Outline Numbered Lists with mix of Regular and Bold Text?

[John Altman]

Can I create outline numbered lists in which the text of the paragraph at the
first level is bold, but the text at all other levels is regular? I've tried
the "font" button in the Customize List dialog box, but it just seems to
change the number itself, not the text in the accompanying paragraph.

Thanks,

John

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Yes. An Outline numbered list should be associated with up to nine
independent styles. If you do that, you can set the formatting properties
of those styles.

Begin by choosing your Outline Numbered List.

Go into Customise and click the blue arrow at the bottom left of the dialog.

For each Level that you want it to use, link it to a different style. In
this case, I recommend using styles List Number through List Number 5 (the
first six levels should automatically exist in any document, if you need to
use all nine, you must create styles List Number 6 through List Number 9).

Associate all of the levels you are going to use, then click OK.

Now: Select your list paragraphs and apply the List Number to them all.
This will apply the style and also apply the List Format.

Now, use the Promote and Demote buttons to set each paragraph to the level
you want in the list. As you do that, Word will automatically substitute
the correct style for each level.

Once you have done that, click in each level of the list, and use Format
style to set the properties of each of the styles.

You only need to do this all ONCE per document. If you do it to a template,
you only need to do it once: any document you create from that template will
have the settings already in place.

For the next list in the document, you simply apply List Number style to all
of the paragraphs, then use Promote or Demote to push them to the correct
level. As you do that, the formatting will be automatically applied.

For more information, study the Word Help topics:
About bulleted and numbered lists
Numbered lists
Create an outline numbered list
Modify outline numbering formats

This is a big topic, and the help chops it up into too many little pieces,
leading to a simplistic treatment. You should rely on the Help because it
has the most extensive and up-to-date information. However, when learning
it is easier if you can read the whole thing in one document.

Shauna Kelly has a good treatment here:
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

Get back to us when you need more information

Cheers

Can I create outline numbered lists in which the text of the paragraph at the
first level is bold, but the text at all other levels is regular? I've tried
the "font" button in the Customize List dialog box, but it just seems to
change the number itself, not the text in the accompanying paragraph.

Thanks,

John

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410

 

[John Altman]

Thanks, John.

I was trying to force this all into one style. I was easily able to adopt
your suggestion.

Now, I've got another series of questions which adds new layers of
complication. I don't think they're covered in Shauna's outline numbering
page.

What do I do if I have several different kinds of numbered lists in my
document? For example, I have the following.

1) A list with outline numbering for a protocol, in which level 1 is
generally a few words (one line) all in bold, and subsequent levels which are
in regular font. (This is the one I asked about below. I now have all of
these levels assigned to the built-in lists as you've suggested.)

2) A simple list (not outline) in which each item is a short paragraph (up
to 6 lines). Generally, there is no need for continuation paragraphs. All
text here is regular face.

3) A simple list (not outline), in which each item is short and in bold, and
every item is always followed by a continuation paragraph.

I'm guessing that I'll have to go beyond built-in styles for this -- is that
correct?

By the way, if it's relevant, I don't need a TOC or index for this doc.

Thanks,

John

 

[John McGhie [MVP - Word and Word Macintosh]]

Hi John:

2 and 3 are both single-level lists? So you need only one style for each.

Use Format>Style. You can create new styles or find and repurpose one of
the built-ins -- for single-level lists it doesn't matter which.

In Format>Style>Numbering, choose a type of Numbered instead of Outline
numbered (you could use Outlined, but let's not, it adds complexity). Just
make sure you do not assign the SAME list format you used for list 1, and
make sure you do not assign the same style to lists 2 and 3 as you are using
for any of the levels of list 1.

They key to getting numbering stable and reliable is to always apply STYLES
to the text and let the styles bring the numbering in with them. If you do
it the other way around things are not so reliable.

Cheers

Thanks, John.

I was trying to force this all into one style. I was easily able to adopt
your suggestion.

Now, I've got another series of questions which adds new layers of
complication. I don't think they're covered in Shauna's outline numbering
page.

What do I do if I have several different kinds of numbered lists in my
document? For example, I have the following.

1) A list with outline numbering for a protocol, in which level 1 is
generally a few words (one line) all in bold, and subsequent levels which are
in regular font. (This is the one I asked about below. I now have all of
these levels assigned to the built-in lists as you've suggested.)

2) A simple list (not outline) in which each item is a short paragraph (up
to 6 lines). Generally, there is no need for continuation paragraphs. All
text here is regular face.

3) A simple list (not outline), in which each item is short and in bold, and
every item is always followed by a continuation paragraph.

I'm guessing that I'll have to go beyond built-in styles for this -- is that
correct?

By the way, if it's relevant, I don't need a TOC or index for this doc.

Thanks,

John

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410