Combining First and Second Numbered Levels on One Paragraph

Alan uses the numbering feature in Word to create two-level paragraph numbering. He would like to create a numbering system that combines the first and second levels in the same paragraph so that the numbering appears as 1. a) and then the second paragraph as b), then c), and so on. He wonders how to accomplish this.

The bullets and numbering feature in Word allows you to automatically create numbered paragraphs where you can specify the format for the numbering, 1. 2. 3., or a. b. c. The Outline tab in the Bullets and Numbering dialog box makes this easy. Creating a custom outline can be done in several different ways. We'll discuss a couple of them. Each option assumes that you have not yet entered any text and that you are beginning with a clean, blank document.

Your first option requires making some changes in the Outline Numbering dialog box.

1. Place the insertion point where you want to begin paragraph 1.
2. Type 1. (that's the number one followed by a period).
3. Press the Tab key.
4. Type a) (that's the lowercase letter 'a' followed by a right parenthesis).
5. Press Enter.
6. Choose Bullets and Numbering from the Format menu. Word displays the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.
7. Click on the Outline Numbered tab.
8. Click on the outline option to the right of the None box. (See Figure 1.)



Figure 1. The Outline Numbered tab of the Bullets and Numbering dialog box.

9. Click on Customize. Word displays the Customize Outline Numbered List dialog box.
10. Select Level 1.
11. Select the desired numbering style, in this case a, b, c, from the Number Style drop-down list.
12. Select the letter or number to start with in the Start At field, in this case letter b.
13. Click OK and OK. Word closes the dialog boxes and inserts b) in the document.
14. Press Tab. The b) moves in line with the a) in the previous paragraph.

Another option, if you want to avoid the automated aspects of numbered lists in Word, is to use the SEQ field. You could use SEQ fields for all of the numbering, or for one level and use the auto numbering feature for the other. You can create the SEQ fields using the menus. However, in this case it is much more cumbersome than it needs to be. Here is how to accomplish the task more quickly. In this case, we are assuming that the text is already in the document and just needs to be numbered.

1. Place the insertion point in the document where you would like the numbering to appear.
2. Press Ctrl+F9. Word inserts a pair of field braces.
3. Inside the braces type the following: SEQ \* alphabetic \* MERGEFORMAT a
4. Press F9. The letter a appears.

You can enter this field for each new paragraph that needs the numbering. Word keeps track of which letter comes next and will insert the correct one, assuming you are numbering your paragraphs in alphabetical order.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (8094) applies to Microsoft Word 97, 2000, 2002, and 2003. You can find a version of this tip for the ribbon interface of Word (Word 2007 and later) here: Combining First and Second Numbered Levels on One Paragraph.