Re: Numbered list misbehaviour in Word97...

[Keith Anderson <mka -at- FLASH -dot- NET>]

Sometime in July I posted a solution to the Word numbering issue. I've dug
it up and reposted it below. It takes a little time to set up, but not as
much as resetting each list. I had several people email me directly with
their successes. I hope it helps.

Original Message

> > I found a work around to this several months ago, and it's proven to
> be
> > a life-saver. Here is the effect I wanted (at a very simple level):
> >
> > To do this you need to:
> > 1. Blah Blah
> > 2. Blah Blah
> > 3. Blah Blah
> >
> > According to my style guide, no numbered list should start without a
> > introductory phrase like the one above. Here's what I did to make it
> > happen.
> >
> > Create a style called Step Intro (or whatever), which is obviously the
> > introductory phrase. Don't assign formatting properties to it yet.
> Next,
> > create a style called Step, which is the numbered style.
> >
> > Follow these steps to make them play nice together:
> > 1. From the Modify Style dialog box, click Format/Numbering.
> > 2. In the Bullets and Numbering dialog box, Click the Outline tab,
> > select one of the outline boxes (it doesn't matter which one because
> > you'll customize it), and click Customize.
> > 3. Ensure Level 1 is selected.
> > 4. Select (None) for the Number Style.
> > 5. Click More to display more stuff (why don't they just display it
> all
> > at once?).
> > 6. Select Step Intro from the Link level to style list.
> > 7. Click the OK buttons until you get back to the Modify Style dialog
> > box.
> > 8. Follow steps 1-7 for the Step style with the following important
> > exceptions:
> >         * Select level 2 instead of one
> >         * Create your custom numbering style (fonts, number type,
> etc.)
> >         * Link the outline level 2 to the Step style
> >         * And the biggie: Check the Restart number after higher list
> > level check box
> >
> > Please note:
> >
> > For all bulleted or numbered styles in Word 97, configure the bullet
> or
> > number BEFORE you configure the paragraph indention. Every time you
> > configure or change the bullet or number, Word resets the left
> indention
> > to "0". <biting sarcasm>Thanks Microsoft for making this so
> > easy.</biting sarcasm>
> >
> >
> > These instructions were written quickly, but I think I remember
> > everything. If you have questions let me know.
> >


Keith Anderson

mka -at- flash -dot- net


-----Original Message-----
From: Technical Writers List; for all Technical Communication issues
[mailto:TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU]On Behalf Of Christine Champeaux
Sent: Friday, November 06, 1998 11:53 AM
To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
Subject: Fw: Numbered list misbehaviour in Word97...


I've had a few battles with Word and numbering, and I too am more of a Frame
user.  One solution that I used was to create a Word style that will reset
the number to 1 (style name: number1), and then set the next style for
standard sequential numbering (style name: numbers).

{this is similar to creating the paragraph styles in Frame, and I'm assuming
that most users have two tags for creating numbered lists--one tag for
starting a list, and a second tag for sequential numbering.}

Granted this solution means that you have to apply the style (number1) at
the beginning of lists, but it sure beats the headaches of seeing what
damage is done each time a new numbered list is added to your document.


Hope this helps!

Christine Champeaux


>-----Original Message-----
>From: Dan Schmitz <djs -at- GENE -dot- COM>
>To: TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU <TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU>
>Date: Thursday, November 05, 1998 7:15 PM
>Subject: Numbered list misbehaviour in Word97...
>
>
>>
>>I'm sure this has been addressed before, but please indulge me.
>>
>>Why is it that, when attempting to restart the numbering in numbered
lists,
>>Word97 also changes some of the formatting?
>>
>>An example of what I'm talking about is when I have numbered lists that
>>appear in different parts of a page or document, usually separated by one
>>or more paragraphs of text. Word's default seems to be to auto-number each
>>list as a continuation of the previous list. When I then highlight the
list
>>and tell Word to restart the numbering, I lose formatting attributes such
>>as indentation. When I manually move the list items back to the proper
>>indentation, Word changes the numbering back to continuous. We go back and
>>forth like this, until I give up and simply number items manually.
>>
>>Also, if I attempt to save a numbered list as a style, Word defaults to
>>continuous numbering, and again, I lose my formatting if I attempt to
>>intervene.
>>
>>Can anyone comment on Word's anti-social numbering behaviour and suggest
>>work-arounds? I am a Framemaker user, where numbering problems like this
>>are virtually non-existent, but unfortunately, I have to do a lot of my
>>documentation in Word so that others can make changes  later.
>>
>>Thanks in advance,
>>
>>Dan
>>
>>
>>Dan Schmitz
>>Technical Writer
>>Process & Automation Engineering
>>Genentech, Inc.
>>djs -at- gene -dot- com
>>
>>From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=
=
>>
>>
>>
>>
>

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=


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