Trying to insert text after table upsets next SECTION's heading

[Kwn]

I inherited a document containing tables that occur immediately before
numbered sections. Word will not let me insert text after the table - when I
press Shift+ENTER, the spike moves to the beginning of the next section's
heading text, and any text I type is prepended to the existing heading text.

For example, when I press Shift+ENTER at the location indicated below by the
asterisk (outside Table 1's right margin and on the bottom row), the cursor
jumps to the position indicated by the # sign, intead of starting a new line
below the table. Any suggestions?

Table 1: Table Name
A B C D
3 2 1 0*

1.0 #NEW SECTION

 

[DeanH]

Shft+Enter is entering a manual line break and not entering a new paragraph.
You are doing what is correct except the next step, which is to apply the
style you want, not the one that Word automatically applies in this situation.
So with your:
1.0 #New Section
just apply the style you want, say Body Text and the new paragraph will
miraculously return to below the table, so long as the style you apply does
not have Page Break before, or Keep with Next as a paragraph setting. ;-)
Hope this helps
DeanH

 

[Kwn]

Dean,

Thanks, I used part of what you said to solve my immediate problem. The
next section heading was already there, with style "Heading 1" (p.s., which
in this document does indeed have "Page Break before" AND "Keep with Next" as
paragraph settings).

What I did was press Shft+Enter, then apply the style "Body Text". The
section title changed into body text and appeared below the table as you
said, but the section heading disappeared of course. I still need the
section heading, so I retyped that in and changed it's style to HEADING 1.0.
So the problem is solved.

Do you know if there's a way to do it without having to re-enter the section
heading? Or is this just a Word quirk?

 

[DeanH]

Word has a default setting of inhereting the style from above unless the
style has been setup to have a "Style to follow" applied.
What you are seeing is "normal" for Word.
I am still worried about the use of Shft+Enter for a manual line break
instead of Enter for a new paragraph especially immediately after a table.
What you could have done is Entered twice, so you get two Heading 1s, go
back to the first and apply the body text style.
But as you appreciate, there are many ways of doing one job in Word ;-)
Word has a built in Shortcut, Ctrl+Alt+1 to apply the Heading 1 style, also
2 for Heading 2, and 3 for Heading 3.

Glad this worked for you.
DeanH

 

[Kwn]

Great, thanks for the tip about entering the heading style with the
Ctrl+Alt+n keys.

When I tried to just press Enter in my original scenario, all that happened
was that it created a new blank row at the bottom of the table. Perhaps there
is a way to change that one row from table to text.

Thanks for your help, Dean.

 

[Kwn]

There was a new section heading immediately after the table already when I
started.

When I press enter at the end of the table, the new row is created as you
said, and the cursor is positiopned in the first cell on the new row. No
"Pilcrow" shows up with Show selected. If I press enter again, a new line
and a Pilcrow appear in that cell of the table where the cursor is. If
instead of pressing enter I press the down arrow, the cursor moves to the end
of the bext section's heading text.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Dean, what you're missing is that it can be difficult to insert an empty
paragraph between a table and a section break.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I ran into this issue recently myself. I think the only way around it is to
create a new empty paragraph *above* the table, then cut and paste the table
above that paragraph (don't drag the table, or you'll end up with it
wrapped, and you'll have to go to Table Properties | Table and set the text
wrapping back to None).

Another method that works in Word 2003 (but may not in Word 2007, which may
be where I had the problem) is to switch to Normal view, place the insertion
point at the beginning (left end) of the section break, and press Enter,
which *will* insert an empty paragraph above the break. Unlike page breaks,
section breaks don't take on the formatting of the following paragraph, so
much of what Dean has said is, I believe, irrelevant.

 

[Kwn]

I tried the "Normal view" method you suggested and that works. i almost
never use Normal view as I prefer the Print Layout view.

--
KenRK

I ran into this issue recently myself. I think the only way around it is to
create a new empty paragraph *above* the table, then cut and paste the table
above that paragraph (don't drag the table, or you'll end up with it
wrapped, and you'll have to go to Table Properties | Table and set the text
wrapping back to None).

Another method that works in Word 2003 (but may not in Word 2007, which may
be where I had the problem) is to switch to Normal view, place the insertion
point at the beginning (left end) of the section break, and press Enter,
which *will* insert an empty paragraph above the break. Unlike page breaks,
section breaks don't take on the formatting of the following paragraph, so
much of what Dean has said is, I believe, irrelevant.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Most users do prefer Print Layout. But there are some operations (especially
involving section breaks) that are much easier (or possibly only) in Normal
view.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

I tried the "Normal view" method you suggested and that works. i almost
never use Normal view as I prefer the Print Layout view.

 

[DeanH]

I did not see any reference to a section break only a new section Heading.

KenRK - glad you got there in the end.
All the best

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I guess you're right. But in that case it should be a simple matter of
pressing Enter at the beginning of the heading (between the number and the
heading) and then changing the style of the new paragraph to Normal. I think
I misunderstood the question entirely; I believe KenRK didn't understand
that the position between the number and the heading *is* the (effective)
beginning of the paragraph.

 

[grammatim]

Also, when you get near the end of a large and complicated document,
if you're in Print view Word wants to repaginate after nearly every
keystroke. In Normal (now "Draft") view, it doesn't repaginate.