Stubborn Header

[Johann Swart]

Win XP Pro / Office 2002 SP3
I have a set of documents (±160) that require a different first page
(different margins and no header and footer).
For this purpose I have inserted a section break at the bottom of page 1,
and then inserted the header and footer on page 2 with "Same as previous"
deselected. Under File|Page Setup, "Different first page" is also deselected.
The Style for the header has a double line below, and the footer has a
double line above.
On some documents—only on some—despite all my efforts (selecting the whole
header and deleting), an empty header and footer still appear on the first
page, i.e. just the lines. What else do I need to do to get rid of this
header and footer?

 

[Stefan Blom]

You don't need a section break to set a separate header (footer) for the
first page. Just use the "Different first page" option in File | Page Setup.
You can even change the margins on the first page using the header. For
example, anchor a text box to a header paragraph and move it into the left
margin, pushing the text further to the center of the page. For more on this
see the "More complex letterhead" section of the article at
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/Letterhead.htm.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you have made the border part of the Header style, then it will appear on
every page; once you've created a header anywhere, you will have an empty
paragraph in the header even when you have no header content, and that empty
paragraph will have the border. As Stefan notes, however, you don't need a
section break to get a different header/footer/margins on the first page.

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

 

[Pamelia Caswell via OfficeKB.com]

In addition to Susanne's excellent assessment, you can get rid of the
underscore on the empty paragraph by changing its style --to, say, normal.
If you just manually remove the underscore, it may come back if you modify
or update the style.

Pam

If you have made the border part of the Header style, then it will appear on
every page; once you've created a header anywhere, you will have an empty
paragraph in the header even when you have no header content, and that empty
paragraph will have the border. As Stefan notes, however, you don't need a
section break to get a different header/footer/margins on the first page.

Win XP Pro / Office 2002 SP3
I have a set of documents (±160) that require a different first page

[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]

page, i.e. just the lines. What else do I need to do to get rid of this
header and footer?

 

[Lene Fredborg]

Suzanne,

I had written almost the same reply as yours and I was/am sure that is how
it used to be – but I did not post the reply due to the following:

In my tests now – in both Word 2003 and Word 2007, I found the following:

----------------------------------
TEST 1 - Conditions:
Header style with border
Different first page
Inserted and deleted content in header page 1
Inserted and deleted content in header page 2

Result:
Both headers look totally empty if not in header/footer – also in Print
Preview.

----------------------------------
TEST 2 - Conditions:
Header style with border
Not different first page
Section break after page 1, unlinked headers
Inserted and deleted content in header page 1
Inserted and deleted content in header page 2

Result:
Header on page 1 looks totally empty if not in header/footer – also in Print
Preview.
Header on page 2: border and paragraph mark remain visible.
----------------------------------

I think I noticed this behavior some time ago without taking the time to
investigate it further.

Does the empty paragraph mark incl. the border still remain in your tests
not matter the conditions?

--
Regards
Lene Fredborg - Microsoft MVP (Word)
DocTools - Denmark
www.thedoctools.com
Document automation - add-ins, macros and templates for Microsoft Word

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I wondered about that, too, as it does seem to me this behavior is changed
in Word 2007. Hard to tell given that the paragraph mark is there as soon as
you access the header, but I'll take your word for it that this has been
"fixed" (even in Word 2003). I guess we get so used to working around
longstanding bugs that we just don't notice when we don't have to any more!

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

 

[Johann Swart]

Many thanks to all who responded.
For the record, of the 160 documents, I have experienced this situation with
only 4-5 of them. The others have the identical format and structure, yet I
do not have an empty paragraph in the header or footer. Apart form this
particular set of documents, I have created numerous documents in the past
using exactly this procedure, always with satisfactory results. As I was
writing this, I did another experiment in Word with an underlined header and
footer (in the Style) on page 2, yet on page 1 is absolutely nothing, not
even an empty paragraph marker. This forum unfortunately does not allow one
to include a Word file in which I could illustrate this situation.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

What happens if you resave the file in the current format (that is, use Save
As and make sure "Word Document" is the file type selected)?

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

 

[Pamelia Caswell via OfficeKB.com]

Oh, gee. I could have sworn that I'd had this problem at a client site less
than 6 months ago. In testing today, I did notice though that if the
paragraph mark is not empty or if there is more than one, the underscore will
show in print layout view. That may give Johann Swart something to look for.


Pam

I wondered about that, too, as it does seem to me this behavior is changed
in Word 2007. Hard to tell given that the paragraph mark is there as soon as
you access the header, but I'll take your word for it that this has been
"fixed" (even in Word 2003). I guess we get so used to working around
longstanding bugs that we just don't notice when we don't have to any more!

Suzanne,

[quoted text clipped - 63 lines]

 

[Johann Swart]

I have "solved" the problem by opening a new blank document, and from the old
document copied and inserted the first, the second, and the third sections
individually, each time manually creating a new section instead of copying it
from the old document. That has solved my problem for now, although I still
don't know why it happened in the first place.

Oh, gee. I could have sworn that I'd had this problem at a client site less
than 6 months ago. In testing today, I did notice though that if the
paragraph mark is not empty or if there is more than one, the underscore will
show in print layout view. That may give Johann Swart something to look for.


Pam

I wondered about that, too, as it does seem to me this behavior is changed
in Word 2007. Hard to tell given that the paragraph mark is there as soon as
you access the header, but I'll take your word for it that this has been
"fixed" (even in Word 2003). I guess we get so used to working around
longstanding bugs that we just don't notice when we don't have to any more!

Suzanne,

[quoted text clipped - 63 lines]

.

--
Message posted via OfficeKB.com
http://www.officekb.com/Uwe/Forums.aspx/word-pagelayout/200911/1

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