Formatting tags on numbered lists

  • Thread starter Walled_Gardener
  • Start date
W

Walled_Gardener

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)

Help, I am struggling with automatically numbered lists. My document has a numbered list in sections alternating with blocks of un-numbered text. So far so good, but...

Whenever I try to add to my list, using either Format>Bullets etc>Continue previous list or the toolbar button for numbered lists, Word insists on doing the text as a new list and giving me a tag thing (Formatting tag?) asking if I want to continue the original list or go back to nullets and numbers (err, yes, obviously I do so why ask me again??) No matter how many times I tick, untick, and retick Continue List in the Bullets and Numbers page, it still does this.

I've tried turning off Paste Options in the Edit menu and also Auto Correct/Auto Format, but nothing seems to work. Help, any ideas????
 
J

John McGhie

Not exactly intuitive, is it? :)

Study Shauna Kelly's pages for a very good tutorial.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/

The short answer is that you are using the wrong kinds of lists. The
ordinary "Numbered List" will restart, the "Outline Numbered" list will not.

Word 2007 and Word 2008 have introduced a new complexity known as the "List
Style". List styles work only with Outline Numbered (multi-level) lists.

We are going to have to start teaching this, because the only way to get
numbering stable in Word 2007 is to use List Styles. However, the list
formatting overrides the formatting in the paragraph style, so you need to
be aware of that before you start.

It seems to me that you want normal "numbered lists" (as opposed to "Heading
Numbering").

The best way to do that is to define a List Style. Let's call it Numbered
List.

1) Go to Format>Style>"New"

2) Type "Numbered List" as the name and set "List" as the type. Getting
the type correct is critical :)

3) Now: Define the formatting you want to see on Level 1 (there are nine
levels in a list style, but you will probably use only three).

4) Don't worry about getting the indents set up yet, or the tabs. Just
get the type of numbering correct.

5) Now change the "Apply formatting to" to Level 2, and choose a
numbering type. Then Level 3, and OK it. We want to save these
definitions.

6) Now go back into Format>Style and choose the List Style you just
created. This time, choose Modify, then from he Format box choose
Numbering, then Customise.

7) Here you can set your indents and tabs up. Notice the tall skinny
field at the top left? That enables you to select each level in turn. Do
that, and set your indents and tabs up.

8) Finally, attach the styles: At the bottom of that dialog is an
anonymous blue blob: click it, and it expands the dialog to show you the
"Link Level to Style" dialog. Note: You do not HAVE to attach styles, and
if you are not using styles in your document, you may decide not to.

9) However, if you normally format with styles, and you want to gain
control over your paragraph settings, attach a Paragraph style to each level
of your List Style. I would normally use the built-in styles List Number
through List Number 9 for this: that's what they are for.

10) Now OK your way out, then, if you attached styles, define the formatting
you want to see in each of the paragraph styles you used.

Hope this helps. Come back if you have further questions.

Cheers

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)

Help, I am struggling with automatically numbered lists. My document has a
numbered list in sections alternating with blocks of un-numbered text. So far
so good, but...

Whenever I try to add to my list, using either Format>Bullets etc>Continue
previous list or the toolbar button for numbered lists, Word insists on doing
the text as a new list and giving me a tag thing (Formatting tag?) asking if I
want to continue the original list or go back to nullets and numbers (err,
yes, obviously I do so why ask me again??) No matter how many times I tick,
untick, and retick Continue List in the Bullets and Numbers page, it still
does this.

I've tried turning off Paste Options in the Edit menu and also Auto
Correct/Auto Format, but nothing seems to work. Help, any ideas????

--

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, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]
 
W

Walled_Gardener

Dear John

thanks for this, but... the same thing is still happening. I did a list (now using my lovely new custom style, for which many thanks), then stopped the list and typed some regular text, then did another set of items. I didn't immediately turn on the list style before I started typing these things as I didn't necessarily know these are going to be in the list, but when i decided to add them to the list, I highlighted them and applied my new list style. It asked me if i want to continue the numbering. Obviously I did, so I ticked the box to continue numbering and apply the style. But then, back in my document, the items are numbered, but as before they have started at 1 again and there was a little square with a blue line and a yellow lightening thing asking me if I want to continue the numbering or go to Bullets and Numbering. Only if I ticked Continue Numbering in that box would it continue the sequence.

So, my question is how do I make it just continue the original sequence without bringing up the little box? I've tried everything I can think of (see original question) and nothing seems to help.

many thanks
WG
 
J

John McGhie

You must have a paragraph style associated with your List Style.

You've only done half the job :)

Associating a paragraph style with the level of the list style reverses the
default, from "always restart" to "Always continue".

It's complex: it took me a lot of time and fiddling to understand it :)

Cheers
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top