Cursor in Header Won't Let Me Change Header

[suchhaste]

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I created a great header in Word, now I can't change it. Why? Each time I enter the header the cursor will not allow me to highlight items (for deletion), or add items anywhere but in the upper left corner. Every time I try to place the cursor somewhere it quickly disappears and reappears in the upper left corner. Has anyone else had this problem?

 

[John McGhie]

Chances are the object you are trying to change is floating, and you have
sent it "behind the text".

That can make it a bit difficult to get hold of. You will have to use lots
of ingenuity.

If you can manage to delete whatever is "in front" of it, then you will be
able to select it.

Alternatively, the item concerned is not in the header at all, it just looks
as if it is.

Try switching to Draft view. If you can still see it in Draft view, it's
not actually in either the header or the footer, it's in the text.

Turn your Show/Hide button on, so you can see the non-printing characters.
That will enable you to see what you are doing better.

Cheers

Version: 2008
Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard)
Processor: Intel

I created a great header in Word, now I can't change it. Why? Each time I
enter the header the cursor will not allow me to highlight items (for
deletion), or add items anywhere but in the upper left corner. Every time I
try to place the cursor somewhere it quickly disappears and reappears in the
upper left corner. Has anyone else had this problem?

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

If John is right, use the Select Objects button on the Drawing Toolbar to
select it, then change the Text Wrapping to something other than Behind Text
until you make your changes.

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

 

[Olivier]

Guys, I have the exact same problem and there's at least, not to my understanding, no object in the header/footer. I just can't change them. Steps to reproduce: creating a new doc, double-click (in page view) on the header and then, I see the (Header|Close (X)) button appear, and then when I type anything, the cursor will always return top-left position. Whatever I type... any idea^

 

[CyberTaz]

What you describe is not the same problem - the OP in this thread was
dealing with content in a Header which previously had been created. What you
describe sounds perfectly normal - you can't just type wherever you wish.
That isn't what Headers & Footers are for and would interfere with
readability of the document content.

Text in the Header/Footer layer can be in only 3 places: the Header text
box, the Footer text box, or some other text box you have to create. Just
focusing on the default Header/Footer text boxes - they're similar to any
other text box but one difference is that you can't stretch or reposition
them. One feature they share with other text boxes, however, is that their
default alignment is Let-to-Right, Top-to-Bottom just like the rest of the
document... And just like the rest of the document the formatting of the
Headers/Footers can be changed.

If you explain exactly what you're trying to achieve perhaps there are some
suggestions to be offered.

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

 

[Olivier]

Problem is that when I'm in edit mode for a textbox (or a header or a footer), the cursor *always* goes back to the leftmost position. If I type fast enough, it works, but half a second later the cursor goes back to the left position. It's not the text alignment that's wrong, it is essentially that the cursor behaves like if i clicked on the left side of the text..

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Olivier:

OK, let me ask you some questions so I get a clearer idea of what you are
doing:

1) Do you have your paragraph marks switched on? Click your "Show" button
so you can see them.

2) Which style are you using? The position of text is set by the paragraph
properties which are contained in the style.

3) In those styles that are you using, what is the paragraph Alignment
property set to?

4) Are there any tabs in those paragraphs?

I expect you already know this, but a "blank space" in Word is not like a
blank space on paper. On paper, a blank space is full of "paper" so there
is something to write letters on. In Word, a blank space is completely
"empty" -- there is nothing there at all.

So you cannot position characters in the "empty" areas to the right of the
last character on a line: there is nothing to hold them there.

If you enable the "Click and Type" preference (DON'T, and switch it off if
it is on...) then when you click in an empty area of the document, Word
creates sufficient blank paragraphs and tabs to fill in the space to where
you want to type.

This madness makes a horrible mess of your document formatting, and all
those invisible tabs and paragraphs can produce the kinds of confusion you
are now suffering.

Understand that "blank means empty: nothing to mount text on" and then turn
on your Show button so you can see the non-printing characters. Then you
will see what is actually propping the text up, and be able to adjust the
formatting to get characters where you want them.

Hope this helps

Problem is that when I'm in edit mode for a textbox (or a header or a footer),
the cursor *always* goes back to the leftmost position. If I type fast enough,
it works, but half a second later the cursor goes back to the left position.
It's not the text alignment that's wrong, it is essentially that the cursor
behaves like if i clicked on the left side of the text..

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[Olivier]

Thanks for your reply! I'm sure there is a bug somewhere. I've activated the "show" button, I see the markers, and it's exactly how they should (I'm very used to working with markers in the text and typically is called a very advanced word user.. ) I've changed the text style, and whichever style I use does not change the fact that contrarily to within the text body, the cursor goes back to leftmost position (even if the paragraph is aligned to center) that the cursor can go given the paragraph alignment..

 

[Olivier]

Hint: when I start Word with the "Shift" key pressed, it behaves ok...

 

[Olivier]

maybe it only requires to change the normal.dot..?

 

[Olivier]

Fixed by resetting the prefs files - trashing (~/Preferences/com.microsoft.word.plist, com.microsoft.office.plist, ~Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008/Office Font Cache (12)) and restarting Office.

Thanks John!

 

[John McGhie]

Actually, *I* thank YOU!

I was not aware that screwed preferences could cause this particular
problem!!

Cheers

Fixed by resetting the prefs files - trashing
(~/Preferences/com.microsoft.word.plist, com.microsoft.office.plist,
~Preferences/Microsoft/Office 2008/Office Font Cache (12)) and restarting
Office.

Thanks John!

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]

 

[Olivier]

Actually, the problem gets back quickly (After a day or opening a few documents, did not yet find what exactly causes that...). Just by removing com.microsoft.word.plist fixes it (no need for the other ones) but that only lasts for a short while....

 

[CyberTaz]

Please don't distribute the same issue over multiple threads It causes
duplication of effort on the part of the responders & makes it that much
more difficult for everyone - including yourself - to follow the
conversation. Thanks!

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[John McGhie]

That's just GOTTA be a haxie of some kind playing with Word's mind

Which haxies/helpers/utilities/add-ins are you running?

Cheers

Actually, the problem gets back quickly (After a day or opening a few
documents, did not yet find what exactly causes that...). Just by removing
com.microsoft.word.plist fixes it (no need for the other ones) but that only
lasts for a short while....

--

Don't wait for your answer, click here: http://www.word.mvps.org/

Please reply in the group. Please do NOT email me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP, Word and Word:Mac
Nhulunbuy, NT, Australia. mailto:[email protected]