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Subject:RE: Value of giving up numbering in Word? From:Yves JEAUROND <jingting -at- rogers -dot- com> To:techwr-l -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com Date:Tue, 11 Mar 2008 17:55:24 -0400 (EDT)
Tim M.:
You are talking about steps in a procedure?
1. Blabla
2. Bla
3. Blablabla... ???
The reason that people say numbering doesn't work, is that they manually select
a different/random panel for a step in the same list,
in the Format / Bullets and Numbering window.
And they click the Numbered tab instead of the Outline Numbered tab.
Or both. Then they cut and paste steps from one of these inconsistent lists
to paste in another. And they mix that with use of the Numbering button
on the toolbar. And Word gets confused in that soup of inconsistent user actions.
It is easy to make such a "soup"; Microsoft has made the numbering
interface so lacking in contrast, that is easy to be inconsistent.
Solution
Are you using a style for your numbered lists?
A style that uses numbering is easy to manage. Use styles.
Create a style for your numbered steps and stick to it.
Edit the numbering only in the style, with care that you always select the same panel (of eight). Once setup, the only manual thing that you need to do is:
1. Select the style.
2. Use Format/ Bullets and Numbering/ Restart Numbering (or Continue Previous List).
That works for me. Simple. No muss; no fuss, and for hundreds of procedures
in the same doc. It works as well as FrameMaker, and is easier to setup.
YJ
"Donald H. White" <dwhite -at- jrtcllc -dot- com> a écrit :
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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