How to make Insert Page Numbers the default

[generdude]

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

I always want page numbers, but I always need to select it from the Insert menu. Is there a way to make this the default so I don't have to manually select it every time?

 

[John McGhie]

Yes. Edit your Normal template and add them there: they will then appear in
every new document you create.

See the Word help topic " Template locations in Word" for more information.

Cheers

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

I always want page numbers, but I always need to select it from the Insert
menu. Is there a way to make this the default so I don't have to manually
select it every time?

--
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
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[MC]

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

I always want page numbers, but I always need to select it from the Insert
menu. Is there a way to make this the default so I don't have to manually
select it every time?

Add them to your Normal template.

 

[generdude]

This doesn't seem to help. When I open the Normal.dotm file, it appears as Document 1, so I can't actually change Normal.dotm. I can make a new Page Numbers doc but I'll have to select it to use it. How do I make a default Normal, or how can I get Page Numbers to open as the default?
Maybe someone can walk me thru this...?

 

[John McGhie]

That means you're not "opening" Normal.dotm

You can't double-click templates in the Finder (or Open them from the
Finder) in Word 2008; if you do, it will create a document based on the
template.

You need to use File>Open from within Word to make sure you are opening the
template as a template. (A template has a different internal structure: you
need to explicitly edit it to get it open).

When you are editing Normal.dotm, there are a couple of other tricks you
need to be aware of. One is: you must have no other documents open when you
do this Because otherwise, each of the other documents will lock a copy of
the "old" Normal.dotm into memory, and will overwrite your new version when
Word exits.

The other is to make sure you SAVE the Normal template AND exit Word when
you complete your edits. You don't usually need to do this, but it provides
a useful insurance that the changes you just made really get saved to disk


Of course, changes made to the Normal template affect only "new documents"
that you create after you change Normal. Pre-existing documents will not
inherit any of the changes.

Hope this helps

This doesn't seem to help. When I open the Normal.dotm file, it appears as
Document 1, so I can't actually change Normal.dotm. I can make a new Page
Numbers doc but I'll have to select it to use it. How do I make a default
Normal, or how can I get Page Numbers to open as the default?
Maybe someone can walk me thru this...?

--
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
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[generdude]

Thank you John, that works!

 

[John McGhie]

You're welcome We are trying to get the Help improved in the Normal
template, but it's a long-drawn-out battle with people who seem to think Mac
Users are too stupid to understand .... {Sigh...}

Thank you John, that works!

--
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
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[MC]

You're welcome We are trying to get the Help improved in the Normal
template, but it's a long-drawn-out battle with people who seem to think Mac
Users are too stupid to understand .... {Sigh...}

I wish it were less buried, easier to find and get at, and easier to
simply tweak. I'm guessing the casual user who hasn't explored the Help
files or the manual probably doesn't even know it exists - and would
have no idea what's going on when it gets corrupted, let alone knows how
to customize it.

 

[John McGhie]

Agreed... There's a war of attrition going on between the paternalistic
"They will never understand and don't want to know" crowd at Microsoft and
the "The Mac is a platform for expert users and they will move away from
products that look like kiddies' toys" camp out here.

<All together now...>> We shall overcome some day...

I wish it were less buried, easier to find and get at, and easier to
simply tweak. I'm guessing the casual user who hasn't explored the Help
files or the manual probably doesn't even know it exists - and would
have no idea what's going on when it gets corrupted, let alone knows how
to customize it.

--
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
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[MC]

Agreed... There's a war of attrition going on between the paternalistic
"They will never understand and don't want to know" crowd at Microsoft and
the "The Mac is a platform for expert users and they will move away from
products that look like kiddies' toys" camp out here.

<All together now...>> We shall overcome some day...

Why not both? A simple short-cut way, and a deeper more versatile (but
more complicated) way.

As for the Normal, there should be a really easy dialogue or interface
that walks you through the steps of selecting font, alignment, page
numbering and everything else -and you should be able to go back to that
dialogue or interface at any time tosay "from now on, I'd like my font
to be Arial and my page numbers not to appear on page one" and so forth.

And if Normal gets corrupted there should be a restorable backup - I've
made one of my own, so I don't have to go through all the steps, butit
should come up as a pop-up - or simply just *happen* in the background
in the event of corruption. How complicated could it be? I know, the
standard programer's answer is "more than you think" but still... You
create a Normal - Word creates a backup - the Normal gets corrupted -
you click a button that says "Restore Normal" - doesn't seem tome to be
too much to ask for.

