I want to put a character before a List numbering

[CarlosR]

Hi all,

I have to covert over 200 documents to a common style, and I've spent the
last few weeks planning the conversion process, but I having a problem that
is preventing me from making this project a little less painful, and any help
would be appreciated.

I've read many pages, and I've set up my styles as instructed at
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html - they (the
styles) work great, except for the following issue.

I'm using an Outlined Numbered List that looks something like this:

2. GENERAL
2.1 Motor
2.2.1 Disassemble field coils.
2.2.1.1 Check wire leads for burns, worn insulation, and
other defects.
* x.x.x.2 Check the resistance of the field coil
2.2.1.2 Replace leads if necessary.
2.2.1.3 Discard the cover if it is not in good condition.
2.2.2 Clean magnets, detent, and motor housing.
2.2.3 Paint parts.

The problem is that i have certain lines at the 3rd or 4th level that I need
to have a leading * in front of. I couldn't figure out how to format the
list item to have one, so I created a separate style with the same paragraph
settings, and I enter the number manually (for the example above, I've used
x's where i would type in 2.2.1)

I've been trying to figure out one of two things, either how how to add an *
in front of the List numbering for certain lines, or a way to restart the
auto-numbering at 2.2.1.2 to be 2.2.1.3 other than by double-clicking on 2.2.
1.2, Customize, clicking in Start at:, and typing the new starting number.

I would have sworn that before I implemented the Numbered List with Styles, I
could just click once on 2.2.1.2, type in the new number (2.2.1.3 in the case
above), and would get the same functionality, but I haven't been able to
recreate that function since I started experimenting with Styles, and I'm
wondering if dreamt that.

Any solution or guidance will be much appreciated.

Carlos

 

[PamC via OfficeKB.com]

You might have to settle for anchoring a text box containing the asterisk to
the first word in the line that needs an asterisk.

PamC

 

[CarlosR via OfficeKB.com]

Thanks for the info - I hadn't thought of that, and at least it does work,
but boy is that a painful process.

I create one and set it with the correct size and alignment, and then copy
and paste it to another paragraph. It does retain the size, but when i place
my cursor on a new paragraph and Paste, it puts the copy on top of the old
one and i have to drag it down - is there a way to change it so that it
pastes where my cursor is, or is that just a text-box-copy-paste thing?

Carlos

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

That's the way pasting AutoShapes works, unfortunately.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[PamC via OfficeKB.com]

For that very reason, I prefer to use a small wrapped table. But when I tried
it, it affected the position of the number, too much I thought. Give it a
try. It is certainly less of a pain to use. Once you set a position
relative to the paragraph, a copy will be that setting relative to any
paragraph you anchor it to.

PamC

 

[Janine]

Hi Carlos

If they are one line headings you can use an Advance Field at end of line
and push the asterisk left before the *2.1.1 text text text.
2.1.2 text text tex.

Janine

 

[Klaus Linke]

Hi Carlos,

You might fudge it with ADVANCE fields:

1. First list item
2. { ADVANCE \x-5 }*{ ADVANCE \x18 }Second list item with asterisk

You create the {curly} field braces with Ctrl+F9, and toggle the view to
show the codes with Alt+F9.

The x-coordinates used are in Point, so it should be useful to set the units
to Points (in Tools > Options > General).
In my example above, the numbers have no indent (so -5 pt puts the asterisk
well to the left), and the tab after the number was set to 18 pt.

Regards,
Klaus

 

[Klaus Linke]

Hi Carlos

If they are one line headings you can use an Advance Field at end of line
and push the asterisk left before the *2.1.1 text text text.
2.1.2 text text tex.

You beat me by a few minutes!

Maybe one could select the fields and asterisk between, and define an
AutoText for it?

Regards,
Klaus

 

[Janine]

Well of course, let's use those features available...

 

[Janine]

Klaus, your solution is very nice as usual... and yes mine's in autotext....

Hi Carlos,

You might fudge it with ADVANCE fields:

1. First list item
2. { ADVANCE \x-5 }*{ ADVANCE \x18 }Second list item with asterisk

You create the {curly} field braces with Ctrl+F9, and toggle the view to
show the codes with Alt+F9.

The x-coordinates used are in Point, so it should be useful to set the
units to Points (in Tools > Options > General).
In my example above, the numbers have no indent (so -5 pt puts the
asterisk well to the left), and the tab after the number was set to 18 pt.

Regards,
Klaus

 

[CarlosR via OfficeKB.com]

Klaus,

Thanks so much for your advice - I had already started using the anchored
text boxes, and that would have sufficed (thanks again PamC) - I was thinking
that I could go back and write a macro to normalize the relative positions of
the text boxes afterwards, so I was satisfied.

I do some programming, but not so much in Word, and other than simple Field
Codes that you would put in Headers/Footers, I don't have much exposure to
them, so you including the example really helped me see what you were saying.

The only change I made was that since I want the * to be relative to the
paragraph, and that could be on level 3 or 4 of the List, I just eyeballed
the width of my * and I'll use the following:

{ ADVANCE \L72 }*{ ADVANCE \R66 }

Now I'm reading up on using AutoText, or I will make a macro to insert it.

Thanks again!

Carlos

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

This might also be a good application for a framed style; see
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/MarginalText.htm. The advantage of a
frame is that its position can be defined relative to the paragraph.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org