WordPerfect Auto Numbering Made Even Easier!

Let's break this up into three parts, shall we?

1. How to use a custom outline/auto paragraph numbering macro I may have written for you.
2. Tips for working with the WordPerfect auto numbering/outline feature.
3. Issues with using auto numbering when allowing MS Word users to edit your document.
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Part 1: Using Pragmatic Macros

To format any document with a custom auto numbering style using a WordPerfect macro written by me:

1. Place the cursor where you want the numbering to begin or at the top of the document. (I always put it at the top of the document so it's easy to find later.)

2. Play the macro. Depending on your preferences, I've either given you a shortcut key (ALT+O) or placed a button on your toolbar which shows a I.A.1. descending top left to bottom right of the button. So either type your shortcut key or click your button. The screen will flash a few times and insert the first number at the location of the cursor. If you don't need a number in that exact spot (like at the top of the doc), turn it off with "CTRL+H"

3. Once the macro has been played in a document and the document has been saved, the macro never needs to be run in that document again. (Unless you accidentally delete it - another reason I place it at the top of the document instead of placing it at the first numbered paragraph).
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Part 2: TIPS for Working with Auto Paragraph Numbering:

1. Toggle auto numbering on and off with the keystroke shortcut "CTRL+H"

2. To move forward one paragraph level, press "TAB" and to move back one paragraph level, press "SHIFT+TAB"

3. When inserting a new paragraph in a document containing auto numbering, place the cursor at the END of the PREVIOUS numbered paragraph and press ENTER. Use TAB or SHIFT+TAB to change the new paragraph to the desired level.

4. To insert a real TAB into a document when in auto paragraph mode, use "CTRL+TAB" instead of TAB.
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Part 3: Issues with MS Word

You may be better off using manual numbering when you know MS Word users will edit the document. A simple explanation: While auto paragraph numbering in WordPerfect is document specific (the numbering style is saved in the document), auto paragraph numbering in MS Word is desktop specific (the numbering style is saved in MS Word from desk to desk).

A not so simple (but still not too technical) explanation: Regardless of a whether a document was created/edited in MS Word or WordPerfect, auto numbering appears to the MS Word user in the preferred style saved in that particular installation of MS Word. In other words, it changes all by itself. In my experience, there are two situations when this doesn't happen:

First, when only one person edits a document using MS Word, this isn't a problem because the document adopts the single preferred style of that same person every time it's edited.

Second, when MS Word custom templates and styles are created and used, this problem can be overcome, but many, many, many firms don't use custom templates and/or styles. Even when templates are used, I've never seen a firm share their template with another firm. In addition, most people wouldn't know how to attach a template even if it was given to them by another firm. So the changes continue.

Yet another reason to use WordPerfect for lengthy, complex documents.