Word should do as it is told

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Guest

Not sure if this is the right place for this, as I just want to have a
general moan about Word 2003 formatting.
I've been trying to edit a document and the heading numbering is absolutely
useless. I'm sure it didn't use to be as bad as this?
I just want my headings to number sensibly, (i.e 1, 1.1, 1.2...
1.N,2,2.1...2.N) but it keeps re-starting numbering (depending on the header
level), disabling list re-start when it should be re-starting etc. In the end
I have resorted to cutting and pasting previous sections just so I can modify
that instead of trying to choose headings manually. And even then, it
sometimes chooses a different heading number level than the one I've copied
and re-formats it!

Shouldn't a program do what it is told to do? This is driving me crazy. I've
seen an article by an MVP telling me how to set up heading numbering
properly, but really - should I have to do that? How did this version ever
get out the door - it's attrocious.

Oh, and to cap it all - I just tried to insert a cross reference to a figure
caption and it also inserted a copy of the accompanying picture. When would
anyone ever, ever, ever want to do that? What were they thinking?

Ah, I feel better now!

Neil
 
Well, luckily your general moan at least includes some specific complaints
that we can address! For the numbering, first make sure that you have it set
up *exactly* as described at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html. Then make
sure that Word doesn't have any opportunity to AutoFormat your text against
your wishes; see http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Formatting/TameAutoFormat.htm,
especially the points that relate to styles and numbering.

As for the cross-reference, will you be terribly offended if I tell you you
have done this to yourself? When you create a cross-reference, Word inserts
a bookmark around the caption or paragraph number. If you then press Enter
at the beginning of that paragraph, anything you subsequently type or insert
gets inside that bookmark and will be included in the cross-reference. To
avoid this, always be careful to press Enter at the end of the previous
paragraph instead. For now, you can correct this by selecting just the
portion of the caption you want to cross-reference, going to Insert |
Bookmark, checking "Hidden bookmarks," and sorting by Location. The bookmark
that is highlighted will be the one for your cross-reference. Click Add to
reapply it to the selected text.

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

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
Thanks for the URL - that's the article I had discovered. I just can't face
trying it yet - suppose it goes wrong and I have to spend another two hours
messing about to get my heading numbers back :-)

I had a look at the 'hidden' bookmarks and you are right - again! Although I
did this in an entirely innocuous way. Inserted a picture. Put a caption
underneath it. Then realised I had to edit the picture to change it slightly
and Word wouldn't let me do this by double-clicking it (!) so I pasted the
new version between the original and the caption, then deleted the original.

I stand by my original moan though, and have to repeat it just to make
myself feel good - Programs should, by and large, do what you tell them. If
you buy the industry standard Word Processor, then have to go to someones
web-site (MVP or not) to actually make the program work correctly, then
something is wrong with the program.

Thanks very much for your help,

Neil
 
Wrt the numbering, unless you discipline yourself to set up your outline
numbering as detailed in Shauna's articles, you can expect to have future
problems. The method she describes makes it pretty much unbreakable.

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

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.
 
suppose it goes wrong and I have to spend another two hours
messing about to get my heading numbers back :-)
Click to expand...
Always experiment on a copy of the file? Do another Save As before doing
anything significant?

I hope you posted your moan as a Suggestion from the Web interface? Then it
will get tracked--otherwise, we here tend to respond to the specific
problem, as we can't do much about trying to change Word's attitude.
(there's a thought--Word as spoiled teenager :)

DM
 
Yes, I did. I hope it does get tracked. I'm a bit perplexed by this problem.
I generally subscribe to the rule that if you install MS products and don't
mess about with the default settings, everything gets along pretty well. But
in this case I'm really frustrated by this. I can't imagine who would think
this behaviour was OK to release...

With regard to saving another copy, that's fine, but if I want to make
changes to my template, think it's all ok then open the original working
document and it all goes horribly wrong, then I could be stuffed. I'm going
to stick to copy, paste and hope at the moment, and then try this resolution
when I'm done. Anyway, God knows I get little enough excitement in my life -
the thrill of the heading numbering roller coaster is all that's getting me
through at the moment :-) Documentation ugh :-P

Thanks for your suggestions,

Neil
 
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