page numbering

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The page numbering function is very erratic in a text I am working on - it's complex in that it mixes single column headings and double columns of text. It increments the sections constantly - after about 10 pages I am up to 17 without consciously having put in section breaks except where necessary twice to change the header or footer. The page numbers either stay the same on each page, or don't appear, or start from a low number. Any solutions?
 
Hi Lanna,

Lanna said:
The page numbering function is very erratic in a text I am
working on - it's complex in that it mixes single column
headings and double columns of text. It increments the
Click to expand...

By "It", do you mean Word? Word does not increment sections by itself when
you work with columns...
sections constantly - after about 10 pages I am up to 17
without consciously having put in section breaks except
Click to expand...

Again, I do not understand.... If you have a mix of single and double column
text, then you ncessarily have section breaks, so to be at section #17 on
page 10 is perfectly normal in this case.
What do you mean "without consciously having put in section breaks"? How did
you go from one to two and back to one column without inserting section
breaks?
where necessary twice to change the header or footer.
The page numbers either stay the same on each page,
or don't appear, or start from a low number. Any
solutions?
Click to expand...

First, make sure you understand how your document is built. Click on the ¶
on the standard toolbar to display the non-printing characters. You most
certainly will see that before and after the two-column sections, there are
continuous section breaks. It is those breaks that are currently causing you
pain! You cannot remove them (without reverting to single column), but you
have to access each of those section's header/footer to make sure that they
are all set to "Same as Previous" if you want the same header/footer
everywhere (except for the section where you said you specifically wanted to
change the header/footer, of course!).

The problem is that very often, on a page where there is a short section
delimited by two continuous section breaks, if you display the header for
that page, you will most likely get the header for the section that precedes
the continuous section break, but the problem is in the continuous section's
header... So, to go around that, What I do is to insert a temporary "page
beak" somewhere in the middle of the continuous section, then, with my
cursor on the first line of the new page, I display the header/footer, now I
am guaranteed to be in the proper section's header, then this header can be
modified as needed (in your case make sure it is set to "Same as Previous"),
then I remove the page break. Repeat this for all the continuous sections in
your document.

Good luck.

--
Cheers!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
(e-mail address removed)
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org
 
Hi, Lanna,

Just to add two bits to Jean-Guy's excellent advice:

- When you use the Format > Columns dialog or toolbar button to change the
number of columns (either "from this point forward" or for selected text),
Word automatically inserts a continuous section break before that point (and
in the case of a selection, also at the end of it). That's why you get lots
of sections.

- In addition to setting each section's heading to "Same As Previous", you
may have to change another setting. On the Header/Footer toolbar, click the
Format Page Number button. At the bottom of the dialog that appears, make
sure the "Continue from previous section" option is selected. If it's set to
start at 1 (or some other number), that would explain why the page numbering
isn't sequential. Again, do this for each section.
 
Thanks Jay...

Had forgotten about that little dropdown at the bottom of the dialog! So
this is how she ended up with all those section breaks unaware!

I guess you can tell that I use columns all the time!
--
Cheers!
_______________________________________
Jean-Guy Marcil - Word MVP
(e-mail address removed)
Word MVP site: http://www.word.mvps.org
 
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