When restarting numbering, reverts tabs and hanging indent in Word 2003

[Jared Goralnick]

Hi,

I have created a simple paragraph style in Word 2003 that has numbering
that works fine until I choose to restart its numbering, at which point
it reverts back to its old indentation and tabs. Every time I reset it
to .8" hanging indent and 1.75" left tab it works fine until I restart
the numbering somewhere and then the style changes back itself.

Any thoughts on how to remedy this with either VBA or through the GUI?
I've looked over the numbering tutorials on the MVP site and the
threads on USENET/google groups which talk about numbering. I've also
grabbed the latest service packs (updated today). While I might be
able to start over I'm really looking to understand or learn if it's a
known bug.

Thanks in advance!

~Jared

 

[Jared Goralnick]

I also have two other stubborn styles in my document--one of my headers
and one of my outline styles (a paragraph style) that I use in tables.
These two styles are a little stranger though: they work fine when you
update them through the style menus but revert back as soon the
documents are re-opened. So basically the style changes for these
styles can't be SAVED to the files. Bizarre!

Help???

~Jared

 

[Jared Goralnick]

I think I may have found a solution, but will have to spend some time
going through it. The solution is posted here:

'Format Doesn't Hold, a USENET thread' (http://tinyurl.com/z5e9)

Feel free to let me know if you think this would help or hurt my
situation, particularly in Word 2003 (as the solution is 3 years
old)...thanks to all of you who've put so much time into providing such
an in-depth knowledge-base and in helping folks like myself just when I
need it!

Regards,
Jared

 

[Shauna Kelly]

Hi Jared

Several comments:

1. Check the box at Tools > Templates and Add-Ins > Automatically update
document styles. If this is ticked, the styles from the template will be
copied into the document each time it is opened. This is guaranteed to
mess with numbering and bullets. Note that this is a per-document
setting. Make sure it is *not* ticked for any document.

2. You can't control indents or tabs of numbered styles through their
Paragraph format or Tab format. You must control the indents and tabs
through the Numbering format. Pictures of how the indents and tabs work
are at

How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in your Word
Document
http://www.ShaunaKelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

3. For information on re-starting numbering, see
http://www.syntagma.demon.co.uk/FAQs/ListRestartMethods.htm

4. The information in the usenet thread you cite is still current.
Microsoft has made numbering from the UI a bit more stable in recent
versions, but the basic structure is the same, including Word 2003.

Hope this helps.

Shauna Kelly. Microsoft MVP.
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word
Melbourne, Australia

 

[Jared Goralnick]

Hi Shauna,

Thanks for your response! I think I may have kept automatically
update ticked for too long but I've also been using that occasionally
to update a document to the styles in a document. Is that not the
mechanism I should be using?

Also, if my numbers were to suddenly disappear from all the second and
later levels of a list how would I go about getting them back or at
least preventing them from disappearing again? The indents are still
there but the only level that displays the number is the first level.

This whole process is more daunting than I'd thought, thank you for
all your help!

~Jared

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

There are two "automatic update" features, both of which can cause problems
with numbers. The one I think you're referring to is the one in the Format
Style dialog. The one Shauna was referring to is in the Templates and
Add-ins dialog.

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