Forum Discussion
List Styles & Style Sets
So long as the list style can be transferred using the Organizer, you should be able to do this with a macro. A Global StyleSheet in Microsoft Word? [Quick] Style Sets do not require macros, though, and may work for you if each level is attached to a unique paragraph style and all of the styles are in the set. A drawback to [Quick] Style Sets is that they usually include styles that are not relevant to the numbering scheme. You also have to be careful that none of the numbered styles are based on styles not in the set.
Were your list styles set up following Shauna Kelly's methods? Mine were, and the transfer through using the [Quick] Style Sets has worked without any problems. There have not been large scale tests but I've been giving that advice for many years without having anyone tell me that I'm wrong. Take a look at my sample [Quick] Style Sets. Try them. If they do not reliably pass on the numbering scheme please let me know.
List Styles do show up in the Apply Styles dialog and in the drop-down Style List.
If you simply import the styles (not using a set but using the Organizer) it is vital that you import all related styles and that you do so three times.
I do not work for MS. The problems with automatic numbering have persisted since Word 97, at least. They were laid out by John McGhie (Word Numbering Explained by John McGhie, MVP) and Shauna Kelly gave us step by step instructions for getting past them. Neither List Styles nor Table Styles can be part of a Quick Style Set. Both can be manipulated in the Organizer. I do not expect Word to change how it works.
That's unfortunate. I always use List Styles for numbering rather than just defining a new multi-level list. My experience has been that if I import a List Style from one document to another, the numbering scheme comes over intact 100% of the time (along with all of the other styles I've linked to each level of numbering). If I just define a new multilevel list and import the styles linked to said list, the numbering doesn't always come across correctly into the document I'm editing. As such, I view List styles as a superior method for automatic numbering. I just don't understand why Microsoft doesn't make list styles visible in the styles pane and includable in a style set. Add that to the absurdly long list of things Microsoft could do to improve Word's usability...
So long as the list style can be transferred using the Organizer, you should be able to do this with a macro. A Global StyleSheet in Microsoft Word? [Quick] Style Sets do not require macros, though, and may work for you if each level is attached to a unique paragraph style and all of the styles are in the set. A drawback to [Quick] Style Sets is that they usually include styles that are not relevant to the numbering scheme. You also have to be careful that none of the numbered styles are based on styles not in the set.
Were your list styles set up following Shauna Kelly's methods? Mine were, and the transfer through using the [Quick] Style Sets has worked without any problems. There have not been large scale tests but I've been giving that advice for many years without having anyone tell me that I'm wrong. Take a look at my sample [Quick] Style Sets. Try them. If they do not reliably pass on the numbering scheme please let me know.
List Styles do show up in the Apply Styles dialog and in the drop-down Style List.
If you simply import the styles (not using a set but using the Organizer) it is vital that you import all related styles and that you do so three times.
I do not work for MS. The problems with automatic numbering have persisted since Word 97, at least. They were laid out by John McGhie (Word Numbering Explained by John McGhie, MVP) and Shauna Kelly gave us step by step instructions for getting past them. Neither List Styles nor Table Styles can be part of a Quick Style Set. Both can be manipulated in the Organizer. I do not expect Word to change how it works.
Yeah, I have always set up my list styles exactly as as Shauna Kelly describes. I'd sure like it if Microsoft would allow list styles to show in the styles pane, make them includable in style sets, make style sets just a list of the names of them instead of the utterly useless thumbnails in the Design tab that don't tell you the name of the style set unless you hover, ditch the assigned value for styles which simply subverts the request that they all be sorted alphabetically, make any update to the normal style automatically update the settings in the Set Defaults tab of the Manage Styles dialog (and vice versa), and how about giving us a STYLES PANE button in Word for Windows like they have in Word for Mac (I'm tired of telling people alt ctrl shift s or to click the tiny little arrow in the bottom right-hand corner of the Styles gallery). The fact that these annoyances have persisted for decades without any improvement already tells me whether my wishes will be granted (they will not). Instead of making actual improvements people ask for, they do things like roll out "modern" comments which 100% of our clients dislike. While I know I can turn off modern comments, they have indicated that at some point, we'll just be forced to used them. Or they change the decades-old shortcut key for a function I use all the time (like non-breaking hyphens) to something I don't need a shortcut key for at all (like subscript). Sometimes, I think they're just trying to annoy users...
You are welcome to vent here and in other forums. I understand your frustration. Microsoft never sees what you write here, though. Forums are user-to-user.
As you know, the dialog launcher (little arrow) at the bottom right of the [Quick] Styles Gallery opens the Styles Pane.
I have a free Add-In that lets you set a preference for Styles Pane appearance and size (as well as Navigation Pane). Navigation Pane and Style Pane visibility Settings Control I display the Styles and Navigation Panes by default when using Word.
I have another free (and macro-free) Add-In that puts many Styles controls on the QAT. Styles QAT Add-In (gives you access to many style features regardless of which ribbon tab is displayed) It includes a button for the Styles Pane (Third control).
The legacy dropdown (showing Title above) does include list and table styles. Styles are shown in preview mode and in the order set by user preferences. (I keep mine set for Alphabetical.) The Add-In can be modified by the user to show fewer controls or to add one for the Apply Styles dialog. I did not include that because it has a keyboard shortcut and is available at the bottom of the [Quick] Styles Gallery (first control). This Add-In is not needed to add these commands to the QAT; it is fairly easy. Modifying the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT) in Microsoft Word
Styles in the [Quick] Styles Gallery are shown in the priority order set in Manage Styles, never in Alphabetical Order. This is by design, and, in my opinion, the way it should be given the limits on how many can be displayed in that gallery.
References:
- Managing Word Styles by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP
- [Quick] Style Sets
- Styles QAT Add-In (gives you access to many style features regardless of which ribbon tab is displayed)
- Navigation Pane and Style Pane visibility Settings Control
- Security Risk Warning - dealing with Mark of the Web
- Quick Style Sets and Themes in Microsoft Word
Be the squeaky wheel. Use the Feedback mechanism. Encourage your clients to use it. Microsoft developers do read it (as do their supervisors) and sometimes do make changes in response. There is virtually never a direct response, though. It is wait and see.