Hi there guys,

Having real difficulty with the formatting in Word.



Personally, I would rather write a text file, and then just add my own tabbing and spacing, but I can't seem to do this.

Word has taken it upon itself to format my assignment for me. So question one now look quite nice, but can I replicate the formating for question 2 absolutely not.

Some help here would be really appreciated, as I have to hand this in tomorrow.

Kind regards

Jonny

Hi Jonny,

Perhaps you should take a little time learning how to use Word.

If you need help, something more descriptive than:
might indicate to readers here what the problem might be. So far, you haven't given us any clues!!

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

Just realise, some details might help.

Basically, I wrote "Question 1" bolded and underlined, then I wrote "(a)" bolded. took bold off and started to write.

Work automatically tabbed my writing in - fine, and when I pressed enter, it automatically gave me (b) all bolded and nice. Now I write "Question 2 " underline it and bold it, and the formatting is now not there, and I can get the indent, yet it would give me the same numbering.

I want to either do my own formatting, or have it consistent. I don't mind using the formatting stuff, but to be honest as a dyslexic engineer, I don't want to learn this stuff right now, on the eve of submission.

I didn't know this was going to happen, or I would have done a course to learn this in advance.

again regards

Jonny

Yes I agree, I will take a course in microsoft word over the summer so this does not happen again, unfortunately, as an engineering student, I have not had to submit any essays until now, and I am panicing a little.

Hi Jonny,

What you're describing is in part the the result of having Word's 'autoformatting' activated, which is the default.

Rather than relying on that, you should use Styles and list numbering.

Word will probably have applied both to the first heading and the (a) and (b) paragraphs. What you could do is to then press <Enter> to insert a new paragraph (which will probably be prefixed (c)) and then copy the first heading's paragraph mark (indicated by the ¶ symbol) and paste that before the paragraph you'd just created. That will give you a new 'heading' paragraph into which you can put the second heading. If, when you do this the (c) doesn't re-set to (a), you can tell Word to re-start the numbering if you wish, or you can simply press enter again, then insert a new paragraph with the (a) prefix. This process is somewhat more complicated than using Styles and list numbering proactively, but it should tide you over until you learn them. There are plenty of good websites with free tutorial material on how to format Word documents.

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

Ok thank you, this is useful.

Unfortunately, I am making a mess of this and don't really have time to learn this today. Tomorrow, I will sit down and learn it, but today means I won't get my assignment finished and handed in on time resulting in a maximum of 40% mark. I am expecting over 90% for my work.

Is there a way to restart the numbering again for Question 2 so it matches the first question. Microsoft word has kind of turned it off, and I can't find out how to get it to restart at all, it just indents my work, but will not longer do the numbering. If I add it myself, I can't get it to line up with the first lot of formatting it just pips it to the left or right of where I need it.

Restarting from scratch is no longer an option unfortunately.

Regards

Jonny

Hi Jonny,

To remove the unwanted indenting, click on the 'Decrease indent' symbol on the paragraph block on the Ribbon's Home tab.

Alternatively, hitting enter twice after an existing paragraph will result in a new un-numbered and un-indented paragraph being created. you could then type the (a) in the new paragraph and, when you press the space or tab key, a re-started a-b-c sequence will hve started. You can then simply copy the text from the 'problem' paragraph into it, then delete the problem paragraph.

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

Thank you for the input, but unfortunately I can not get this to work, pressing enter twice now just gives me new paragraphes without the numbering sequence.

Is there not a way to just copy the formatting from before? I don't understand where the numbering has come from and where to find it again. If it was like an html page, I can deal with code, I can program that is not a problem, but no when I can't find the code.

regards

Jonny

Thank you very much macropod for helping me, I know I am one of the worlds most difficult students, and I applaud your perseverance with me.

I have found the answer now. Here is how I did it for anyone who has the same problem.

First go to the toolbar ribbon thing, and select show or hide toolbox.

Go to the little toolbox window, and click the paragraph tab so you can see what you have been using so far.
Then:
View - Toolbars - formatting

Go up to the new formatting ribbon (make sure you are using the same paragraph style in the toolbox, in my case it is list) Click the numbering icon and a little lightning bolt appears by your cursor on the page, click this, and you have a choice of continuous numbering or starting again.

I hope this helps.

Again, 4 hours of formatting, 2 hours of grade A degree worthy work.

total 8 hours of format in word, 4 hours research and essay writing.

Thanks microsoft, a little format off button would really help.

