You don't need to use the 'different first page' setting or multiple front sections if you want to have more than one unnumbered page at the front of your document. All you need is a single 'next page' Section break before the page where the numbering is to start. Then simply unlink the header of the 2nd Section from the previous one before inserting the page # field and setting the numbering to start at 1.

__________________
Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

All right. I'm sure that is the more professional way. Right now, however, I'm just trying to get this to work with as little effort as possible. It seems to work the way I've done it, so I'll stick to it for now. She will have to hand it in printed out anyway, so it really doesn't matter too much.

Thanks anyway!

So sorry - I hate to be forced to reopen threads a while after I declared the issue solved myself ...
There has been a misunderstanding: My wife wanted the page_numbers to be at the end of a page, not the top. In theory, that should be an easy-enough change: The thing about the section_breaks which I did should still be the same, I should only have to remove the header_line and introduce a footer_line and include page_numbers ...
only, as is so often the case, for some reason it doesn't work. Word seems to not know where I have put the section_breaks, it messes up the numbering somehow.
I remember you told me to do something different from what I did - I guess that would work, I'll try - only how can I get rid of all the section_breaks now so I can begin that once more?


P.S.: Okay, I have removed them all, but still it is messy. I end up having the first page numbered, the second one blank or/and only the first page of my "main section" numbered, no more ... somehow I don't like Word ...

Thanks a lot!


P.S.: Okay, I think I made it. My solution is probably quite messy, every pro would probably go "Oh my" - but it seems to work and as only the printed version will be handed in anyway, no one will notice.