Selected paragraphs repeatedly acquire Outline Level 1

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

In several documents, selected paragraphs insist on having Outline
level 1. They are all in the Normal style, which has Outline level set
to Body.

If I manually edit those paragraphs and change the Outline level to
body, it will stay that way until I save the document, but the next
time I reopen in, they are all back to Level 1.

The curious thing is that there are many other similar paragraphs that
do not behave this way.

Can anyone suggest what I need to do to make these do what I tell them
to do?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Are you using the Document Map? See
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/DocumentMap.htm and
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/documentmap/index.html

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

Are you using the Document Map?

Yes, indeedy.

See
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/general/DocumentMap.htm and
http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/documentmap/index.html

Looks like that's it. I opened the document with the Document Map off.
Those lines were Body text. After opening the Document Map
(Alt+Shift+V), they were Level 1.

I'm using 2007. The article says it was fixed in 2003. Apparently not.

I tried Undo (Ctrl-Z). It didn't seem to do anything.

Where do I find the Undo list in 2007?

Next (with the DM off) I tried Replace (Ctrl-H). I set the Find What
to no text and Level 1. I set the Replace With to no text and Body
Text. Replace all said it made 11 changes, but when I checked each
one, they were still at Level 1. I then stepped through one change at
a time. It found all 11 and said it changed them. But when I checked,
most of them were back to Level 1. Oddly, one or two stayed at Body
level.

This document had no headings. I also tried making a few lines into
headings. I was still not able to get it to leave the rest alone.

This is outrageous. The article says it's been known since at least
back to 97.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The Undo list is in the same place as in previous versions; click the arrow
beside the Undo button on the QAT.

Another thing to watch out for is "Define styles based on your formatting,"
which will change not only the outline level but the actual style applied.
If you happen to have a short (less-than-one-line) paragraph, especially if
it doesn't end with a period, and you apply bold formatting, Word will apply
a heading style. That sort of thing.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Stefan Blom]

I could be wrong, but I suspect that this isn't recognized as a bug with
Microsoft. Rather, it's a feature (with undesired side-effects). :-(

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

It was proudly presented as a feature to a group of appalled MVPs many
Summits back. Apparently no one at MS up to that point had had any idea that
it was regarded as a bug by those in the Real World.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

It was proudly presented as a feature to a group of appalled MVPs many
Summits back.

Really? What did they say the benefits of this feature were?

Apparently no one at MS up to that point had had any idea that
it was regarded as a bug by those in the Real World.

Not a bug, a BAD = Broken As Designed.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

The idea was that ordinary users never use any style but Normal, yet they
want to be able to use the Document Map. By assigning outline levels (or
heading styles, or whatever it does) to paragraphs that *look* like
headings, Word is helping the user navigate/organize his document.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

The idea was that ordinary users never use any style but Normal, yet they
want to be able to use the Document Map. By assigning outline levels (or
heading styles, or whatever it does) to paragraphs that *look* like
headings, Word is helping the user navigate/organize his document.

Well, OK. I have no problem with that as long as they provide a way
for extra-ordinary users to turn it off. How about a "Help me" check
box that I can uncheck or maybe a "Helpfulness" slider that I can set
to zero?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

My understanding is that, if you disable "Define styles based on your
formatting," you can avoid this, but Shauna's and Daiya's articles probably
are more authoritative.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
http://word.mvps.org

 

[Stefan Blom]

It's tempting to ask: Who needs bugs with features like that?

 

[Sesquipedalian Sam]

It's tempting to ask: Who needs bugs with features like that?

Nice adaptation of the old, "With friends like these...".