Change vertical ruler for individual pages????

[Laurel]

I'm working on a document, a dissertation that has been through the hands of
several editors. Yesterday I was able to change the vertical ruler for
first pages of chapters, so it started 2 inches from the top of the page,
while the rest of the pages stayed at one inch below.

Today I tried to do that for the APPENDIX and REFERENCES, and no matter what
I do, if I slide the ruler one inch down, it affects all the pages in the
document.

HELP!!! Getting a PhD requires more knowledge about Word than about the
subject matter!!!!!!!!!!! Arghhh!!!!!

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You cannot change the margins of individual pages. You can change the
margins of sections, and, if each chapter is a section and you have
"Different first page" enabled, you can fake a larger top margin on the
first page of a chapter by adding space to the First Page Header.

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

 

[Laurel]

The first page of each chapter shows that the page starts two inches down
from the top in the vertical ruler to the left. All subsequent pages shows
it starting one inch down. What you're suggesting is that each first page
is a different "section" from all the other pages. How do I find out
whether I have sections in this document?

Actually, I mis-stated my experience. I wasn't changing the vertical ruler
from one inch to two inches, but, rather, from two inches to one inch. And
I was fixing a problem created by Word, when it magically created a two inch
header on regular pages (not first pages) after I removed a line feed above.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Space Before is retained at the top of a page after a section break, which
could explain the top margins. I think you'll find it much easier to find
what you're dealing with if you display text boundaries (which will show you
where the margins actually are). You should certainly be able to see section
breaks in Normal/Draft view, and you can see section numbers on the status
bar.

You would probably find it helpful to read
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/WorkWithSections.htm and
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/HeaderFooter.htm

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

 

[Laurel]

What is the "status bar?" I looked it up in HELP, but it isn't there. In
other words, can you tell me in excruciating detail how I can look to see if
my document really does have separate sections? I've never worked with
sections.

Also, how do I "display text boundaries?" It's not in Show/Hide or Word
Options/Display that I can see. I think I did see it once somewhere, but
don't know where.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The status bar is the bar across the bottom of the Word window that shows,
among other things, the section you're in and the page you're on. If you
search for "status bar" in Word 2003 Help, you get the article "Items that
appear in the status bar." If the status bar is not displayed, you can
display it by checking the box in Tools | Options | View.

Incredibly, in Word 2007, Help does not give any sensible results from a
search for "status bar," but the status bar cannot be hidden in that
version, and it is customizable: right-click on it to choose what you want
it to display; "Section" is one of the options.

From your reference to Word Options, it would appear that you do have Word
2007; display text boundaries at Office Button | Word Options | Advanced:
Show document content: Show text boundaries.

In Word 2007, if you have more than one section, the flag on the header pane
will say "Header - Section 1" or "Header - Section 2" instead of just
"Header."

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

 

[Laurel]

OK, getting there. The document definitely does have different sections for
the first page of a chapter and all the rest of the pages in a chapter. I'm
going to learn about section breaks as fast as I can. I think it will
explain lots of problems. I hope you're around this weekend. Gotta get
the formatting perfect for this dissertation or no doctorate. Argghhh!!!!

 

[Laurel]

I'm learning about sections, and am now able to make the top margins do what
they're supposed to do. Would you please look at my post entitled "two page
1's?" I'm pretty sure my problem of two page 1's has to do with their
being in separate sections. How do I specify whether I want page numbering
to start over with a section? It looks like that was eroneously set in this
one instance. The document has consecutive page numbers throughout (or
should - except for this one spot.)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Each chapter should be a single section. There is no need to have a separate
section for the first page of a chapter. Instead, enable "Different first
page" and use the techniques explained in
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm to make the first page
different.

A summary:

1. You can have a different header and footer on the first page of a
section; that's the basic purpose of "Different first page," which creates a
separate First Page Header and First Page Footer.

2. You can fake different margins on the first page by adding space to the
header/footer.

3. If you just want the text on the first page of the chapter to start
lower, you can add Space Before to the paragraph that begins the chapter
(chapter number or title, usually); it will be honored after a section
break.

4. To get a *uniform* drop at the beginning of a chapter (even when there
may be variation in the length of the chapter title or an opening quote), I
use a single-cell table with Exact row height and put the chapter opening
elements in it.

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

 

[Laurel]

THANKS!

Each chapter should be a single section. There is no need to have a
separate section for the first page of a chapter. Instead, enable
"Different first page" and use the techniques explained in
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm to make the first page
different.

A summary:

1. You can have a different header and footer on the first page of a
section; that's the basic purpose of "Different first page," which creates
a separate First Page Header and First Page Footer.

2. You can fake different margins on the first page by adding space to the
header/footer.

3. If you just want the text on the first page of the chapter to start
lower, you can add Space Before to the paragraph that begins the chapter
(chapter number or title, usually); it will be honored after a section
break.

4. To get a *uniform* drop at the beginning of a chapter (even when there
may be variation in the length of the chapter title or an opening quote),
I use a single-cell table with Exact row height and put the chapter
opening elements in it.

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