Change non-numbered heading to numbered heading in sequence Wd 97

[Blaise]

Hope someone remembers Word 97 here. I'm updating a document which has
outline numbered headings.

1.0 MAIN HEADING
1.1 Subhead level 2
1.1.1 Subhead level 3
1.1.1.1 Subhead level 4
Subhead level 5

As you can see, Subhead level 5 is not a numbered heading. However, the
author now wants to have a numbered Subhead level 5 and a non-numbered
subhead level 6. My problem is that when I try to change subhead level 5 to
outline numbered format, it doesn't follow the sequence, but seems to want to
restart with 1. For example,

1.0 Main Heading Section 1
2.0 Main Heading Section 2
2.1 Subhead level 2, section 2
2.1.1 Subhead level 3, section 2
2.1.1.1 Subhead level 4, section 2
1.1.1.1 Subhead level 5, section 2 -- should be 2.1.1.1.1

I've tried so many different permutations trying to get this to work that
I'm not sure it's useful for me to describe them all. I've checked the
restart and continue options. I've based the level 5 subhead on the level 4
subhead. The only thing that makes sense is that somehow I'm not able to
access or add onto the sequential outline numbered list that subhead levels
1-4 are using.

Any help or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Make sure your numbering is set up according to
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

 

[Blaise]

Suzanne,

First of all, thanks for your prompt response. I would have come back sooner
but came down with a virus (physical, not electronic) and had 100+ degree
fever, etc. Just got antibiotics from the doc, etc.

Here's what I finally did --

Part of the problem was caused by multiple authors updating the file. Each
author was not expert in using headings and TOC, so heading styles weren't
consistent. In fact, I believe one of the issues was that different
bullet/numbering definitions were used by different authors.

In Word 2003, I handle this pretty easily using the Outlining Toolbar and
setting TOC entries by level instead of simply using heading styles. I didn't
see this option in Word '97.

I used the blunt force method to fix the problem. I copied the file to my
own computer which has Word 2003. I created a totally new file with a single
set of heading styles. I copy-pasted the text from every section to the
appropriate section in the new file.

It was not elegant. It was time-consuming. But it worked.

I do love the ability of having multiple authors update a file, but hate it
when independent authors' formatting create problems in complex documents.
Sometimes the formatting appears correct but doesn't work and it can take
frustrating hours to fix.

There are times when I wish there was a "plain text" option so that all
controls could be turned off. Authors could make all their updates without
any controls and one person could add the styles and controls when the
document is complete.

Anyway, just a vent. Blame it on my being fatigued by illness today.
Thanks again for your suggestion.

Blaise

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, there *is* a "plain text" option of sorts--just removing all the
formatting the authors have applied. What I usually do with this type of
document is print it out so I'll have a visual guideline of how the author
thought the text should look (that is, which paragraphs are #1 headings, #2
heads, block text, etc.), then Ctrl+A, Ctrl+Q, Ctrl+Spacebar to remove
direct formatting. In many cases that will return everything to Normal
style. <g> I usually the apply Body Text or Body Text First Indent style
(whichever will be the predominant style in the document) and then manually
style-tag the rest. The Styles and Formatting task pane does make the style
tagging go faster.

Believe me, I feel your pain.