Borders and Outline Numbering

[Guest]

I have a long document that uses right-aligned outline numbering for the
section and subsection headings using the Heading 1 to Heading 5 styles. I
want to apply a border underneath the text in the heading, but when I modify
the style to insert a bottom border, the heading numbering disappears. Also,
the only width option is paragraph. How do I (a) stop the numbering from
disappearing, and (b) apply a margin-wide border?

And just for good measure, how can I also apply a margin-wide rectangular
coloured background to the headings automatically, without having to place a
text box or coloured rectange manually behind the heading?

 

[Stefan Blom]

Make sure that outline numbering is correctly applied as discussed at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html. Then
you should be able to add borders to the style(s) without losing
numbering. Note that if the paragraphs are indented from the margin,
borders will not go beyond the indents.

Background color for a paragraph style can be defined in the dialog
box where you added the border. Just click the Shading tab.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message
news[email protected]...

 

[Guest]

Hi Stefan

Thanks for your reply. I followed Shauna Kelly's article to get my numbering
working in the first place as my documnet was getting into a real mess.
Having sorted my section numbering, appendix numbering, figure and table
numbering, TOCs and list of tables and figures, I wanted to apply some style
to the hreadings. However, right-justified section numbers and underlines
just don't seem to work together - you simply cannot get the bordeer to
extend under the numbering. If you set up Heading 1, say, as described in
Shauna's artoicle, but set the numbering to right aligned, the number
displays ok. Then apply a border and the section number dissappears. I think
it must be because right-aligning sets a paragraph indent and underlining, as
you say, won't go past the indent.

What I really need is the kind of three line rules above/below that you can
get in Corel Ventura, where you can custom-define the rule width as well as
the line thickness, colour and vertical spacing in respect to the text.

My workaround has been to use a text box and horizontal line created with
the line drawing tiool grouped together and placed behind the heading text,
but this box has to be placed manually behind each heading, which is a
tedious task.

 

[Stefan Blom]

You are on the right track: as you've seen, a possible workaround is
to put the heading in a container. I wouldn't recommend using text
boxes, though. The reason is that Word ignores headings in text boxes
when creating a table of contents (because text boxes are in the
so-called drawing layer, which is separate from the main document). A
better way is to place each heading in a single-cell table. In order
to make insertion easier, you could save as an AutoText entry an
"example table" with the style and cell border applied.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Guest]

Hi Stefan

Sorry for the dely in replying, but I've been working on a different project
for a while.

Your comments about text in text boxes not being included in TOC, etc. is
useful. In this case, however, I am just using the text box as a graphic to
sit behind the text in the document, so the problem you describe doesn't
actually arise. I will try using your suggestion about a table to hold the
heading - I think I can see how to get this to work, but it will need a
number of merged cells and at least three rows ...

In the meantime, I have started to create a document template for use with
Corel Ventura. This allows you to have up to three individually specified
ruling lines above and/or below a line of text. You can specify line height,
width, and colour, and vertical placement relative to the text line. This
allows me to get my effect - a large coloured rectangle behind the heading
text with a single rule below the text in a different colour. The downside is
that captioning and creating lists of tables, figures, and a TOC is more
difficult.

Thanks for your help.

 

[Stefan Blom]

If all you want is a rectangular shape (with a fill color) around
text, you can define this for a paragraph (style) in Format>Borders
and Shading.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Guest]

Hi Stefan

Thanks for your help,on this one. I'm glad to say that I've now managed to
get the effects that I want. I've used a table for the headings - that allows
me to use the automated TOC features - and by a combination of merged cells
and fills, I've got the background colours and underlines exactly where I
want them. Sadly, my PC's system disk crashed a few days ago, just as I was
editing the file, and I've only just managed to get it re-built. Luckily the
drive with all my data files was not damaged in any way, so I didn't lose any
work.

Now I've got the look right, I've just got to finish the contents

 

[Stefan Blom]

I'm glad you got it sorted.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message