Barry MacDonnell's Toolbox for WordPerfect for Windows

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Page Numbering in Books

For basic page numbering information and several related items on this site, see here.

Do you need to create page numbering for Chapters or Sections like that found in many books?

That is, do you need to create a page number at the bottom of the first page of a chapter or section with remaining page numbers at the top of subsequent pages -- like this?

Chapter
One

1

...etc...

[Note that the image above is a simplified illustration. Depending on your needs your page 1 number might be suppressed, or the numbers might be set to appear only on odd pages, or all of them centered, etc.]

Here's how.

• Step 1. Create a header that will contain page numbers at the top of subsequent pages (i.e., page 2 and following pages of the chapter or section).

○ Put your cursor at the top of the first page (page 1) of the current chapter and click Insert, Header/Footer.

○ Choose the header's type (A or B -- whichever one is not already active in the document).

○ When the header area appears (the cursor will be in it) insert a page number code with Format, Page, Insert Page Number.

○ Justify any text and the page number as desired (in the above example the page numbers in all headers are right-justified [Format, Line, Flush Right]), use the header's property bar to set numbers on odd/even/all pages, etc. -- then click outside the header area to return to the main document.

Note

Headers, footers, and watermarks will be visible onscreen in Page mode (View, Page), or if you are directly editing them. They usually contain text, but can contain graphic images and format codes (page number, current date, filename, line justification, etc.). For more on these "repeating elements," see here.

• Step 2. Next, click outside the header to exit from it, and at the top of the first page of the chapter suppress this new header (and thus the page number displayed inside it) with Format, Page, Suppress, Header (choose the one you used, A or B).

This keeps the header from appearing on the first (i.e., current) page of the chapter, but it will appear at the top of subsequent pages since it is suppressed only on the first page.

Note

In the Suppress dialog, there is a checkbox at the bottom: "Print page number at bottom center on current page." Leave it unchecked for the current procedure. The WordPerfect Help module gives its purpose: "To suppress the current page number style and still print a number on the [bottom of the] page...." his option appears to be designed to work with "normal" or "pre-defined" page numbering -- that is, where numbers are placed on the page with Format, Page, Numbering and not by turning normal numbering off and using numbers in headers or footers as recommended here. (You probably do not want page numbers in two separate places on that page!)

• Step 3. Next, create a footer (A or B) on the first page of the chapter with a page number code in it (Format, Page, Insert Page Number); then click outside the footer and "discontinue" that footer on the following pages with Format, Page, Delay Codes, 1, OK, Header/Footer button, Footer (either A or B) radio button, Discontinue, Close button.

In other words, the page number will appear only at the bottom of the first page of the chapter but it will not appear at the bottom of subsequent pages (up to the next chapter that is set up using this method) since the footer containing it will have been turned off ("discontinued" in WordPerfect terms) on both the next page and subsequent pages in the chapter -- until the next chapter turns it on again.

• Step 4. Repeat these steps for subsequent chapters.

For a reference on these features, see "Headers, Footers, and Watermarks - how to start, stop, suppress, edit, change, replace, delay, overlay, and remove them" here.

Tips

☼ If you use page numbering inside a header or footer (as above) you probably want to turn standard page numbering (which is not inside a header or footer) off with Format, Page, Numbering, Position: <No Page Numbering>. That way, you won't get two numbers per page -- a standard page number and a page number in a header (or footer).

☼ Much of the above can be recorded in a macro. For related information on the suppress and delay features see the SUPDELAY macro page here, which uses both to set up some custom, default formatting for the first and subsequent pages in documents and templates.

☼ Need to use Roman numerals (i, ii, iii, iv, etc.) in the first pages of your document, then switch to Arabic numerals (1,2,3,4, etc.) for the rest of the document?

While you can do this with standard page numbering, let's assume you are using a header or footer from the very first page of your document, with a page number code ([Pg Num Disp]) inside the header or footer:

• At the beginning of the introduction or other "front matter," place the cursor before all codes. The logical position is before the [Header] or [Footer] code, which has (or will have) the page number in it.

Note: If you use a Title page and do not want it included in numbering, you can place the cursor at the top of the next page to begin numbering there. Be sure to set the beginning value back to "i" in the next step.

• Then use Format, Page, Page Numbering, Position: <No page numbering>, Page numbering format: <i>, OK. This should start page numbering with lower-case Roman numerals ("i"), in the header or footer on the first page. This also inserts a [Pg Num Meth] code in the document. (If you double-click it you will see the numbering method is Roman numerals.)

• Then place your cursor at the top of the first page that follows the front matter -- that is, the page where you want to begin numbering with Arabic numbers -- and use Format, Page, Page Numbering, Position: <No page numbering>, Page numbering format: <choose an Arabic number, which at this point will reflect the actual page you are on>, then click the Set Value button and set the value back to "1". Click OK twice. Another [Pg Num Meth] code is inserted; this should start page numbers with "1".

• Regenerate the Table of Contents and Index, if used, with Tools, Reference, Generate.

Barry MacDonnell's Toolbox for WordPerfect

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