One of the most frustrating aspects of preparing a proposal or other document is page numbering. Anyone who has wrestled with page numbers will attest: you can do more harm than good if you don't know what you're doing. Part of the problem is that there are a few features in play here, which makes it difficult because they all inter-relate. In this article, we will discuss how to number the pages in the body of your document differently than other sections such as the table of contents or appendix.
Note: Menus and key strokes apply to MS Word 2007 or 2010. Other word processors have equivalent features, but may go by different names.
The first concept you need to master is sections. Sections let you define completely different settings for different parts of your document. Settings you change in one section do not affect the rest of your document (usually, but more on that later). Start a new section by adding a section break. There are two commonly used types of section breaks: Continuous and Next Page. A continuous section break starts a new section on the same page; a next page section break starts a new section on the next page. To have different page number on different parts of the document, you will need to have the different parts of the document divided into sections. To keep everything straight, you will want to see your section breaks by pressing CTRL-SHFT-8. Add section breaks from the Page Layout menu.
By using sections you can do all sorts of cool things with your document besides page numbering. For instance, you could orient a single page in landscape to better fit a table. Sections can also cause headaches if you are not aware of them, though. If you are making changes to the format of your document that does not seem to be applying consistently, check to make sure that sections are not the culprit.
Headers and footers are where you want to put your numbers. This is where it can get confusing because headers and footers have some behavior that is not obvious. First, they can be linked across sections. Linked headers or footers means that even if the section changes, the header or footer for the new section will match the previous section. Use linked headers or footers if you want to change some settings (margins, orientation, etc.) between sections, but you want the header and/or footer to be consistent. If you want different page numbers, though, you will want to unlink them. Link or unlink headers and footers on the Header & Footer Tools menu (this menu appears when you are editing a header or footer) under Navigation. Remember that headers and footers operate independently of one another.
Also, headers and footers have the option to show different information on the first page of the section than the rest of the section. This is useful when you want to have a different header or footer on your title page, but don’t want to go to the trouble of setting up a whole new section. For most sections, you want to turn this option OFF (it’s on the Header & Footer Tools menu under options). Again, if your changes don't seem to be applying consistently to your document, make sure this option is turned off.
Page numbers make it even more complex. The best way I have found to insert a page number is to put the cursor where you want the page number to appear, go to Header & Footer Tools , select Page Number, select Current Position. Page numbers can continue from section to section, or they can start new in a section. To change this behavior, select the page number, go to Header & Footer Tools, select Page Number, select Format Page Number. Then you can select to continue numbers from the previous section, or specify you own number to start at. You can also change the number format. The number format feature, combined with sections, lets you put roman numerals on your table of contents/title page and Arabic numerals in the body of your document.
Note: Menus and key strokes apply to MS Word 2007 or 2010. Other word processors have equivalent features, but may go by different names.
The first concept you need to master is sections. Sections let you define completely different settings for different parts of your document. Settings you change in one section do not affect the rest of your document (usually, but more on that later). Start a new section by adding a section break. There are two commonly used types of section breaks: Continuous and Next Page. A continuous section break starts a new section on the same page; a next page section break starts a new section on the next page. To have different page number on different parts of the document, you will need to have the different parts of the document divided into sections. To keep everything straight, you will want to see your section breaks by pressing CTRL-SHFT-8. Add section breaks from the Page Layout menu.
By using sections you can do all sorts of cool things with your document besides page numbering. For instance, you could orient a single page in landscape to better fit a table. Sections can also cause headaches if you are not aware of them, though. If you are making changes to the format of your document that does not seem to be applying consistently, check to make sure that sections are not the culprit.
Headers and footers are where you want to put your numbers. This is where it can get confusing because headers and footers have some behavior that is not obvious. First, they can be linked across sections. Linked headers or footers means that even if the section changes, the header or footer for the new section will match the previous section. Use linked headers or footers if you want to change some settings (margins, orientation, etc.) between sections, but you want the header and/or footer to be consistent. If you want different page numbers, though, you will want to unlink them. Link or unlink headers and footers on the Header & Footer Tools menu (this menu appears when you are editing a header or footer) under Navigation. Remember that headers and footers operate independently of one another.
Also, headers and footers have the option to show different information on the first page of the section than the rest of the section. This is useful when you want to have a different header or footer on your title page, but don’t want to go to the trouble of setting up a whole new section. For most sections, you want to turn this option OFF (it’s on the Header & Footer Tools menu under options). Again, if your changes don't seem to be applying consistently to your document, make sure this option is turned off.
Page numbers make it even more complex. The best way I have found to insert a page number is to put the cursor where you want the page number to appear, go to Header & Footer Tools , select Page Number, select Current Position. Page numbers can continue from section to section, or they can start new in a section. To change this behavior, select the page number, go to Header & Footer Tools, select Page Number, select Format Page Number. Then you can select to continue numbers from the previous section, or specify you own number to start at. You can also change the number format. The number format feature, combined with sections, lets you put roman numerals on your table of contents/title page and Arabic numerals in the body of your document.
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