List numbers in Word Thread poster: Norskpro
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Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 02:56
Member
English to Norwegian
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I hope someone can help me with a Word problem. I use Word 2011 for Mac. Reviewing a finished translation I notice that the numbering of the paragraphs has skipped two paragraphs on different pages of the document, which means that the paragraph that reads 4.2 now, should actually read 4.3 (and so on for the next paragraphs), and the previous unnumbered paragraph should read 4.2 instead. I have written the target text directly into the source document, so I don't know how this happened, but it n... See more I hope someone can help me with a Word problem. I use Word 2011 for Mac. Reviewing a finished translation I notice that the numbering of the paragraphs has skipped two paragraphs on different pages of the document, which means that the paragraph that reads 4.2 now, should actually read 4.3 (and so on for the next paragraphs), and the previous unnumbered paragraph should read 4.2 instead. I have written the target text directly into the source document, so I don't know how this happened, but it needs to be numbered in the same way as in the source. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | | | Two possibilities... | Dec 3, 2014 |
1) Your unnumbered paragraph is the wrong style. Click in the text and see what style it has. Compare it with a numbered paragraph.
2) Your unnumbered paragraph is not being recognized as a new paragraph. Probably because, at the end of the previous paragraph you have a "soft" carriage return (shift-enter on a PC) instead of a "hard" one (enter on a PC). I'm not familiar with Macs but I do know that one of the ways that they differ from PCs has to do with carriage returns. If all el... See more 1) Your unnumbered paragraph is the wrong style. Click in the text and see what style it has. Compare it with a numbered paragraph.
2) Your unnumbered paragraph is not being recognized as a new paragraph. Probably because, at the end of the previous paragraph you have a "soft" carriage return (shift-enter on a PC) instead of a "hard" one (enter on a PC). I'm not familiar with Macs but I do know that one of the ways that they differ from PCs has to do with carriage returns. If all else fails, you could copy a real carriage return from the end of a paragraph where the numbers work correctly and paste it onto the end of the paragraph before the unnumbered one. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 02:56
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | soft carriage return | Dec 3, 2014 |
Thank you for the suggestions, Terry, which I have now tried, but unfortunately the problem is still unsolved. My document does not have any soft carriage returns.
Strange that it should be so complicated to solve something that ought to be simple. Your advice is very useful, though. Although I found no soft carriage returns in the document, it is something I had not tried. It is Shift+ enter on Mac as well, by the way.
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Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:56
Member (2008)
Italian to English
I feel your pain.
MS Word is a nightmare. I use both Word 2008 and Word 2011 for Mac. They crash or hang all the time, without warning.
They also do things you didn't expect them to do and didn't want to do, such as suddenly changing a font for no reason, or deleting a space between paragraphs, which means that you have to go back and reset everything.
Yesterday just as I'd completed polishing several pages of text the whole thing froze on me. I couldn't s... See more I feel your pain.
MS Word is a nightmare. I use both Word 2008 and Word 2011 for Mac. They crash or hang all the time, without warning.
They also do things you didn't expect them to do and didn't want to do, such as suddenly changing a font for no reason, or deleting a space between paragraphs, which means that you have to go back and reset everything.
Yesterday just as I'd completed polishing several pages of text the whole thing froze on me. I couldn't save the file, couldn't copy/paste, couldn't do anything except scroll up and down.
As an extreme measure, I was reduced to making a screenshot of each page, then forcing Word to quit, then reopening the file again, and retyping all the stuff I had already done, referring to the screenshots.
After that I spent a long time researching on the Internet trying to find out what was wrong. I deleted various caches, and did various bits of maintenance on the Mac, including checking all the fonts, and rebooted.
The best thing to do with MS Word for Mac is not to trust it and to hit the CMD + S keys every few seconds so that your work is saved - until, that is, MS Word hangs again and saving is no longer possible.
In my experience, when it comes to formatting text that includes inserts, bullet points, dashes, numbered sub-paragraphs, etc., the only way is to either
(a) completely reformat the page, fiddling about with the margins in the rulers at the top.
(b) unformat the bullet-pointed list and and then re-format it using the"bullets and numbering" option. This becomes even more complicated if the original document has been formatted using custom paragraph styles.
Whatever way you do it, it's a nightmare. MS Word wastes an awful lot of my time but unfortunately, it is the industry standard and I can't see any way of avoiding these daily bad experiences. Recent updates haven't fixed anything.