Kind regards

Jonny

I have the same problems in Word 2007 (and the "start numbering over" command does NOT work. Not ever. Click it all you like. Change the numbering value and watch Word laugh at you.) However, when I searched help for a way to turn off autoformatting, I learned that this version of Word doesn't have it.

So then what?

I feel for you. I am also aware, that when that happens, there is something that has been over looked, but finding specific things in microsoft packages is not that easy.

I am using Word 2011, so it is likely to be different. Unfortunately I am learning that as Microsoft Office is industry standard, as an engineering student, there is no alternative but to use it. Open office unfortunately does not contain some of the stuff I need just to read my assignments.

If however you are just using this as a word processor without having to do any maths, open office is a very viable alternative that behaves in a more reasonable manor.

The only other alternative, the one I am going to have to take, is to actually learn the package. It will only ever stand you in good stead in the future.

I doubt this helps you at all, but it is nice to get it off my chest.

Regards and good luck

Jonny

That's just plain nonsense!

Go to Word Options|Proofing > AutoCorrect Options and you'll find it on one of the tabs there.

Had you bothered to use Word's help function (simply press F1) and look for 'AutoCorrect' you'd have found it in an instant.

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

I ran across this after searching for another posting of mine. (Paul? Do you still work there? You're pretty rude.)

I have no way of confirming that my findings when I (yes) pressed F1 and consulted help - I'm several versions past that one now.

Nevertheless, let's bring up my other, possibly more salient point, which is that Word's renumbering function doesn't work. It hasn't worked since 1992 when I began using the software (were you born yet, Paul?). The Microsoft Word team carries that bug over from one version to the next, and never addresses it. I periodically bring it up on this forum and to Microsoft employees just for grins. I'm now on version 2016, and it's still broken. I've had probably over a dozen updated versions and 27 years of grins!

I'm not talking about renumbering first level numbers - that works. I'm talking SECOND level numbers. If you have several sections in a document, each of which requires a numbered list, you CAN change subsequent lists to "Restart at 1." However, if you have a sub-list of a, b, c, d under a primary list of 1, 2, 3, you CANNOT renumber to "a" in any subsequent lists because the "Restart at a" function hasn't worked at least since 1992. Neither does the function where you display the Numbering Library dialog and replace "e" (or whatever) with "a."

The only solution is to delete the "a" in the numbered sub-list item and TYPE "a" (you're manually numbering this item, in other words) then press Tab. Then you have to reposition the list item to the correct indentation. Then you can press Enter, and the next item will automatically be "b," etc., if you're set to auto-format You have to go through these steps each time you have a subsequent sub-section.

Word's numbering feature has never worked intuitively. The buttons for numbering work fine if you are going to have one numbered list.

Using the hunt and peck method of using Word numbering results in "spaghetti numbering." That's a technical term.

To have numbering work well, you need to tie it to styles.
How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Ribbon Versions of Word by Shauna Kelly

To be able to do that, you really have to spend time learning Word.
The following is for Windows, not the Mac. Nevertheless, it should be helpful:
Basic Concepts of Microsoft Word - from Shauna Kelly
That is a series of web pages. I recommend highly that you step through them all. You will recover the time you spend doing that within a week of using Word. It may save you from tearing your hair out.

You can find more on Word's numbering and how to make it work here: Numbering in Microsoft Word
That is my page. However, when I want to make numbering work, I go to the Shauna Kelly link as a Bible.

Paul does not work for Microsoft. Neither do I. This forum is not hosted by Microsoft. We are both volunteers, your fellow users, trying to help you. We both can be blunt at times. He was not being rude, in my opinion. He was telling you like it is. Both he and I were doing computer work before Microsoft was a company.

You, on the other hand, are coming across as both arrogant and condescending. I expect that is not your intention.

Word is not easy if you are trying to do something more than write a simple letter or report. (And, the free WordPad would be quite adequate for that purpose.) If you are going to use it and not feel like it is sabotaging you, you need to spend time learning how it works. I don't mean necessarily taking a course in it. In my last post, I gave you a good starting point.

Word is an incredibly powerful computer program. With that power has come complexity. Microsoft has added features to it left and right over the years. They do not necessarily work together in a way that makes sense to the user.

My wife has a new car. I can drive it fine. It is, however, different from what I am used to driving. I will not try to adjust the radio (other than to turn it off) while I drive it because I haven't learned the controls that are second-nature to her. If I want to do more than drive to the grocery store, I am going to have to learn how it works. For now, I just drive my own car.

You are in the position of not just wanting to adjust the radio/bluetooth, but add an accessory. You need to look at the manual.

A Microsoft employee is unlikely to tell you these things. They don't think anyone needs a manual. They are wrong.