Numbering, Bullets, and Outlining

This section covers paragraph and line numbering; line numbering is on page 226.

Just the Basics

Here are the simplest things you can do to get numbering.

Quick Numbering and Bulleting

Select the text to number or bullet and click the appropriate icon on the object bar. See Figure 7-25.

Figure 7-25. Quick bulleting or numbering

Quick Outlining

This procedure shows you how to create a basic outline format based on a predefined set of outlining styles. An example is shown in Figure 7-26.

1. Position the cursor where you want to begin outlining. If you have problems with the outlining taking effect, type a little text first, then select the entire line.

2. Choose Format > Numbering/Bullets.

3. In the Outline tab, select the style of outlining you want to use, as shown in Figure 7-27.

   Figure 7-27. Predefined outline styles

   

4. Click OK. The window closes and the first-level number appears in the text.

5. Press the Tab key on each line you want to move down a level; to move up a level, press Shift+Tab. If you're using numbering, the numbering increments according to the level. The lines you press Tab on should look similar to the indented lines in Figure 7-26.

Figure 7-26. Example of quick outlining

Specifying What Level of a List You're On (Indenting and "Outdenting")

To make a line switch from the first level to second level, i.e. indent and restart at 1, just position the cursor to the left of any text on the line and press Tab. This is illustrated in Figure 7-28.

Figure 7-28. Quick indenting and restarting

To reverse the indent ("outdent"), do the same thing but press Shift + Tab instead.

Restarting a New List at 1

If you're having problems restarting a second list at 1, be sure to separate the two lists with a nonnumbered paragraph. Then put your cursor in the first line of the second list, click the numbering icon, then click it again to turn numbering back on.

Customizing Numbering and Bullets

If what's there isn't quite what you want, here's how to get it.

Selecting a Specific Numbering or Bullet Style

If you want to use more interesting numbers or bullets, use this procedure. The quickest way to apply numbering and bulleting is to set up numbering and bulleting styles, especially if you're going to use the same kinds again and again. See Power Formatting With Styles on page 247.

1. Highlight the paragraphs you want to bullet, or position the cursor where you want to begin a new list.

2. Choose Format > Numbering/Bullets.

3. In the Numbering/Bullets window (Figure 7-29), select the numbering or bullets you want to use in the Bullets, Numbering style, or Graphics tabs. (It's a good idea not to select the Link option. See the note in Figure 7-29.)

   Figure 7-29. Predefined bullet styles in the Graphics tab

   

4. Click OK.

If you're starting a new bulleted or numbered list, type the text at the first list item and press Enter. The new paragraph takes on the number or bullet format. If you press Enter at a numbered or bulleted paragraph that doesn't have text with it, the bullet or number is removed from the paragraph.

To restart numbering, see Figure 7-19 on page 213.

Customizing Numbering, Bullets, and Outlining

There are many aspects to customizing numbering, bulleting, and outlining. Besides changing font and characters , perhaps the most important reason for customization is setting up different tiers, or indented levels, as Figure 7-30 shows.

Figure 7-30. Numbering/Bullet levels

It's a good idea to do this with styles, or to customize existing styles, since this isn't one of OpenOffice.org's quicker or simpler features and doing it repeatedly will not lead you toward self actualization or in fact anything particularly beneficial. See Power Formatting With Styles on page 247.

1. Position the cursor where you want to begin numbering or bullets, or highlight the text you want to number or bullet.

2. Choose Format > Numbering/Bullets. The Numbering/Bullets window is displayed.

3. Select the Customize tab.

4. In the Level box, select a level number. Levels correspond to the level of indentation. The higher the level number, the greater the indentation.

5. In the Numbering field, select the type of numbering or bullet you want the level to be.

6. Set any appropriate options for the level (such as Before, After, or Character Style). See Figure 7-31 and Figure 7-32 for more information.

   Figure 7-31. The Numbering/Bullets window, Options tab

   

   Figure 7-32. Format options for different Numbering selections

   

7. Set up any other levels you want to customize.

8. When you're finished, click OK.

9. Begin using your custom numbering/bulleting (see page 217).

10. To get a line to the right indentation, such as at the 1.a level of an outline, put the cursor at the left of the text on that line and press Tab.

