Office 2007 Bible

Paragraph Decoration

A second kind of paragraph formatting is something that might be termed paragraph decoration. This includes shading, boxes, bullets, and other semi-graphical elements that help the writer call attention to particular paragraphs, or that help the reader understand the text better.

Numbering/bullets

Numbering in Word has always been a bit of a sore point. That’s because historically, it has proven to be both confusing and fraught with odd quirks. Let’s pretend for the moment that numbering and bullets work perfectly and never give the user grief. To make that assumption pass the Sarcastic Giggle Test, let’s assume we’re using the Word 2007 .docx format, rather than Word 2003’s (or earlier) legacy .doc format.

Numbering or bullets can be applied simply by clicking the Numbering or Bullets tool in the Home tab of the Ribbon. You can click the Numbering or Bullets tool and just start typing. When you’re done with your list, simply press Enter twice.

Note

If Automatic bulleted lists or Automatic numbered lists are enabled, then you don’t even need to click the Numbering or Bullets tool. To begin a numbered list, simply type 1. and press the spacebar, and Word automatically replaces what you typed with automatic number formatting. Other variations work, too, such as 1<tab>. To begin a bulleted list, simply type * and press the spacebar. When you want to end either kind of list, press Enter twice.

You can also apply numbering or bullets to an existing list. Just ...