style-based numbering doesn't reset properly

[Chris Singer]

I set up a numbered style [ (a), (b), ...] in a single document I'm
working on, and it is the the only Numbered-based style there is in the
doc (there's also a Bullet-based and Outline-based style used in the
doc).

My problem is with restarting the numbering. I'm applying the problem
style fairly heavily to a stretch of about 60 pages and it needs to
reset a lot. The places I'm applying the style are blocks of from 2 -
15 paragraphs, then a few paragraphs not needing the numbering, repeat.
The numbering was restartting fine for a while, but soon I would go to
reset the first paragraph in a block and it would only reset all the
paragraphs after the one in which I performed the Right Click -->
Restart Numbering action. I've found I can work around this by copying
the first paragraph below itself, Restarting Numbering at the original
(still the 1st paragraph in the block) and then deleting the original.

I've encountered this problem before, and even expected it for this
project. I've read about the options availabe for restartting numbering
at mvps.org/word, what I wonder is if there is a specific fix to this
problem I'm having, and if there is some specific method of restartting
that I should work with.

 

[Margaret Aldis]

Hi Chris

Your best control over this is to set up your restarting rules via the style
levels, as explained in

http://www.syntagma.demon.co.uk/FAQs/ListRestartFromStyle.htm - it sounds
as though you could make use of a style used for the intervening unnumbered
paragraphs to set the style.

That said, you may find the restart numbering command works better if you
reset the paragraphs to style (Ctrl-Q) before you use it - it sounds as
though you may have applied a different List Template as direct formatting
somewhere along the line (only too easy to do if you touch Format > Bullets
and Numbering or paste lists between docs), so the numbering is no longer
connected as you think it is. Setting all the paragraphs in the list back to
style will remove the direct formatting and make the numbering continuous,
allowing you to start clean with the restart numbering command.

Do be aware too of the dangers of pasting lists with restarts - if you paste
earlier in the document than the copied list, you may find the list you
copied from loses its restart.