keep things consistent, so you can imagine
how annoying this is. Can you help me stop this from happening?

Thanks - -

 

[Benjamin Chambers]

I should add that the style changes Word inflicts on my new lists (where I
want the numbering to restart from the beginning) varies for no explicable
reason - it might not shift my margins, but add underlining. And in some
cases, I can't make the numbering start over at all, no matter what I do.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The only real solution to this is to use an outline-numbered list with a
dummy style to restart numbering. See these articles:

Restarting list numbering using a higher level style
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/numbering/listrestartfromstyle.htm

How to restart style-based numbering
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Numbering/ListRestartMethods.htm

 

[Benjamin Chambers]

My God. VBA? Frame styles? Dummy styles?

I do believe I'm going back to the typewriter.

But thanks for the quick reply.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You need only set up an outline-numbered list as explained at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html, setting the
top level to have no numbering. Level 1 should be a style that reliably
intervenes between your numbered lists. Level 2 is your numbered style.

 

[Benjamin Chambers]

Yes, I saw that, thanks. My problem is that I don't have a style that
reliably intervenes between lists. I think I saw a solution somewhere that
seemed likely to work, but I have to completely rebuild the document, and
from my uninitiated Dumb User standpoint, that's crazy. But again, thank you
for your help.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, if I use style-based numbering, I don't have a problem with Word
changing the margins when I restart numbering.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

And I should clarify that by that I mean that if I link a numbering format
to a specific style in an outline-numbered list (even if it's Level 1) and
use "Restart Numbering" manually, there's no change in margins; I believe
the same is true even with simple numbering applied to a style (using
Numbered rather than Outline Numbered).

 

[Stefan Blom]

An alternative is to use a LISTNUM field to restart the numbering. See
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/numbering/listrestartbylistnum.htm.

 

[Benjamin Chambers]

Suzanne - I finally got time to work through Shauna Kelly's instructions for
linking styles to outline numbering -- just as you suggest here -- and it
seems to be working. Just wanted to say "thanks" for your help. I was just
stunned that the solution was so complicated. -Benjamin

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Glad you got it working. I try to avoid anything but style-based numbering,
and I find I have very few problems.

 

[Launcher1]

This same thing happens in Word 2007! I can't believe that articles have been
written about this topic. It is very funny.I note that in some of my docs
this does NOT happen. In others it happens all the time so there must be some
kind of corruption going on only in some cases.

Now I'd better read those articles (sigh!)

 

[Stefan Blom]

What "does NOT happen"? If you are referring to restarting numbered lists
via the context menu, the problem with this approach is that there is no
easy way to tell, in the user interface at least, if a particular list has
been restarted or split into two lists.

On the other hand, using LISTNUM fields to restart numbering is relatively
straightforward, assuming that you are the only person editing the document.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


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