Bullet / Number are separated from its text on column break

A

Anna Kezer

I keep running into the following issue: when inserting a column break into a
bulleted (or numbered) text, Word keeps the bullet (number) at the end of the
first column butmoves its text to the second. The only way to join the bullet
(number) with its text is to move close to it a picture with a square layout
(basically, to manually push away the bullet).

I've tried inserting column break at the end of a previous bullet and at the
beginning of the bullet that should go to the next column - the same problem.

The orphan control is on.

Any suggestions?
 
C

CyberTaz

Can't confirm this in PC Word right now, but on my Mac this technique works
fine:

Assume you have a 10-item list, the sixth of which is:

6. Man bites Dog

Place the insertion point at the start of the "M", then create the column
break. In my case items 1-5 remain in column 1 & items 6-10 move to column 2
without any disruption or problem.

If that won't work for you, try removing the number/bullet formatting,
create the column break, then select the list & reapply the formatting.

HTH |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac
 
S

Stefan Blom

When you add a column break in a text paragraph, the text after the
break is moved to the next column (as expected). Also, text added
before the column break will never flow across the break; that way,
the two "parts" of text are separated.

However, the text after the break will not have its own bullet (or
numbering) formatting; that way, the "split" paragraph is still a
single paragraph.

You would have to separate the paragraph from the column break. This
will be easier to do if you press the ¶ button so that Word displays
nonprinting characters. You will now see, among other things, ¶
symbols which represents paragraph marks. (For more, see
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/formatting/NonPrintChars.htm.) Place the
cursor at the end of the text in the first column, just before the
break. Press Enter. Copy the text that belongs to the former bullet
(number) into that paragraph.

With nonprinting characters displayed, you would then see the
following:

- Bulleted item - Another bulleted item¶
More text here.¶ More text follows here.
<column break> - A bulleted item again¶

Note: You will have to look at this message in a monospaced font, such
as Courier New, if you want the example above to look correctly.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message
news:[email protected]...
 
A

Anna Kezer

Thank you for your answers!

Stefan, here is how my text looks with NonPrint Chars (better in monospaced
font as well):

2.-> text2 text2 text2 text3 text3 text3
text2 text2 text2 text3 text3.¶
text2 text2.¶ 4.-> text4 text4 text4
3.-> ---Column Break-- text4 text4.¶

And whatever I do, I still can't make '3.' to join the 'text3' in the second
column - besides pushing it up with 'square' wrapping of the picture.

To be technically precise, this particular behaviour appears only when
there is a picture on the page. If I insert a column break with no picutre
object in the page, Word keeps the number in the correct column. But as soon
as I add a picture, the problem above occurs. If a colum break is inserted
with a picutre already on the page, it would again separate correctly - but
only until pictire is moved or an element i added to it. This happens
regardless of the wrapping format of the picture. Typically, I use "behind
the text" wrapping which should have eliminated any interaction of a picture
object with the text.

.....

Actually, with NonPrintChars being on, I just found the answer: the problem
is in the picture's anchor. When the picture is just inserted or the column
break just created, the anchor is assigned to the end of the last paragraph
in the second column. However, any change to the page leads to immeadiate
reassignment of the anchor to the end of the first column, which pulls the
number from the second column back to the end of the first... :(

Any suggestion how can I stop Word from helping me with this automatic
reassignment?!

Anna
 
S

Stefan Blom

This is an odd issue; I don't recall ever hearing about it before.

If you want to stop the anchor from moving, try locking it. First move
it by dragging it to the desired paragraph. Then lock the anchor: In
Format | Picture, click the Layout tab. Click the Advanced button.
Check the "Lock anchor" option and click OK twice.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message
 
A

Anna Kezer

Thank you, Stefan!

Locking the anchor did the trick - now I can move the picture object around
for better positioning in its space without affecting the bullets.

No, this is not a corrupt document - I did come across this issue before. It
is just that this time I have 70 pages of two column, often-bulleted text, so
it drove me to the point of complete despair.. ;)

Thanks again!
 
S

Stefan Blom

You are welcome, and thank you for the feedback.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message
 
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