RE: Value of giving up numbering in Word?

Subject: RE: Value of giving up numbering in Word?
From: "Donald H. White" <dwhite -at- jrtcllc -dot- com>
To: "'Tim Mantyla'" <TimMantyla -at- nustep -dot- com>, <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com>
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 2008 12:36:53 -0400

Auto-numbering in Word is an iffy thing, indeed. A colleague of mine and I
just beat our heads over this issue yesterday.

My first recommendation is to NOT USE numbered paragraphs unless absolutely
required. This is the classic optimal solution, and it bears little
resemblance to reality. Most companies and government agencies like to see
numbers ad nausea. So...

If your document is a new file with NO history and you can establish the
stylesheet for it, you shouldn't have any problems with major autonumber
fields (Heading 1-Heading 9). If you're using a corporate template (that
probably wasn't created by an expert Word user) or a generational document
that needs to be updated (dating back to Word v4.x), you are probably stuck.
Here's a couple of suggestions:

A. Go into the styles and check the autonumber sequencing.
B. Using the Bullets and Numbering dialog, click the "Reset" button for all
customized number schemes.
C. Close and save the file.
D. Re-open it and click in a numbered heading (any level, but level 3 and
below seems to work better).
E. Select the option to Modify the heading.
F. Open the Bullets and Numbering dialog.
G. In the Number Format field, check to make sure that all numbers are "1"
and that, when you highlight a given number (say, the second "1" between
periods) the level in the list to the left corresponds with the correct
heading level for the number.

(With a Heading 4, the Number Format field should show "1.1.1.1;" the level
for the first "1" should indicate Level 1, the second level 2, etc.)

H. If there's an out-of-sequence level, remove it, place the cursor where it
should be in the sequence, and click the appropriate level in the Level list
on the left.

There, I've met my need for alliteration today.

If this doesn't work, remember that I have not claimed to be a Word
"expert."

Good luck!

Donald H. White
James River Technical Communications LLC
dwhite -at- jrtcllc -dot- com
www.jrtcllc.com



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Value of giving up numbering in Word?: From: Tim Mantyla

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