Numbering FAIL in Word: PRIZE OFFERED
September 19, 2010 5:20 AM Subscribe
Massive FAIL numbering examples in my Word2010. PRIZE OFFERED! Please help.
I'm trying to make deadline tomorrow (!!!) for my dissertation. It's well over 100 pages and the numbering in Word is driving me totally insane.
A typical example which requires number is a formula, four lines long with parts seperated by tabs (so that there is alignment
e.g.
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE IT IS INSANE
123 123 1234 123 11 22 1
data data data data d d data
'That was the example.'
[ok, it doesn't show up well in this context, but all the data lines up in neat columns]
The trouble is, automatic numbering screws up all my tab seperators: it either indents to far in the example and when I adjust the margins above it throws everything else off or else it gives the wrong number.
It is driving me totally insane.
I'm almost ready to get rid of all the numbing -- the trouble is that the numbering is cross-referenced in the text.
There are over 1000 examples, and each chapter is supposed to start again at (00), though it rarely does.
One idea is to just put a (##) sign instead of a number and then find some way to insert the number after and hope the committee doesn't mind, though I'd like to avoid it.
> I cannot use tables (this was how I originally did it). But I cannot use them anymore.
Is there any solution you know of?
PRIZE: I will mail the answerer with the working solution a box of Dutch chocolate direct from Amsterdam.
I'm trying to make deadline tomorrow (!!!) for my dissertation. It's well over 100 pages and the numbering in Word is driving me totally insane.
A typical example which requires number is a formula, four lines long with parts seperated by tabs (so that there is alignment
e.g.
THIS IS AN EXAMPLE IT IS INSANE
123 123 1234 123 11 22 1
data data data data d d data
'That was the example.'
[ok, it doesn't show up well in this context, but all the data lines up in neat columns]
The trouble is, automatic numbering screws up all my tab seperators: it either indents to far in the example and when I adjust the margins above it throws everything else off or else it gives the wrong number.
It is driving me totally insane.
I'm almost ready to get rid of all the numbing -- the trouble is that the numbering is cross-referenced in the text.
There are over 1000 examples, and each chapter is supposed to start again at (00), though it rarely does.
One idea is to just put a (##) sign instead of a number and then find some way to insert the number after and hope the committee doesn't mind, though I'd like to avoid it.
> I cannot use tables (this was how I originally did it). But I cannot use them anymore.
Is there any solution you know of?
PRIZE: I will mail the answerer with the working solution a box of Dutch chocolate direct from Amsterdam.
You need to set up a multi-list style (or several).
posted by Houstonian at 5:56 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by Houstonian at 5:56 AM on September 19, 2010
I don' t know what field you are in, but this sounds similar to the aligned glossed examples we have to create in linguistics documents. I had similar issues with my dissertation. You might want to google using search terms like "linguistics macros" or "linguistics examples" + numbering or something like that.
This macro might be of some use to you.
Also although they are quite old, these pages have some useful advice.
posted by lollusc at 5:57 AM on September 19, 2010
This macro might be of some use to you.
Also although they are quite old, these pages have some useful advice.
posted by lollusc at 5:57 AM on September 19, 2010
Response by poster: @ Lollusc: Yes, it's a linguistic interlinear gloss. Bingo. I'll do the search now for linguistics macros... Thanks!
posted by mateuslee at 6:03 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by mateuslee at 6:03 AM on September 19, 2010
Response by poster: THanks for the tip about the macro, put it doesn't work in this document. The formatting is all screwy... Of course it works in other documents just fine (good to know!) but this ms is over 500 pp and so that's problematic for some reason.
posted by mateuslee at 7:19 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by mateuslee at 7:19 AM on September 19, 2010
Yeah, turn off all the automatic formatting stuff. There might be others besides automatic numbering messing you up.
You can also type everything you want in Notepad, put tabs in as you like them, and then paste the entire thing back into Word.
posted by SMPA at 7:32 AM on September 19, 2010
You can also type everything you want in Notepad, put tabs in as you like them, and then paste the entire thing back into Word.
posted by SMPA at 7:32 AM on September 19, 2010
I might be just misunderstanding the problem, but can't you get Word to put the number on the right hand side of the page, instead of the left? Then the numbers shouldn't interfere with the tabs you're using to align the examples. Sorry if this doesn't make sense because it's based on a misunderstanding -- in which case, could you maybe post a screenshot of an example correctly aligned without the number, and then messed up by the addition of the number?
posted by logopetria at 8:12 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by logopetria at 8:12 AM on September 19, 2010
Here's what's happening: You are selecting from hundreds of numbering schemes in Word. Then (I'm guessing) you are trying to apply overrides to those, when you move the margins or adjust the tabs. The numbering schemes have levels of numbering, and when you are trying to override settings, you are actually changing levels. I would further guess that at this point you have (perhaps unknowingly) selected several different numbering schemes.