 

[generdude]

Microsoft has always had a way of making me feel stupid. I think they must get some pleasure out of it in a stereotypical IT smirky kind of way.
I did explore the Help files, which only tell you that you can change the Normal template, but not the specific steps (opening it from within Word, not from directly opening the file itself, etc). There is no Default button to click when selecting Insert Page Numbers. I know some of the other changes you can make, like Font and Margins do offer that Default button.
As far as when Normal gets corrupted, I suspect that you could trash it and Word would create a new one, but it would be the original one and you'd have to go about changing it again.

 

[MC]

Microsoft has always had a way of making me feel stupid. I think they must
get some pleasure out of it in a stereotypical IT smirky kind of way.
I did explore the Help files, which only tell you that you can change the
Normal template, but not the specific steps (opening it from within Word, not
from directly opening the file itself, etc). There is no Default button to
click when selecting Insert Page Numbers. I know some of the other changes
you can make, like Font and Margins do offer that Default button.
As far as when Normal gets corrupted, I suspect that you could trash it and
Word would create a new one, but it would be the original one and you'd have
to go about changing it again.

The trick is: Once you've created a Normal you're happy with, located it
within its folder - probably here:

User Library:Application Support:Microsoft:Office:User Templates

Copy "Normal.dotm" to create a file called "Normal copy.dotm"

I guess you could leave it in that folder, but I actually keep mine
elsewhere.

This is your backup. If the original Normal gets corrupted, toss it out,
rename the backup "Normal.dotrm" pleace it in the folder if it isn't
already there.

Of course, you will want to create a *new* copy in case this one gets
corrupted.

Restart Word... that should get you where you want to be.

Useful is you have customized Normal - don't bother if you haven't. Just
let Word create a new one.

 

[John McGhie]

Yeah, that's effectively what you have throughout Word: a "simple"
surface-layer, and added power and flexibility of you have the patience to
drill deeper into the user interface.

Styles, Numbering, Templates, AutoText ‹ they all have two distinct "layers"
to the UI.

There are some small signs that some in the corporation are responding to
our pleas. But the problem is deeply embedded in the methodology Microsoft
users for software design. It is VERY "user centric". But it is also very
metricated: based on the millions and millions of reports Microsoft gets
each day from the "Customer Experience Improvement Program".

This mechanism is the thing that asks you if you want to join when you
install. If you join, it provides very accurate anonymous reports on how
you're using the software.

Sadly, the more people know about computers, the more likely they are to
turn it off. So the advanced users are badly unrepresented in the data.
And Advanced users always make up a small percentage of the users of any
software product.

So to the Microsoft Product Designers, it appears as if Microsoft Office for
Mac almost doesn't HAVE any advanced users, and that none of its other users
even know about the advanced features.

The problem is not as bad on the PC side, because there is a large developer
and solution-provider community closely working with the Fortune 500
purchasing departments. Microsoft has never been left in ANY doubt as to
their desires

We MVPs do our best to reflect your desires back to the product designers.
But our faint warblings tend to get drowned out by the millions of
quantified data records that show "users" don't even know about the Normal
Template It would be very brave Product Designer who committed a
million bucks worth of development resource to something that "three grumpy
old MVPs" asked for, but which gets no hits at all in the CEIP data!

Cheers

Why not both? A simple short-cut way, and a deeper more versatile (but
more complicated) way.

As for the Normal, there should be a really easy dialogue or interface
that walks you through the steps of selecting font, alignment, page
numbering and everything else -and you should be able to go back to that
dialogue or interface at any time tosay "from now on, I'd like my font
to be Arial and my page numbers not to appear on page one" and so forth.

And if Normal gets corrupted there should be a restorable backup - I've
made one of my own, so I don't have to go through all the steps, butit
should come up as a pop-up - or simply just *happen* in the background
in the event of corruption. How complicated could it be? I know, the
standard programer's answer is "more than you think" but still... You
create a Normal - Word creates a backup - the Normal gets corrupted -
you click a button that says "Restore Normal" - doesn't seem tome to be
too much to ask for.

--
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
Sydney, Australia. mailto:[email protected]