Autoformat for Lists

[Geoff332]

Hello,

I'm increasingly annoyed with the autoformatting behaviour in Word 2007. The
problem is, no matter what I do, Word applies indents of 0.63cm for all
autoformatted lists.

I've tried changing the styles, but you can't seem to access the indents for
the default list styles. I can make the changes I need to multi-level lists
and I can easily apply changes to lists created. The List Paragraph
formatting now reads: "Indent: Left: 1 cm, Hanging: 0.5 cm, Right: 1 cm,
Left, Bulleted + Level: 1 + Aligned at: 1 cm + Indent at: 1.63 cm, Based
on: Normal". I can see exactly what needs to be changed, but I can't find a
way to change it.

The problem is, I'm not the only one using the template I'm trying to create
and other people won't make these manual changes. So I need to know if this
can be changed or not.

Thanks,
Geoff.

 

[Stefan Blom]

If you are trying to change the "default" indentation by modifying the List
Paragraph style, you won't succeed.

Instead, create a paragraph style with the desired numbering setup, and
store the style in your template.

For a single-level list you should use the Adjust List Indents dialog box to
set the indentation that you want. Just right-click a list item and choose
Adjust List Indents from the context menu (or click to select the actual
paragraph number, which is sometimes more reliable, and then right-click).

 

[Stefan Blom]

And if you are creating outline (multilevel) numbering, use Home tab |
Multilevel List | Define New Multilevel List.

 

[Geoff332]

Unfortunately, that doesn't solve the problem. I can easily change the
indents on a list I've already created. I can't work out how to change the
indents that Word uses when autoformatting lists. It appears that the latter
is hard coded somewhere and can't be changed.

Thanks.

 

[Stefan Blom]

As I wrote, you *can* do this assuming that you associate the changes with
styles (a list style or multiple paragraph styles, one per numbering level).

 

[Geoff332]

It doesn't work.

I'm trying to control the lists created by autoformatting. When I type "* "
Word automatically creates a list and applies the 'List Paragraph' style.
Using the instructions you gave, I've changed the settings for this style and
Word seems to remember that: that style now has the appropriate formatting
set.

However, if I delete the lists and repeat the autoformatting "* ", the list
is created, the 'List Paragraph' style is applied, but the indents are the
default indents, not the ones I changed it to. When I look at the styles
assigned to the paragraph, I can see that additional direct formatting has
been applied, changing the indent. I want to either control that direct
formatting, or stop it being applied.

I can always fix this by manually applying a list or paragraph style, but I
know the users of this template won't do that, so want to change the default
options. Everything I've done - including following your suggestions (and
every variation I can think of on them) - hasn't worked.

Thanks,
Geoff.

 

[Stefan Blom]

And I'm saying that you can't control the indentation of automatic lists,
unless you make use of styles. The List Paragraph style is of no help here,
unfortunately.

In the case of bullet formatting, it's fairly easy: teach users to press
Ctrl+Shift+L, which applies the List Bullet style (in the template, you can
modify the style to suit your needs).

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I think you're at cross-purposes because you're using different meanings of
"automatic." Stefan, you're talking about auto numbering (including bullets)
as applied from the Bullets and Numbering dialog (or equivalent), as opposed
to the Bullets and Numbering buttons. It would appear (from his reference to
typing an asterisk) that "Geoff332" is talking about "Automatic numbered
lists" and "Automatic bulleted lists" under "Apply as you type" on the
AutoFormat As You Type tab of AutoCorrect Options. Since these AutoFormat
options use the currently selected list format (or the default list
format?), there is no way they are going to be satisfactory.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Geoff332]

That's correct - I never know the 'correct' terminology - it's the
AutoCorrect options that are causing problems. These problems can all be
avoided by using styles. Unfortunately, getting users to use styles is, in
all practical senses, impossible (even limiting the formatting to styles
isn't accepted in my organisation).

This would be solved if there's anyway to force Word to hold a currently
selected list format, linked to a style? I suspect the answer's no, as it'd
have to remember both a numbered and bulleted formats and it appears to
dynamically create a style (based on something) every time you start working

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you disable the automatic lists, then users will either have to
number/bullet lists manually (which would drive them to some other method),
or they will use the buttons for Bullets and Numbering, which will give them
the current default, which will often be unsatisfactory (and unpredictable
at the least). In earlier versions, this was easily solved by giving users a
custom toolbar from which they could apply the desired styles as easily as
they could use the Bullets and Numbering buttons. You might approximate this
by defining such styles and promoting them to top positions in the Quick
Styles gallery (and look forward to Word 2010, in which Ribbon customization
is much easier).

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Stefan Blom]

I believe you have summarized the key points in an excellent fashion. Not
the first time, and certainly not the last!

 

[Stefan Blom]

You could also create a macro that applies the relevant styles and attach
the macro to a button on the Quick Access Toolbar.