Can't restart

[KarenF]

WHY WHY WHY? I'm GOOD with numbering, I really am. But sometimes the option
to restart numbering, usually on the first list item, is grayed out. WHY?
Not only does it not respond, it changes the paragraph to some format known
only to Bill Gates. The next item in the list works fine, so I know it’s set
up correctly. Please don't refer me to generic articles; I need to know what
to do when it doesn't work.

 

[Cindy M.]

Hi =?Utf-8?B?S2FyZW5G?=,

WHY WHY WHY? I'm GOOD with numbering, I really am. But sometimes the option
to restart numbering, usually on the first list item, is grayed out. WHY?
Not only does it not respond, it changes the paragraph to some format known
only to Bill Gates. The next item in the list works fine, so I know it’s set
up correctly. Please don't refer me to generic articles; I need to know what
to do when it doesn't work.

Which version of Word do you have?

Do you link this numbering to styles? Or are you trying to use "direct" numbering?

Although you don't want links, have you read this article? It's the one I always
use when I run into problems.

Http://www.syntagma.demon.co.uk/FAQs/ListRestartMethods.htm

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 17 2005)
http://www.word.mvps.org

This reply is posted in the Newsgroup; please post any follow question or reply in
the newsgroup and not by e-mail

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

Hi Karen:

Why? Because the first paragraph is not a member of the same list as the
second paragraph. It may LOOK the same, but the List Template applied to it
is a different instance of the same thing.

So Word thinks that this paragraph is the FIRST paragraph in the document to
have that list template (in fact, it probably IS...)

The cure is to select the whole list and re-apply the paragraph style to
which you have linked the numbering list template.

If that doesn't bring it right, the association between the Style and the
List Template is broken. You need to re-associate the List Template with
the style.

Let me know if that's too cryptic for you!

Cheers

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John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. GMT + 10 Hrs
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[KarenF]

Not cryptic at all, but that's the first thing I tried. I went through and
applied the same style to all my lists, from beginning to end. They numbered
correctly from 1-end until I tried to restart where needed. I even cleared
formatting on all the lists and re-applied. Same story. Note that when I
select a whole list, items 2-x are renumbered (starting with 1), but the
first one never does. There's something about that first item ...

 

[John McGhie [MVP Word, Word Mac]]

Hi Karen:

Hover over the number in that first list. Word will then shade the numbers
of all the members of the list. Now try it with item 2: if the number on
item 1 does not turn grey, they're not the same list.

Certain kinds of list will not restart unless there is an intervening
paragraph that is not a member of the list: it couldn;t be that, could it?

If all the usual tricks fail, suspect a corrupt document and Maggie it
(carefully select all but the last paragraph mark and paste into a new
document).

The list templates and styles are stored in the document properties
container, which is beneath (after) the last paragraph mark in the document.
It is possible for that container to corrupt (particularly when you have
been fiddling around with numbering...). One of the symptoms of document
corruption is that the property container turns "Read Only", which is
infuriating, since it takes you some extended time of fiddling before you
realise the rotten thing has given up and gone home

Hope this helps

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Consultant Technical Writer
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
http://jgmcghie.fastmail.com.au/
Sydney, Australia. S33°53'34.20 E151°14'54.50
+61 4 1209 1410, mailto:[email protected]

 

[KarenF]

Aha ... I still can't fix the problem, but hovering did reveal they are
indeed not on the same list, even though they appear to be.

Though I wouldn't say I over-fiddled, there's something unfixable in this
doc. Maggie-ing didn't work so I gave up and typed the numbering by hand.
But I did learn some new tricks, so thanks ...

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you press Enter at the beginning of item 2 (currently numbered 1?), you
should get a new item one, into which you can move the text from the
existing numbered paragraph that won't restart, then delete that paragraph.