Ideally, before you started you would have created a template (.dotx file) for you to work in -- it makes your entire document have a consistent look, it is faster and more accurate, and it helps you do things automatically (for example, a table of contents). At a minimum, you need to set up the numbered lists within your document, and use only them, consistently.
If you aren't sure how to apply styles, check out this help video.
The best set of instructions I've seen for creating these list styles is at Shauna Kelly's website.
For what it's worth, I've worked with very large documents in Word almost every day, 8 hours a day, for over a decade. I've seen lots of people struggle with the numbered and bulleted lists. Many people have the opinion that styles are either not necessary or too difficult, and they have a hard time as a result. Give the styles a try!
posted by Houstonian at 8:31 AM on September 19, 2010
Ideally, before you started you would have created a template (.dotx file) for you to work in -- it makes your entire document have a consistent look, it is faster and more accurate, and it helps you do things automatically (for example, a table of contents). At a minimum, you need to set up the numbered lists within your document, and use only them, consistently.
If you aren't sure how to apply styles, check out this help video.
The best set of instructions I've seen for creating these list styles is at Shauna Kelly's website.
For what it's worth, I've worked with very large documents in Word almost every day, 8 hours a day, for over a decade. I've seen lots of people struggle with the numbered and bulleted lists. Many people have the opinion that styles are either not necessary or too difficult, and they have a hard time as a result. Give the styles a try!
posted by Houstonian at 8:31 AM on September 19, 2010
I only partially understand but are there other possible workarounds? Make them in excel or even PowerPoint and drop them in as images? (that will have its own downsides certainly.)
posted by salvia at 11:29 AM on September 19, 2010
posted by salvia at 11:29 AM on September 19, 2010
Man, I wouldn't have have gotten through the dissertation formatting state without AskMe. I don't have an answer for you, but can I propose adding "dissertationformatting" as a tag (after your deadline, of course)? I'll be adding the tag to my old questions now. It might be an easy way to add the answers you get to a growing set of resources here.
posted by .kobayashi. at 1:13 PM on September 19, 2010
posted by .kobayashi. at 1:13 PM on September 19, 2010
It's probably too late now, but just in case:
Word always seems to have issues with large documents (more than 200 pages). The only way I have ever managed to make that work is to keep each chapter in a separate file. Use a template (.dotx) for all the files, so the formatting is the same for each. And maybe splitting your diss into separate smaller files might even mean that macro I linked works after all.
Houstonian's suggestions sound like the best plan otherwise.
posted by lollusc at 8:41 PM on September 19, 2010
Word always seems to have issues with large documents (more than 200 pages). The only way I have ever managed to make that work is to keep each chapter in a separate file. Use a template (.dotx) for all the files, so the formatting is the same for each. And maybe splitting your diss into separate smaller files might even mean that macro I linked works after all.
Houstonian's suggestions sound like the best plan otherwise.
posted by lollusc at 8:41 PM on September 19, 2010
Response by poster: Thanks all y'all! I didn't get the numbering straightened out so I just deleted all the numbers and sent it to committee. I'll worry about it after. As far as I see it, my first mistake was merging all those chapters into one file. I shouldn't have done that. Could've made the TOC by hand. Hell, I could've painted a TOC with the days I lost doing this damn numbering.
Resolution for the pos-doc: LaTeX or bust.
posted by mateuslee at 8:17 AM on September 20, 2010
Resolution for the pos-doc: LaTeX or bust.
posted by mateuslee at 8:17 AM on September 20, 2010
Apologies if this is a tangent I shouldn't go down, but I don't really recommend being so quick to jump on the LaTeX alternative: I used LaTeX for my MA thesis, and if there's one thing worse than formatting long linguistics documents in Word, it's REformatting them into Word from LaTeX. I couldn't find a publisher in my field that would accept LaTeX files (and have found since then that most journals won't either). (Oh to be part of the "real" sciences...)
posted by lollusc at 11:11 PM on September 20, 2010
posted by lollusc at 11:11 PM on September 20, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by jannw at 5:53 AM on September 19, 2010