How to promote/demote with tab/shift-tab when using multi-level li

[zeta100]

"I want to create a multi-level list in Word 2007 with this format:

I. Solar System
A. Planets
1. Mercury

There is, I see, a pre-configured multi-level list in exactly this format
available from the multi-level list button. I select this choice (the one
that shows the style above with Heading 1, Heading 2, etc. When I start my
list using this choice, I get a bold blue "I." and I enter my first-level
text. However, when I press Enter, followed by Tab, it appeas that I've lost
all of the numbering. When I type "Planets" there is no "A." that precedes
it and the text is smaller and in black.

What am I doing incorrectly? I followed the directions on the Microsoft
training guide and came away with the impression that all I had to do was
press enter and return to promote and and shift-tab to go back a level.

Thanks for any help.

 

[grammatim]

Word is expecting you to type some content after each heading, so its
default for "Next Paragraph" is Normal. If you're usually _not_ going
to type any text until you get down to the Mercury level, then you
could Modify the Heading styles to change the "Next Paragraph" to
Heading 2 after Heading 1 and Heading 3 after Heading 2 (and leave it
Normal after Heading 3).

To Modify a style, open the Styles & Formatting panel (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-
S) and right-click on the style name, and choose Modify ....

 

[zeta100]

The advice to modify the next paragraph setting works.

I'm only working with a simple outline (not writing any normal-format
paragraphs).

Is there a more direct way to work on outlines?

Thank you for your help.

 

[grammatim]

Maybe you want to look into Outline View? You can promote and demote
entries and rearrange whole chunks of the outline. I don't know what
happens to numbered paragraphs, though.

You select it in the bottom right at the left of the zoom boxes.