How do I align chapter numbers with the period, not the left margi

[lyam]

In the toc, the chapter numbers are aligned with the left margin, but I would
like them to be aligned with the period.

I want this:
1.
2.
:
9.
10.

Not this:
1.
2.
:
9.
10.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance,
lyam

 

[Stefan Blom]

In the Customize Outline Numbered List or Customize Numbered List
dialog box, set the "Number position" to "Right." For more, see the
"Aligning on punctuation" section of the article at
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/NumberAlignment.htm and/or
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message
news:[email protected]...

 

[lyam]

(The examples in my first post did not render well)

Hi Stefan,

Thank you for your reply. Unfortunately, I had already tried those solutions
without success. In fact, I've been trying to solve this problem for years. I
can set the Heading 1 style so that the chapter number is right-aligned to
the left of the chapter title, but this has no effect on how it is rendered
in the toc. Because the TOC1 style is not a numbered style (the number is
just picked up from the chapter number in Heading 1), there is no way to
change the chapter number's position using Bullets and Numbering.

The only way I am able to right-align the chapter numbers in the toc is to
select the first nine TOC1 lines and then drag the First-Line Indent slider
in the ruler so that the chapter number in the selected lines align with the
chapter numbers in the remaining TOC1 lines.

That said, I just found this at the link you provided--
http://sbarnhill.mvps.org/WordFAQs/TOCTips.htm#ModifyStyle. Using this
example, I would have to use an unnumbered style for Heading 1 and a numbered
style for TOC1, plus create a new style for a chapter heading, which would be
numbered instead of Heading 1. This is not a perfect solution (I don't really
want separate chapter headings), but it is not bad!

Regards,
lyam

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Another thing you might try: adding the \w switch to the TOC field preserves
tab characters in the entries. If your heading numbers and headings are
separated by a tab (as I assume they probably are), then this, combined with
a hanging indent (with its automatic tab stop) in the relevant TOC style,
might achieve what you want.

 

[lyam]

Hi Suzanne,

I added the \w switch to the TOC field, but it didn't work the way I wanted
it to. That is, it did preserve the tab character, but for my desired format,
the tab would have to be on the left of the chapter number, not the right. I
think the solution that you have on your website is the one that works the
best.

Thanks and best regards,
lyam

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It's frustrating that the TOC picks up the numbering from the headings but
not the number formatting. If you have the numbers right-aligned in the
headings, the TOC entries should honor that. I've long thought that TOCs
(and indexes) are an area that could use some more work by the Word team.

 

[lyam]

I agree. It would also be nice if Word would add a "Keep with Previous"
function along with their "Keep with Next" function, but I suspect this is a
subject for a different forum...

Thanks very much for your helpful replies.

Best regards,
lyam

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

"Keep with previous" has been repeatedly requested, with use cases, but so
far has not impressed the developers as a needed feature.

 

[Stefan Blom]

Agreed.

In this case (assuming that I understood everything correctly), you
can work around the problem, but it is a bit tricky. The biggest
drawback is perhaps the need to use field numbering instead of
paragraph/outline numbering for headings:

1. In the heading style, define a hanging indent and an extra,
right-aligned tab stop to the left of it.

2. To type each heading, press TAB, insert a field (for example a SEQ
field), press TAB again, type the heading text. Like this:

<tab>{ SEQ h1 }<tab>Heading text here

3. In the corresponding TOC style define three tab stops: a
right-aligned tab stop for the chapter number, a left-aligned for the
hanging indent, and a right-aligned for the page number at the right
margin.

4. Make sure that the TOC field code includes the \w switch, and then
update it.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message

 

[Stefan Blom]

Actually, in step 3, you had better skip the left-aligned tab stop and
set a hanging indent instead, if you want to make sure that multiple
lines of text wrap correctly in the TOC.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


in message