[Edited at 2014-12-03 12:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 02:56
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | ...and I feel yours, Tom in London | Dec 3, 2014 |
I feel panic just thinking about being in the situation you found yourself in. I guess that the makers of Word, in wanting Word to be able to do "everything" has made it too complicated. There are too many variables and possibilities and chances that things go wrong. Also I feel that it should be much simpler to use with regard to how to find answers. I gave up using "Help" a long time ago.
Yes, one definitely has to save often, and also have backup.
Apparently there ... See more I feel panic just thinking about being in the situation you found yourself in. I guess that the makers of Word, in wanting Word to be able to do "everything" has made it too complicated. There are too many variables and possibilities and chances that things go wrong. Also I feel that it should be much simpler to use with regard to how to find answers. I gave up using "Help" a long time ago.
Yes, one definitely has to save often, and also have backup.
Apparently there will be a new version of Word for Mac next year. I wonder if it will be more complicated or easier to use. ▲ Collapse
| | | | | Some experiments | Dec 3, 2014 |
The problem has to be in the unnumbered paragraph, the one before it or some invisible gunk in-between them. Let's see if we can narrow down where it is:
1) Click in the middle of the paragraph before the unnumbered one. From your description, I think that's paragraph 4.1. That's how I'm going to refer to it from here on.
2) Press enter.
3) Paragraph 4.1 should now have split into two paragraphs, 4.1 and 4.2. Did that happen?
4) Delete t... See more The problem has to be in the unnumbered paragraph, the one before it or some invisible gunk in-between them. Let's see if we can narrow down where it is:
1) Click in the middle of the paragraph before the unnumbered one. From your description, I think that's paragraph 4.1. That's how I'm going to refer to it from here on.
2) Press enter.
3) Paragraph 4.1 should now have split into two paragraphs, 4.1 and 4.2. Did that happen?
4) Delete the carriage return - 4.1 should now be back together as it was before.
5) Go to the end of paragraph 4.1 and press enter. You should have a new, empty paragraph numbered 4.2. Did that happen?
6) Press delete enough times to bring the unnumbered text into this new paragraph. Did the numbering stay?
[Edited at 2014-12-03 15:10 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 02:56
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Thank you for your suggestion, Terry, and your patience in trying to help me solve this problem.
Here is what happened:
1) I click in the middle of the paragraph before the unnumbered one.
2) I press enter.
3) Paragraph 4.1 has now split into two paragraphs, 4.1 and an unnumbered paragraph.
4) I delete the carriage return - 4.1 is back together as it was before.
5) I go to the end of paragraph 4.1 and press enter. I d... See more Thank you for your suggestion, Terry, and your patience in trying to help me solve this problem.
Here is what happened:
1) I click in the middle of the paragraph before the unnumbered one.
2) I press enter.
3) Paragraph 4.1 has now split into two paragraphs, 4.1 and an unnumbered paragraph.
4) I delete the carriage return - 4.1 is back together as it was before.
5) I go to the end of paragraph 4.1 and press enter. I do not get a new, empty paragraph numbered 4.2, just a space between paragraph 4.1 and the next, unnumbered, paragraph.
6) The actions you suggest do not lead to any changes regarding numbering. ▲ Collapse
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The problem then seems to be in the paragraph before the unnumbered one. A couple of possibilities spring to mind:
1) The numbering was applied manually and is not part of the style. All you have to do is manually apply it to the unnumbered paragraph.
2) The "next style" for the style in paragraph 4.1 is set to a different style.
| | | | Norskpro
Norway
Local time: 02:56
Member
English to Norwegian
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
Terry Richards wrote:
The problem then seems to be in the paragraph before the unnumbered one. A couple of possibilities spring to mind:
1) The numbering was applied manually and is not part of the style. All you have to do is manually apply it to the unnumbered paragraph.
2) The "next style" for the style in paragraph 4.1 is set to a different style.
When I mark the number of the previous paragraph, 4.1.2., other three-digit numbers in the document are automatically marked, so the number was not done manually. I delivered the document several days ago, and I inserted the number 4.2 manually in the unnumbered paragraph. It meant that I also had to change the numbers in the following paragraphs manually (4.2 to 4.3 etc.). It looked OK, but it was not done in the right way. I have not given up trying to find an answer to the problem though.
Where do I find "next style"?
| | | | Oliver Walter 
United Kingdom
Local time: 01:56
German to English
+ ...
| "Next" paragraph | Dec 6, 2014 |
Norskpro wrote:
Where do I find "next style"?
In Word 2000 it's in Format > Style [click on the style in question if necessary] > Modify Style > Style for the following paragraph.
It must be roughly the same process in a later version of Word.
Oliver
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