Resolving List Challenges

3 4

Word's bulleted and numbered list feature is basically simple to use, but a few headaches occur now and then. Here are a few workarounds for list challenges.

Turning Off AutoFormat Features

Sometimes the automatic features can conflict with your desire to format things yourself. If you want to make your own changes to Word's bullet and numbering schemes, disable AutoFormat before you begin list making. To do that, follow these steps:

1. Choose Tools, AutoCorrect Options and the AutoFormat tab.
2. Clear the List Styles and Automatic Bulleted Lists check boxes on the AutoFormat tab.
3. On the AutoFormat As You Type tab, clear the Automatic Bulleted Lists and Automatic Numbered Lists check boxes.

Dropped Formatting

Having a feature that enables you to easily create consistent bulleted and numbered lists is a great thing—especially when it works. But sometimes Word doesn't duplicate the correct format in the second line of a list item that has more than one formatting change. For example, suppose that in a bulleted list, you begin with the first word bold and the rest of the item in regular style. When you create the second bullet item, Word doesn't apply the bold style. For example,

1. Bold item. Regular item.
2. Bold item. Regular item.

You can fix this by clicking at the end of the first bullet item and pressing Enter. This re-applies the format to the second list item, making it appear as follows:

2. Bold item. Regular item.

Go Custom, Not Default

When you create a new style to handle commonly used formats for your bulleted and numbered lists, don't base the new style of any of Word's list styles. Instead, choose to create a custom style. When you use the default list styles, Word returns to its default settings at shutdown, which means that when you open your document the next time, your changes will be gone.

Styles of Your Own

Here's one way to ensure that you've got all the bullet and numbering styles you want saved the way you want them: you can create your own template of new styles. For more information on creating styles, see Chapter 10, "Using Styles to Increase Your Formatting Power."