Anchoring a line at the end of a page

[John in Riverbank]

Hello All,
In my 20 page document, each page ends with a straight line from the left
side of the page to the right. This indicates the subject matter is closed
on that page before moving on to the next one. The line may be at the bottom
of the page or somewhere in the middle, determined by how much information is
on the page.

My problem is keeping that line at the end of all the information on that
page. Many of the posts address this subject but it seems 'anchoring' may be
my solution. As info is added to or taken from the page, the line needs to
move up and down accordingly. I know it must be simple, but I haven't made
the right connection yet through the posts...
Many thanks,
John in Riverbank

 

[Jezebel]

'Anchoring' may be misleading you. In Word, anything that 'floats' in the
document -- textboxes, graphics, or anything from the Draw menu, including a
line -- is anchored to a paragraph in the document. This is primarily a data
matter: the anchor paragraph is where the object is stored within the
document. If you delete the paragraph, you also delete the floating item
also. (There's a setting in Tools > Options to display the anchor for the
selected object.)

So what you need is a line anchored to the last paragraph of each section,
set to 'Move with text'. There's no easy way to automate this: you'll need
to insert it each time. Maybe set up your line as an AutoText entry.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Jezebel has provided one suggestion, but have you thought about just using,
for that concluding paragraph, a style that includes a bottom border?

 

[John in Riverbank]

Jezebel has provided one suggestion, but have you thought about just using,
for that concluding paragraph, a style that includes a bottom border?





Thanks to both of you - it's Friday morn and I'm tackling this new info. Question to Jezebel and/or Suzanne:

At the end of these pages, yes there are paragraphs. However, some
paragraphs are followed by a lot of hidden text, maybe several paragraphs
worth, that may or may not be activated or unhidden through AutoText. Should
I try either suggestion with a single paragraph mark at the end of the page
(making that the 'anchor/concluding paragraph'), instead of a paragraph or
sentence of words that may or may not be hidden.

Also, I know a lot of information is not viewable in Normal View –
especially lines. What’s the best way to double check the line/concluding
paragraph/anchor placement in Normal View?

I haven't gotten my head completely wrapped around the style issue. I
really need to sit down with an expert and ask a lot of questions...
Many thanks to the community...
John

 

[John in Riverbank]

At the end of these pages, yes there are paragraphs. However, some
paragraphs are followed by a lot of hidden text, maybe several paragraphs
worth, that may or may not be activated or unhidden through AutoText. Should
I try either suggestion with a single paragraph mark at the end of the page
(making that the 'anchor/concluding paragraph'), instead of a paragraph or
sentence of words that may or may not be hidden.

Also, I know a lot of information is not viewable in Normal View –
especially lines. What’s the best way to double check the line/concluding
paragraph/anchor placement in Normal View?

I haven't gotten my head completely wrapped around the style issue. I
really need to sit down with an expert and ask a lot of questions...
Many thanks to the community...
John
Sorry! New observation! Once this report is ready to go, we will be dumping our old Windows 95 computer with DOS for a new one that will be compatible with this current (ME) computer and Word. If we happen to wait long enough to actually get the new Vista operation system, will that affect all the work I'm doing now? Will I still be able to transfer my Normal.dot file to the new OS or should we make sure to buy a Windows system beforehand?

Thanks again,
John

 

[John in Riverbank]

Thanks again,
John

Final Victory!
I took Suzanne's suggestion - I placed a paragraph mark in between a
continuous break and a page break and applied a custom border (bottom of
page) from the Format/Borders and Shading box. Looks good and very simple!

Thank you all!
John