Getting a Style to Start at 1 Again - Word 2007

[Greg]

Hello. I'm using Word 2007. I had a custom list numbering style I've
used extensively in a fairly large (151 page) document.

The style itself somehow got changed so the style starts at 5: The
format description includes the words "Start at: 5" -- which actually
shows up as "(e)" since that's the list's formatting.

How do I fix this and make the style start at 1 again?

(I'm guessing this happened as a result of my using right-click to set
the numbering value manually at one point. Why that should change the
style, I don't know; it is not marked "automatically update." But
knowing how or why this happened is secondary to fixing it.)

 

[Stefan Blom]

A quick test shows that changing the "Start at" setting for a numbered list
may actually change the list formatting of the underlying paragraph style
<sigh>. As far as I can tell, this happens if you change the starting value
for the *first* occurrence of the style in the document (but I haven't
tested this thoroughly). Have you tried to fix numbering by placing the
insertion point inside the first occurrence of the paragraph style in
question and then using the Set Numbering Value dialog box (right-click and
choose Set Numbering Value from the context menu)?

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message news:[email protected]...

 

[Greg]

A quick test shows that changing the "Start at" setting for a numbered list
may actually change the list formatting of the underlying paragraph style
<sigh>. As far as I can tell, this happens if you change the starting value
for the *first* occurrence of the style in the document (but I haven't
tested this thoroughly). Have you tried to fix numbering by placing the
insertion point inside the first occurrence of the paragraph style in
question and then using the Set Numbering Value dialog box (right-click and
choose Set Numbering Value from the context menu)?

I just tried that, and it worked! Thanks! I have 789 instances (Word
says) of this style in this document, so replacing it would have been a
major pain.

I could swear I did *not* change that occurrence when this happened, but
whatever. As long as this keeps working (?), well, it's a fit.

Let's see, does this count as a bug, or a feature?

Thanks again.

 

[Stefan Blom]

in message

I just tried that, and it worked! Thanks! I have 789 instances (Word says)
of this style in this document, so replacing it would have been a major
pain.

I could swear I did *not* change that occurrence when this happened, but
whatever. As long as this keeps working (?), well, it's a fit.

Let's see, does this count as a bug, or a feature?

Thanks again.

I guess you could call it a "design choice." <g>

Seriously, I'm glad you got it sorted!

Note that if you want to avoid the restart numbering command, you can use a
LISTNUM field the next time you need to restart numbering. See
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/numbering/listrestartbylistnum.htm.

 

[karenradband]

I'm having a similar problem - i'm trying to reformat a large document
i've inherited and some of the paragraphs need to be numbered in 3
different levels. i've set up styles similar to headings, but i can't
find anything in Word 2007 that will allow me to set up multilevel
numbering. I think i could do that in 2003 but don't seem to be able
to now. I can do it without the multilevel numbering and it looks ok
except that it won't allow me to restart the numbering at 1 for most
of the number sequences now (it would let me do some yesterday.....).
When i right click the options for restart numbering / continue
numbering are greyed out.

Any ideas please??

 

[Stefan Blom]

Since this is heading numbering, you should definitely make use of
multilevel (outline) numbering.

The quick way is to use Home tab | Multilevel List | Define New Multilevel
List. You'll see a dialog box similar to the Customize Outline Numbered
dialog of previous versions, where you can specify the options for
numbering, attach styles, and so on (for more on the dialog box, see
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html).

To edit such an outline list (as well as most lists created with Word 2003),
you would do this: Place the insertion point in a paragraph to which the
top-level heading style has been applied (such as Heading 1 for lists
created with the built-in headings), and then click Home tab | Multilevel
List | Define New Multilevel List. Note that you may have to use Ctrl+Q to
reset the numbering of existing paragraphs after you've modified the
numbering this way.

The alternative in Word 2007 is to make use of list styles (which were
supported in Word 2003, but the advantage to using them was less apparent).
To create a list style, click Home tab | Multilevel List | Define New List
Style. Give the list style a name. To attach paragraph styles and set the
properties of the list, click the Format button, and then click Numbering.

Once created, a list style appears at Home tab | Multilevel List, under the
"List Styles" heading. You can apply it to text by clicking it or, which is
even more useful, you can right-click it and choose Modify from the context
menu; this takes you directly to the Modify Style dialog box.

 

[karenradband]

Thanks, that's exactly what I was looking for, but couldn't find out
how to do it.... they've moved all the buttons

 

[Stefan Blom]

I'm glad I could help.