Chapters are numbering at wrong heading level

[Stephen]

I have a master document with subdocuments in Word 97 (SP-2a), and the
chapter numbering scheme is all messed up. It used to work fine, where it
would insert the appropriate chapter numbers based in front of all Heading
1-level text. Now, for some reason, it is inserting chapter numbers at the
Heading-2 level as well. I can go and delete all of the heading-2 chapters,
but as soon as I close the document and reopen it, Word sticks chapter
numbers in front of all the heading-2 text again. I've checked the Bullets
and Numbering dialog, and it indicates that only Heading 1 levels are being
numbered, yet this is not what is occurring.

Any ideas?

 

[Stephen]

Just an addendum . . . I just discovered the valuable piece of advice not to
use Master Documents. Oh well, too late. I'm weeks away from finishing my
thesis, and I don't want to get sidetracked on relearning how to number
things in Word with VBA.

Also, this chapter numbering problem extends to all levels of headings below
Heading 1, not just Heading 2. And yes, I have tried the "Reset" button in
Bullets and Numbering.

 

[Stephen]

Looks like I'm answering my own questions. I seem to have fixed it by:
- removing the heading numbering from the document and saving it
- deleting the Normal.dot and letting Word re-create it
- reopening the document and re-applying the heading numbering.

So, now that I've resolved that, perhaps a new question? Whenever I update
the table of contents, some of my actual figures (not just the captions) end
up in the List of Figures TOC, and I have to go and manually delete them. If
I select the figures in the text, they don't have the Caption style applied,
so why are they popping up in the TOC? And why are some entries in the TOC
bolded, while others aren't even when all of my captions are in bold?

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Just an addendum . . . I just discovered the valuable piece of advice not to

use Master Documents. Oh well, too late.

Keep constant backups, and never edit in the master document, only in the
subdocument, I think are the basic rules. See here for more:
Steve Hudson [Word Heretic] on how to make Master Documents work safely:
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/magazine/technical/wordhomepage.html

I'm weeks away from finishing my
thesis, and I don't want to get sidetracked on relearning how to number
things in Word with VBA.

Say what huh? The usual alternative to master documents is just to combine
all the chapters into one document. But I can understand not wanting to
switch at this date.
Anyhow, good luck with the thesis.

DM

 

[Charles Kenyon]

--
Sorry, I don't have an answer because I don't use Master Documents. However,
you may need the reason I don't more than you need an answer. "Master
Document" is a term of art in Word referring to a "feature" that not only
doesn't work but also destroys documents. The consensus (with the limited
exception of Steve Hudson) among those offering advice on these newsgroups
is that using the Master Document feature is a good way to destroy your
document. It can destroy parts of your document that you are not even
working on! I think John McGhie said it succinctly when he said that there
are two kinds of Master Documents: Those that are corrupt and those that
will be corrupt soon. See
http://www.addbalance.com/word/masterdocuments.htm for information on the
Master Document feature and workarounds. See
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WhyMasterDocsCorrupt.htm for more
information on what goes wrong, and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RecoverMasterDocs.htm for ideas on how
to salvage what you can. See
http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/magazine/technical/masterdocs.doc for
Steve Hudson's instructions if you are willing to follow them very
carefully.

See: How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
document
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html. (For
bullets see http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/bullets/controlbullets.html, the
subject is related.)

This is based on ...

Word's Numbering Explained
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm