Oct 24 2021 06:14 PM
Hello MVPs.
I've been directed here by Microsoft support (Case #:1030349797), it's my first time on the forum, many apologies if I've done anything wrong, and please set me straight.
Using MS Word 365 to create a template:
I have created a linked hidden text style for instructions and dummy text, but when the text is hidden, the text of the heading below is out of vertical alignment with the numbering.
Can anyone help me resolve this please? I can send screenshots to help visualise my issue.
Thank you
Sarah
Nov 05 2021 01:11 AM
Nov 05 2021 06:59 AM
If you have set the hidden attribute for the heading number, so that it doesn't show up in the document, you can set "Follow number with" to "Nothing" in the Multilevel List dialog box. That may do what you want.
Nov 07 2021 02:42 PM
Hi Lenka, and others.
Please find attached screenshots showing the issue.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sarah
Nov 07 2021 03:07 PM
Hi Stefan
Thank you for your response. The heading styles are not hidden, but the dummy text is.
When I change "Follow number with" from tab character to nothing, I lose the alignment of the heading text, and it has messed with the hidden text as well. It also did not solve the vertical alignment issue between the number and heading text when the dummy text was hidden.
I have attached more screenshots following the change.
Sarah
Nov 08 2021 03:48 AM
I apologize: I misunderstood your question. Just change back the indentation for the multilevel list levels to the appropriate values for your list.
Nov 08 2021 03:56 AM
Looking at your initial screen shots again, I finally see what you mean. Text does not align with the numbering. I'm repeating your screen shot here with an arrow that emphasizes the differences:
How is the document set up? Is any part of the text inside table cells, for example?
Are you able to share a sample document in Word format?
Nov 08 2021 05:32 PM
Stefan, my apologies for not making myself clear. I appreciate your clarification.
Please find attached a document created from the (very pared down) template, including three hidden Instruction styles.
I have found an inelegant workaround, to format the paragraphs as appropriate and apply a hidden font style only. This fixes the vertical misalignment of the heading numbering and text, but means that there are extra paragraph spaces between headings, and some visible dummy text.
To show this clearly, I've duplicated the text and applied the workaround to the second half.
I am very grateful for your consideration of this problem.
Nov 10 2021 04:44 PM - edited Nov 12 2021 02:50 AM
Thanks for the sample. I certainly see what you see: something peculiar is happening with the document when the hidden text is not displayed. I have asked a couple of fellow MVPs to have a look, and nobody has been able to work around the issue so far. This may be a bug with recent versions of Word.
Nov 12 2021 01:19 AM
Hello @sarahbonnar ,
I think you made a mistake when you created L4 and L5.
Simply look at L3 which works (look at the snapshots in sequence, they are from the first half of your document). I am sure you will be able to fix that yourself once you've found out what you had done differently with L4 and L5 :-).
Let me ask you something else, though. Why do you use the hidden style? Can't you use a field with instruction which when typed on disappears (snap shot 'Start typing here')?
Nov 12 2021 01:23 AM
Nov 12 2021 02:59 AM
Adding some blank paragraphs after (and before) each text portion with hidden text appears to improve the situation, but that is an impractical workaround. Perhaps you have already noticed this.
The first screen shot illustrates the added blank paragraphs.
The second screen shot (below) illustrates the result—a print preview:
Nov 16 2021 04:04 PM
Nov 16 2021 04:09 PM
Nov 17 2021 08:07 AM - edited Nov 17 2021 08:07 AM
Thanks for the follow-up.
You are doing the right thing when avoiding blank paragraphs, of course. In this case, using blank paragraphs is the only workaround that I have seen (except for removing the hidden formatting, of course).
:(