Heading 2 numbering not resetting to follow preceding Heading 1.

Anonymous
2011-02-24T03:04:29+00:00

I have a document in Word 2007 that I have created for use as a template. I have done this via the modification of another document that was already fomatted with TOC, headers and footers, page numbers, heading numbering etc. I have been modifying/creating new "styles" rather than just formatting text.

This all seems to be working well except for heading 2 numbering, which is not resetting to follow the preceding heading 1 number. For example: -

  1. Heading 1; is followed by 1.1, 1.2, 1.3
  2. Heading 2; followed by 1.4,1.5..... (carried on from previous list)

Heading 3 is resetting to follow the preceding heading as it should (i.e. 1.2 is followed by 1.2.1, 1.2.2 etc.).

There is no "restart numbering" option when I right click over the numbering in text. When I try to modify Heading 2 in Styles and select format>numbering the field does not recognise that the numbering is secong tier (i.e. 1.1, 1.2..etc) and only shows first tier options (i.e. 1, 2, 3...etc). I cannot seem to find any option in the modify style dialogue box to link the numbering.

When I base heading 2 on heading 1, formatting reverts to mimic heading 1 exactly and I cannot then reformat heading 2 to second tier numbering using the modify dialogue box as once again it is only recognising first tier numbering. The heading 2 that I am using is currently based on heading 2 from the original document and has been re-labelled "heading 2 VE".    

I know that not building the document from scratch is naughty but I'm only mediocre at MS word and it would take me ages. Please tell me there's a simple trick and I don't have to start again!

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Anonymous
2012-06-15T15:32:23+00:00

Did you try using  the built-in numbering scheme before you  created one from scratch?  If you don't have any customizations to the number formatting or style, indents, and such, the built-in scheme is all you need.

You can "start over" by putting the cursor in the first heading 1, clicking the multilevel list icon, and in the list gallery, clicking the built-in numbering badge that shows this:  1 Heading 1, 1.1 Heading, 1.1.1 Heading 3, etc.

Even if you want only minor customizations, though, you may want a list style in your template. So after you have applied the built-in number scheme and with the cursor still in  the first heading 1, go back to the list gallery and click Define new List Style (name the list style) > Format  > Numbering.  The dialog will show all the settings of the current list (where the cursor is) except that no headings will be linked to the numbering levels.  Customize the settings and add the heading links. 

One of the advantages of starting with a built-in list is that the number fields and restarts are already there and correct.   But the biggest one is that you don't have to do all of those steps and clicks!

Pam

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Suzanne S Barnhill 279.4K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2011-02-24T03:23:17+00:00

You must set up the heading numbering as a multilevel list linked to the heading styles. If you select the 1 Heading 1, 1.1 Heading 2, 1.1.1 Heading 3 list type in the Multilevel List gallery, the list levels will be linked to the styles automatically, will have the numbering you want, and will restart after higher levels. For more on this, seehttp://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/numbering20072010.html.

Once the numbering is linked to the styles, you can modify the formatting of the styles any way you like (in the Modify Style dialog) except wrt numbering; any changes to the numbering or indents (left or hanging) must be made in the Define New Multilevel List dialog.

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  1. Stefan Blom 352.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-05-20T18:36:21+00:00

    You can send to stefanDOTblomATmvpsDOTorg.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-20T16:47:48+00:00

    Hi All,

    Thanks for continuing this discussion w/ me. And Pam & Stefan, thanks for offering to review my document.  I will send -- but Stefan, need your email address.

    Thx!

    Mark

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  3. Stefan Blom 352.5K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2015-05-20T13:49:19+00:00

    If you tread carefully, you can certainly edit an existing multilevel list, without Word creating a new one.

    If you click in the first level 1 item of a list (which for a list of headings obviously means the first Heading 1 paragraph of the document) and then click Home tab | Multilevel List | Define New Multilevel List, you get access to the multilevel dialog box which allows you to modify the list, much the same way as editing the list via the Modify Style dialog box for Heading 1 did in Word 2003 and older versions.

    You can check the number of lists, or actually ListTemplate objects, in the document by entering

    ?ActiveDocument.ListTemplates.Count

    in the Immediate window of the Visual Basic Editor (Alt+F11 followed by Ctr+G).

    It is true, however, that some actions, such as manually restarting a list, often creates a new list. But this happens with list styles as well.

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