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April 2006 

A Word On Word

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Word Numbering

By Gail Van Landingham

Word Numbering

To prepare for this article, I tried a few searches in Google™. "Word numbering" netted 3,770,000 hits. "Word numbering annoyance" had 123,000 hits.

Numbering in Microsoft^® Word can be mysterious and frustrating. In an e-mail, an angry technical writer said, "Word numbering was created using some type of structure and rules - by an alien mind."

This article won't explain how Word numbering works - I'll give you some good resources for that, if you want to learn more. What I'd like to do is give you a couple of tips to make numbered lists behave. The tips are: use styles and sequence fields.

Types of numbering

Word has the following types of numbering:

• Fields. These codes are sets of instructions that generate results. Numbered fields include pages, captions, footnotes - and the Sequence (SEQ) field.
  
  
• Lists. A simple list has only one level of numbering.
  
  
• Outlines. The most common type of outline numbering is the numbering applied to headings.

Many methods for numbering - many ways to get into trouble

Word provides a lot of methods for you to create numbered lists. They include:

Do not use these numbering methods

These methods are deceptively easy to use - but will give you inconsistent numbering.

• The Numbering button.
  Using the Numbering button on the Formatting toolbar.
• The Numbering tab.
  Format > Bullets and Numbering > Numbering tab.

Use these numbering methods

These methods take a little more setup time, but will give you much better results.

• Style-based numbering. Create styles for numbered lists and numbered headings.
  
• Field-based numbering. Use the Sequence (SEQ) field for rock-solid numbered lists.

Styles and Templates

The key concept is - use styles. Create styles for your numbered lists and for your headings (if you want numbered headings). Save your styles in templates so you won't need to reinvent the styles each time you create a new document.

Heading styles with numbers

Shauna Kelly, a Word MVP, has excellent instructions for setting up heading styles in "How to create heading and outline numbering in a document in Microsoft Word."
www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

Styles for numbered lists

I use styles to control indents and formatting for 3 levels of numbers.
My standard numbered styles are Number 1, Number 2, and Number 3.

Here's what the styles look like:

1. Number 1: Based on Normal.
   
2. Number 1:
   
   1. Number 2: Based on Number 1
      
   1. Number 2:
      2. Number 3. Based on Number 2.
      3. Number 3.
         

SEQ field

Using the Sequence field is a rock-solid method for numbering.

I don't use this method for step-by-step procedures in long documents, but I use it for short documents like Quick Start Guides.

For details on inserting SEQ field, see Word Help, or Microsoft Office Online:

"Field codes: Seq (Sequence) field"
Microsoft Office Assistance
office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP051861901033.aspx

For more information

Background on Word numbering

• Detailed description of how Word numbering works behind the scenes:
  "Word's numbering explained"
  Article by John McGhie
  word.mvps.org/faqs/numbering/WordsNumberingExplained.htm
  
  
• Microsoft's overview of numbering, with lots of links:
  "Ins and outs of bullets and numbering in Word"
  Article by Microsoft Office Assistance
  office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011376791033.aspx
  
  
• Importance of using heading styles if you want to number them:
  "Why use Microsoft Word's built-in heading styles?"
  Article by Shauna Kelly
  www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/UseBuiltInHeadingStyles.html
  

Procedures for numbering

• Setting up styles for a numbered appendix:
  "How to number headings and figures in Appendixes in Microsoft Word"
  Article by Shauna Kelly
  www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/NumberingAppendixes.html
  

  Also:
  "Add an appendix to your document"
  Article by Microsoft Office Assistance
  office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HA011587421033.aspx
  

• Restarting numbering based on styles:
  "How to restart style-based numbering"
  Article by Margaret Aldis
  word.mvps.org/faqs/numbering/ListRestartMethods.htm
  

Using Sequence Fields

• How to add the SEQ field to an AutoText entry:
  "Numbering With Sequence Fields"
  Article by Allen Wyatt
  wordtips.vitalnews.com/Pages/T0718_Numbering_With_Sequence_Fields.html
  
  
• Problem solving
  Word numbering newsgroup:
  Microsoft has a newsgroup specifically devoted to Word numbering. Send them questions if you have a numbering problem you can't solve.
  groups.google.com/group/microsoft.public.word.numbering