Problems with Outline Numbering using styles

[adsensus]

Having struggled to get this working reliably via Google I found Shauna
Kelly's FAQ on how to create heading numbering and followed her
instructions very carefully. No joy!

I have two problems

1. In the Outline Numbering Dialog box I get garbled numbers for some
levels in the Number Format and Preview boxes. The sort of effect I
see here is 11.1.1..1 for (say) level 5. The level at which this
happens does vary.

In the resulting text another odd thing happens

If I have the following
Section 7. followed by
Section 7.4 which should be followed by
Section 7.4.1

What actually appears is
Section 7 followed by
Section 7.4 which is followed by
Section 4.7.1. In other words order of the numbering is scrambled.

I've done a repair install of Office 2003 (running under XP Pro fully
patched SP2 plus plus.) I've also found the same thing happening on
another machine running the identical software. I've cleared
formatting and deleted all extraneous styles - the same thing happens.

Anyone seen anything similar?

Tony Thomas

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

When this happens the best thing is to start from scratch, removing all
numbering from all the levels and then building them back up again one level
at a time. Because every 1 looks like every other 1, once the levels get
mixed up, it's virtually impossible to tell which is which.

 

[adsensus]

Hi Suzanne

I will try what you suggest, although I did:

(1) clear formatting and delete all but the basic styles (Heading1,2
and 3 and Normal etc.). No joy!

(2) open a completely new document and paste in the text after clearing
the formatting. Again No joy!

I have wondered whether to save the file as Text (rather than .doc) and
see how I get on with that.

As you say one "1" looks much like another - it was when I tried
starting from (say) "2" that could see that the ordering of the levels
in the final document was out of sequence.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I think you misread my suggestion. Here's what I'm suggesting (and this
assumes that you have an outline-numbered list set up according to
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html with each
level linked to the appropriate style):

1. Go to Format | Style and select the top-level style in your outline list
(assumed to be Heading 1). Click Modify...

2. Format | Numbering and select the Outline Numbered tab. Without choosing
the selected pane, click Customize...

3. Click through each level in the outline and set the "Number style" to
"(none)." This will remove the numbering from all the styles in the list.
Also delete any punctuation that appears in the "Number format" box.

4. Go back to Level 1. Select "1, 2 , 3,..." for the number style. This will
insert a 1 in the number format box. Type in any desired punctuation.

5. Select Level 2. Choose Level 1 for "Previous level number," which will
insert a 1 in the number format box. Type any desired punctuation. Then
select "1, 2, 3,..." for the number style, which will add another 1; add any
desired punctuation.

6. Repeat for Levels 3 and beyond. For Level 3, you will choose Level 2 as
the previous level number, and so on. This will ensure that the right 1's
get inserted in the right place.

If you have from the outset selected a list template that is linked to
styles (the last three panes in the List Gallery), then this will already be
done for you, but if not, make sure that each level is linked to the
appropriate style. As a shortcut, you could actually remove all the
numbering from all the styles, OK, close the dialog, then reopen it and
select the last pane in the Customize dialog, which already has the 1, 1.1,
1.1.1 numbering assigned to the built-in headings.

 

[Adrian]

Hi Suzanne,

Regarding this bit of your mail:

6. Repeat for Levels 3 and beyond. For Level 3, you will choose Level 2 as

the previous level number, and so on. This will ensure that the right 1's
get inserted in the right place.

I have seen this advice in many places on the web, including Shauna Kelly's
guide, but I think it is not completely accurate, at least it does not work
for me with Word 2003.

If you follow your step, you just get a single "1" with a shaded gray
background added to the "Number Format" field, representing the last part of
the Level 2 number, without the Level 1 number. In order to get the Level 1
part, you actually have to also select Level 1 from the Previous Level
Number drop-down list (ie. you need to select from this field twice for the
same Level selection).

E.g. Suppose we want to set a number format of 1.1.1. for heading 3...
i. In the (vertical) Level list on the left, select "Level 3".
ii. Delete everything from the Number Format field if you have not already
done so.
iii. Click "Previous Level Number" and select "Level 1" from the drop-down
list. Doing this adds the number "1" with the shaded grey background to the
Number Format field. (If you click Level 2 instead at this point, you do not
get two "1"s.)
iv. Place the cursor after the "1" in the Number Format field and enter a
period.
v. Now go to the "Previous Level Number" drop-down list AGAIN and this time
select "Level 2". Now you will see that the second "1" appears.

Maybe this is what you, Shauna and countless others mean when with
statements like "For second and subsequent levels, indicate in the Previous
Level Number box whether you want to include the number from the previous
level", but I think such an instrucion is rather misleading as it only
really works for Level 2 headings.

Please tell me if what I am saying makes sense.

Thanks,

Adrian

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Yes, this is correct. You have to include each level individually.

 

[Adrian]

Great.

Thanks for the quick reply.

Adrian

Yes, this is correct. You have to include each level individually.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

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