Writer uses default position and spacing for each level. If you want to fine-tune the position and spacing of the levels, see Fine-Tuning the Position and Spacing of Levels on page 224.

If you're having problems with outlines or consecutive numbering in general

Make absolutely sure, if you're doing an outline like the far right outline with sublevels in Figure 7-30 on page 221, that you've got the Show Sublevels option set correctly. If your outline isn't doing what you need it to:

• First make sure you're indenting appropriately as in Figure 7-28 on page 219.

• Select the entire outline, choose Format > Numbering/Bullets, click the Options tab, select 1-10 in the Level list at the left, and enter 10 in the Show Sublevels field. Click OK.

The Format area of the Numbering/Bullets window displays different options depending on your selection in the Numbering field. The pictures in Figure 7-32 illustrate these different options.

You can also mix numbers and bullets when setting your levels. Just select the number, bullet, letter, or whatever you want, at each outline level in the Options tab.

Fine-Tuning the Position and Spacing of Levels

You can change the default position and spacing Writer uses for numbers and bullets.

1. Click in the numbered or bulleted paragraph you want to change.

2. Choose Format > Numbering/Bullets.

3. In the Numbering/Bullets window, select the Position tab.

4. Select a level in the Level box, and adjust its settings. Select and adjust all levels you want to change.

5. When you're finished, click OK. Figure 7-33 describes the options in the Position tab.

   Figure 7-33. The Numbering/Bullets window, Position tab

   

Saving Numbering/Bullet Customizations

The customization only applies to the paragraphs that use it. For example, if you create and use a customized numbering hierarchy in one place in a document, you can't click the numbering button in the object bar and continue using the customized numbering system at another point in the document. You'd either have to copy the first line of the customized numbering style and paste it elsewhere in the document, or recreate the numbering system in the Numbering/Bullets window for a different part of the document. To save your customization, create a new numbering style. See Creating a Numbering Style on page 256.

Controlling How the Numbers or Letters in a List are Formatted

When you create a numbered list, you might want the numbers themselves to be differently formatted and stand out:

To do this, follow these steps.

1. Create a character style that's formatted the way you want the numbers. See Character Styles on page 254.

2. Format the list as a numbered list, using any of the approaches in this chapter or through using numbering styles. See Numbering and Bullet Styles on page 256.

3. Do one of the following:

   • Select the list and choose Format > Numbering/Bullets

   • Choose Format > Styles > Catalog, select the numbering style you're using, and select Modify.

4. Select the Options tab in the numbering formatting window and select the character style from the Character Style dropdown list, as shown in Figure 7-34.

   Figure 7-34. Selecting the character style to apply to the numbers or letters in the list

   

See Figure 7-31 and Figure 7-32 for more information.

Cross-Referencing Paragraph Numbering

If you want to cross-reference the autogenerated numbers/text of a paragraph, such as "Figure 5-1" in a caption paragraph style, you need to number those paragraph formats in a different way. See Outline Numbering, for Chapter, Figure, and Cross-Reference Numbering on page 314.

Restarting a List at 1

Lists often travel in pairs; where there's one, there's another. For instance, you might be writing something like this:

Figure 7-35. Restarting a subsequent list at 1

To make sure that the subsequent lists restart at 1, use these tips:

• Make sure there's a non-numbered paragraph between the two lists. Use the Default style or another style.

• Put the cursor on the line you want restarted at 1. Then click the numbering icon on the toolbar to turn off numbering, then again to restart it. The list should restart at 1.

  

If you want the list to restart at 1, but be at the second level of the list, like 1.a or just 1, as shown in Figure 7-28 on page 219, just position the cursor to the left of the text and press Tab.

Numbering Lines

You can add line numbers beside lines in Writer.

1. Choose Tools > Line Numbering. Figure 7-36 will appear.

   Figure 7-36. Setting line numbering options

   

2. In the Line Numbering window, select the Show numbering option, and customize any of the options for displaying line numbering.

3. Click OK.

To remove line numbering, deselect the Show numbering option.

You can further control line numbering through paragraph styles, which let you restart line numbering at specific paragraph styles or let you not include paragraph styles in line numbering. See Figure 7-20 on page 214.