Mac Forum / Applications / Mac Applications / May 2005

Bill:

Here's another perspective.

I quite agree that the automatic outline numbering in MS Word can be an
intractable nuisance to anyone who doesn't know how it works or doesn't
use it as it is intended to be used. For example, in its most powerful
application as a time-saving tool, the outline levels should be linked
to styles. That takes an investment of time, both in learning how it
works and in setting it up. The set-up actually goes pretty quickly
once you've mastered the understanding part.

I typically use it for applications similar to yours: by-laws,
contracts, research reports, process plans, etc. I'm just now
completing work on a document with nearly 500 pages. Keeping track of
the numbering manually would be a nightmare, but Word's automatic
numbering handles it easily. If I have to insert anything from an
entire section (the "1." level), to a 4th level subsection (the
"1.1.1.1." level), or even deeper, it's not a problem. Word
automatically adjusts the numbering of all subsequent sections. It
would be unthinkably tedious to do it manually.

Of course, if you're certain you'll never have changes that are
significant enough to warrant extensive renumbering, or if your
document (or the number of sections and subsections) is relatively
small, then manually editing everything as a plain text file might be
best for you.

In my experience, the biggest problem by far in sending out MS Word
review documents that include automatic outline numbering is in the
fact that most people don't understand how the feature works.
Consequently, when Word executes a numbering function that they didn't
expect, they end up fighting it. As you've correctly observed, it's a
very persistent feature when it's enabled. People get very frustrated
very fast when they have to deal with it and don't understand how it
works.

In that case, it's handy to create separate review documents with the
automatic numbering turned off (others have already explained how to do
that in this thread). Basically, then they're just text documents, and
the reviewers can hack them up any way they want. I retain the master
document (for version control), and merge the approved changes from the
review documents into the master, which keeps the automatic number
feature.

I noticed that your post doesn't mention which version of MS Word
you're using. There were some hideous idiosyncrasies in earlier
versions, particularly in the interoperability between the Mac and
Windows versions. But most of those have been worked out now. The
compatibility between Word 2003 for Windows and Word 2004 for Mac is
terrific.

These comments may or may not be of any benefit to you, depending on
your specific circumstances. But I can tell you from long personal
experience that the automatic outline numbering feature in MS Word has
nothing to do with some misguided vision on Microsoft's part to be
"helpful", as some have suggested. (I'm not sure that's part of their
world-view, in any case.) Rather, it's an extremely powerful tool that
saves an enormous amount of time for anyone who invests the time to
learn how to use it properly. If MS has screwed anything up, it's in
the fact that the application installs with the auto-numbering turned
on as the default condition. That might benefit the power users, but
for the average user it's not very "helpful" at all. Power users know
how to turn it on and off; the average user doesn't, and usually just
ends up exasperated.

Vito