In a Word list style, allow different format on first/last items

A

Anita

Word should allow you to specify different paragraph spacing on the first and
last items in a list when using a list style.

I write user guides, and I always use styles for formatting. I set paragraph
spacing for the general text flow, but I often find myself manually adjusting
paragraph spacing on the first and/or last items in a list. Less space before
the first item and more space after the last item visually links the list
with its lead-in paragraph.

This is very tedious to do in a lengthy document, and now that Word has a
separate category of style for lists, it would be a very useful option to
incorporate in list styles.

If there's already a way to automate this, I'd love to know how.



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http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...2b09c2aa3&dg=microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
 
K

Klaus Linke

Hi Anita,

In Word2003, Format > Paragraph, there's a check box for supressing space before/after between paragraphs of the same style.
It's meant exactly for your purpose. Not sure in which version it was introduced, but I don't think it was there in Word2000.

The setting isn't the perfect solution yet, since usually you want some space between list items, just not as much as above or below the list.

As a work-around: Select two of the list paragraphs, open the dialog to change the style, > Borders, and set the horizontal middle border (between paragraphs) to 6 pt and color white.

Greetings,
Klaus
 
S

Stefan Blom

Well, list styles store only numbering formatting. It would be easier
to attach numbering to paragraph styles, which allow you to specify
Space Before.

If you define a separate style for the first paragraph after a list
and a separate style for the text between numbered items, you can
easily adjust Space Before to make the text look good. Switching
between styles can be done easily via the "Style for following
paragraph" setting.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


Anita said:
Word should allow you to specify different paragraph spacing on the first and
last items in a list when using a list style.

I write user guides, and I always use styles for formatting. I set paragraph
spacing for the general text flow, but I often find myself manually adjusting
paragraph spacing on the first and/or last items in a list. Less space before
the first item and more space after the last item visually links the list
with its lead-in paragraph.

This is very tedious to do in a lengthy document, and now that Word has a
separate category of style for lists, it would be a very useful option to
incorporate in list styles.

If there's already a way to automate this, I'd love to know how.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.
Click to expand...
http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...2b09c2aa3&dg=microsoft.public.word.pagelayout
 
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