Word 2007 grey box around a line

[btdaniel]

Using Word 2007 in a long manuscript I have a horizontal line with a grey box around it at the top of my bibliography that I can't delete. I don't think it is a border problem and have tried all that to delete it. Any help would be appreciated. I attached a screenshot.
Thanks,


BTDaniel

[Ulodesk]

Hi, BT. It looks to me like the line used for footnotes in Word 2003. I don't know why it's showing at the top of a page, but stranger things have happened. Check References/Show notes and other footnote actions to see if that makes the line accessible.

Best,
Ulodesk

[btdaniel]

I am very impressed by the effort here to solve my problem, but...the answer I got didn't help me. I can't get references-show notes to do anything different and I'm still stuck.
Thanks

BTD

[Ulodesk]

Can you copy and post the actual page, in Word rather than an image? I'll see what I can figure out once I can see what's happening in Word. I'm sure I can fix it.

Ulodesk

[btdaniel]

Sorry, but how do i copy and paste this to you?

btdaniel

[Ulodesk]

Hello again. Make a copy of your document. Open the copy, delete everything above the page at issue, then everything below it, leaving the page. Save this new one-page document and close it.

Then in your reply to this, don't use Quick reply; use the full reply, scroll down the page to where it says Additional Options, then click on the Manage Atttachments button. Click the top Browse button to navigate to the new file you created, select it, adn click on open. It will be attached to your reply.

Best,
Ulodesk

[btdaniel]

Here goes what I can do.

BTD

[btdaniel]

Actually the line only appears after the title of the first page of the bibliography. It has a grey dotted line around it when using the backward P, see everything button, but is just a horizontal black line when viewed normally. It exists at the top of the bibliography for about 10 pages and then disappears.

BTD

[Ulodesk]

Hi. In the file you attached, no line shows up. That suggests that it is actually in a paragraph in the page header. Are you familiar with headers and footers? If not, double-click in the top margin of one of the pages on which the line appears. This opens another layer of the document reserved for repeating information in a defined section of the document. You should see a dotted line going across the page 1/2 inch from the page top. In that space, I suspect you'll find the line and should be able to select and delete it.

Let me know.

Best, Ulodesk

[btdaniel]

It's not a header, it appears three lines below the top of the page of document text. It is between the title of my bibliography and the first reference. Thanks for all your effort

[Ulodesk]

Never give up.

I am attaching a word doc with a screen shot of what I am seeing in the place I believe you are referring to. In the third paragraph down, there is an almost empty paragraph, but you see the little circle there, which is followed by a space, then the pilcrow (backwards P, the paragraph marker). The little circle is, as far as I know, a marker for a non-breaking space, and I don;t know how it could become the kind of line you're referring to. In any case, it is easily deletable, so I am still perplexed at where this mysterious line is.

Your description of it appearing for 10 pages only, does indicate that it is only in one section. You can see section breaks, like the pilcrows and other hidden formatting marks, when yu have them turned on. You should see one after the last text on the page just before the page on which the first black line appears. It will have a fine dotted line and will probably say "Section Break (Next Page)".

Perhaps you would be willing try this for posting:

Turn on the hidden characters
Size your view similar to the way I did in my attached document, so that just the top of the page down to a few lines of text below the black line show, and then hold down the Alt key while pressing the Print Screen key. Ten open a new Word doc and paste. The image of window with your zoomed-in document will appear. Save it and attach it to your reply. There's a solution to this somehwre, we just have to find it.

[btdaniel]

here is the page with the grey horizontal line. BTD

[Ulodesk]

Okay, now I know what to do. I should have known before.

All the text on these pages is footnotes! Word's standard (default) footnote setup includes the black line. Here's how to get to it:

1. Change your view to Draft
2. Select the References tab
3. Click on Show notes in the Footnotes section and select Footnote area
4. A fotnote pane will open at bottom.
5. In the dropdown box there that says All footnotes, use the down arrow and select Footnote separator from the list
6. You'll see the black line. Delete it.

Sorry it took me so long.

Best,
Ulodesk

[btdaniel]

Hey, that worked for the start of the bibliography but now I see that it is also on the top of every other page in the bibliography, with no section change. Sample below. Thank you very much for helping me on this.

BTD

[Ulodesk]

Well, this time you have me beat. The line is a result of the footnote continuing on the next page. I can't find a way to remove it, so we;ll have to hope Charles Kenyon or Paul Edstein can jump in here. sorry.