Can't Get Centering right with soft return

[Nathan8752]

Greetings, Gods of MS Word,



I created a style so that I could get Appendix titles to increment as Appendix A, Appendix B, Appendix C, etc. But it screwed up the centering on the title pages of each appendix. So for example, I have "Appendix A [soft return] [soft return] Tables and Figures" on the first page of Appendix A. The "Appendix A" part looks pretty well centered, but the "Tables and Figures" part is near the center, but offset to the right a bit. I've messed with the indents and adding spaces, but I can't get it to come out right. Please provide guidance if you can.

Thank you.

--Nate

[Charles Kenyon]

This may help.
How to number headings and figures in Appendixes in Microsoft Word by Shauna Kelly

[Nathan8752]

I took a look at that article, and while helpful on several things, I don't see an answer to my question. I really just need some formatting guidance to get the text on the title page of each appendix to be centered on the page correctly.

Thanks.

-Nate

[macropod]

You might want to check your paragraph indent settings. If the second line is being offset, you more than likely have a non-zero left indent for that line.

[Nathan8752]

I checked my indent settings, and yes, I did have a 0.63 left indent in there, so I set that to zero. That didn't fix it, however. It's almost as though there are extra spaces between "Appendix A" and "Tables and Figures", but I don't see any when I turn on hidden formatting symbols. Any other ideas?

[JimP]

Can you attach the file so that someone can look at it and give you a definitive solution? Remove anything sensitive prior to uploading it.

[Nathan8752]

I uploaded a sample document that shows what I'm talking about.

I was able to make it look right by jiggering the hanging indent, shown on the Appendix A title page. The Appendix B title page shows the problem I'm dealing with.

Adjusting the hanging indent still seems like a brute force tactic; I still would like to know what I'm doing wrong that makes it misbehave with zero indent. Any thoughts?

[JimP]

The example that you provided suggest to me that your understanding of Word may be minimized (the formatting needs help). Here are some links that will help you:

Basic concepts of Microsoft Word: An introduction | ShaunaKelly.com
Tips for Understanding Styles in Word | ShaunaKelly.com
Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word

[Charles Kenyon]

I believe that the key to this is in the list numbering dialog. I haven't time to delve right now.

[Robert2]

I have modified your original document in this way:
1. I have removed the left indent.
2. I have adjusted the first line indent to 3.95 picas.
3. I have changed the line spacing to a multiple of 3.
4. I have removed the “blank” line break that was used to create vertical spacing (I used line spacing instead).
I have updated the associated style to reflect these changes.
The text strings in this document are now perfectly centered.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

[Nathan8752]

Thanks. I think I can work with that.