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Numbering, Bullets, Headings, Outlines

Creating a document that is easy to read while placing the right emphasis on the important facts is perhaps one of the key goals of most Word users. We want our readers to not only read what we have created but far more importantly we want the reader to glean the important bits and walk away from the text with a clear understanding the key messages. When this is the goal many Word users take advantage of features such as Numbering and Bulleting to highlight the points they want to make.

Numbering
On the Formatting tool bar a small icon appears with three lines and corresponding numbers from one to three. This is the Numbering menu. This important feature can not only help you present your text more effectively, it can also categorize large amounts of information. Think legal documents with clauses and sections. The Numbering function becomes a critical tool when labelling phrases, paragraphs, and chapters. But it is not limited to organizing vast amounts of text, there are more common and practical uses. For example, if you are inputting text and you reach a point in your document where you would like to describe a set of items, for ease of use lets say four modes of transportation, simply hit return and begin a new line. Before typing any information, click on the Numbering key. The cursor will indent about four or five spaces and then insert a number one. When you hit the Numbering key again, a number two will appear. Avoid hitting the return key until you want the next number in the series to appear. If you get to the end of the line and there is still more information to be typed, continue typing the text will wrap around. Hit the return key only when you want to add a new item to the list which will appear with its own distinct number.

You can customize the appearance of the numbered list by clicking on the Format menu. Select Bullets and Numbering then choose the style you prefer or customize the look of the numbers. You can choose styles, the font, superscript the numbers, and change the indentations. There are a number of different possibilities available to suite any document.

On occasion you may have a smaller list of items that belong to the bigger list. For this type of list it is best to select Outlined Numbered from the Bullets and Numbering menu. A number of choices for the layout of the lists will appear. Make sure the cursor is located in the place where the first list item will appear. Select the list layout you prefer. A numerical or letter symbol will appear depending on what you selected. Add the text information you want. When you hit the return item a second item can be added with a letter or number designation and so on. To add a subset to the original items, hit the return key then depress the Numbering and Bullets icon on the top of the navigation bar. Hit the tab bar until you reach the place where you want to insert the sub-list, then hit the Numbering and Bullet key. Once you begin this subset each hit of the return key will add to the subset list. To go back to the original list, hit the return key twice. Then click on the Numbering and Bullets icon on the navigation bar.

If you want to change the appearance of the lists you can right click on the actual number or letter as it appears in your document. A menu will appear and you can select from the options to customize the appearance of the list.

Bullets
Bullets which are increasingly being referred to as nuggets, work in the same manner as outlined above. The obvious exception is that symbols are used instead of numerals and letters. On the Format menu the Bullets appear beside the Numbering icon. Inserting, changing, or customizing Bullets works in the same manner as outlined for Numbering. To add zip to your list try using font styles such as Wingdings. There are a number of options that will allow your creativity to soar.

Headings
Headings are a great way to add titles and sub-titles to your document. Headings are primarily set-up in a formal manner when the document you are creating is lengthy and requires a number of paragraph partitions. Another common use of the Headings features occurs when you create columns or tables. When you create your heading you do so in the same manner as creating text but usually you apply a formatting feature like Bold, Italics, or even an increase in the font size. Microsoft has three different Heading options for you. Under the Format menu there is the Styles and Formatting option. Selecting that will give you a number of heading choices. Highlight your heading then select the Heading style you want. Your text will be formatted to match this style.Having a heading clearly differentiated from the rest of the text will help you resolve issues expediently. For example when you create a table it sometimes grows large enough to be split between two pages. The second half of the table usually appears without the headings. To remedy this problem highlight the row with the table headings, then on the Table menu select Heading Rows Repeat. This will keep the headings with the rest of the table, even the table splits over two or more pages.

If you are creating a document using the columns feature, you may want to add a heading that spans several columns. To do this, highlight the heading, then click on the Column icon from the Standard menu. Drag your cursor over the columns. This will allow your heading to appear over the columns you select.

By using the Heading feature you not only maintain consistency throughout your document, you ensure that when you make changes, every instance is treated in the same way. This will go a long way toward ensuring your document is presented with impact.

Outlining
When viewing your document you have a number of options. The most popular is Print Layout. It is not the only option however. Outline found under the View toolbar is another excellent option for viewing your document. Outline is particularly helpful because you can see your entire document at a glance with the headings clearly marked. If you notice something out of place you can move it simply by clicking on the heading and the entire paragraph or section will be transported to a new location. Working in the Outline view will allow you to examine the appropriate placement of the subheadings and paragraphs.

Finally, one of the best reasons for creating a document with Headings and then using the Outline feature is that it will make the transference of your word document into a PowerPoint that much easier. All the Headings could become slides with the information below becoming the content for each slide. How’s that for interfacing production products!

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