I'm getting better with lists and styles but apparently not good enough yet. I've attached a sample document.

I want Heading 1 to go 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc.

I want heading 2 to go 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, etc. but based on what main section it's in, i.e. 2.1, 2.2, 2.3, 3.1, 3.2, 3.3, etc.

Seems that I've got half the document working the way I want it and the rest not so much. Can't figure out what I'm doing wrong.

PLEASE HELP!!!!! deadline quickly approaching. See attached.

Attached Files

VPSI NAVFAC CY2023 Bulk Piping Proposal Docs Rev 0.docx (132.9 KB, 6 views)

If you use automatic paragraph numbering or bullets read Shauna Kelly's directions on numbering and bullets. Start with How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Word 2007 and Word 2010. For large documents you must follow these directions or you will lose your hair!
(Mac version: Outline Numbering in Word for macOS - Best Practices - Brandwares)

This may seem a bit convoluted at first, but it really is not. Just follow the steps. Shauna Kelly's instructions use the built-in heading styles, but you can use any existing paragraph styles including your custom styles. There are, however advantages to using the built-in heading styles when you create a Table of Contents. Here are some more advantages: Why Use Word's Built-In Heading Styles? by Shauna Kelly Note, you can modify these built-in styles to look exactly the way you want.

Videos on this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=He_ob8ydc9E
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbyTcWo52G4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GevZOS-nCuw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niD6VXPvAyU

The basic idea is that the numbering is set using the Define MultiLevel List dialog with each numbering level being attached to an existing paragraph style. Once you have this set up, you should not use the buttons for numbering in the Ribbon but rather apply the appropriate style for that level.

You can save a document with this as a template for future documents if you want so you will not need to do this every time.

The one thing you should never do in a document of this type is use the button marked with a red square in the attached image.

This button is fine for quick and dirty documents that you don't really care about, but for anything important you need to use the button to the right of it and define a list style to control the numbering. The process for doing this is detailed in the links to Shauna Kelly's directions in the post above.

The document you attached contains styles that clearly don't belong, so, for future use, I suggest you start from scratch and create a template (.dotx) specifically for proposals with all the necessary styles defined properly. You can be much more productive if all the setup has been done in advance.

Attached Images

Screenshot 2022-10-22 103624.png (23.3 KB, 17 views)

You could use the Style Set that includes Numbered Headings.

This helped big time, as well as all other posts. I'm getting the hang of it, and after about 12 hours of frustration, I've got a working document. Will mark resolved. Thanks for all the help!!!!!!