Subject: Newspaper Columns

Hi! I have a long thin list that I put into three columns The list is divided into sections. Each section has a heading. The second page begins with a new section. After about five lines, the list continues on the second column instead of continue down to the end of the page. It then continues on to the third column. When the section ends, the list continues from the first column again and behaves normally. It's almost as if the first five lines of the page are being treated as a separate page. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can solve this? Thanks.

Word will balance columns if they are followed by a continuous section
break. Switch to Normal view (ViewNormal) and see if a continous
section follows your "problem list". If this is the case, there are
some things you can do:

You can change the type of section following your "problem columns".
Place the cursor immediately *after* the break (don't select anything,
just leave the cursor blinking), and, on the File menu, click Page
Setup. On the Layout tab, pick a different setting for "Section
start", such as "New page". Click OK.

Alternatively, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the
Compatibility tab. Check the "Don't balance columns for Continuous
section starts" option. Click OK.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"mdt" wrote in message
...
Subject: Newspaper Columns

Hi! I have a long thin list that I put into three columns The list
is divided into sections. Each section has a heading. The second
page begins with a new section. After about five lines, the list
continues on the second column instead of continue down to the end of
the page. It then continues on to the third column. When the section
ends, the list continues from the first column again and behaves
normally. It's almost as if the first five lines of the page are
being treated as a separate page. Does anyone have any ideas as to
how I can solve this? Thanks.

Subject: Newspaper Columns


Thanks. I did the second option you mention below. This indeed solves the problem. However, it causes the next column to start at the section break which in my case is a few lines down from the top. Nothing I do can get the second and third columns to start at the top of the page. Is there a way to get the subsequent columns to start at the top of the page.



-----Original Message-----
Word will balance columns if they are followed by a continuous section
break. Switch to Normal view (ViewNormal) and see if a continous
section follows your "problem list". If this is the case, there are
some things you can do:

You can change the type of section following your "problem columns".
Place the cursor immediately *after* the break (don't select anything,
just leave the cursor blinking), and, on the File menu, click Page
Setup. On the Layout tab, pick a different setting for "Section
start", such as "New page". Click OK.

Alternatively, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the
Compatibility tab. Check the "Don't balance columns for Continuous
section starts" option. Click OK.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"mdt" wrote in message
...
Subject: Newspaper Columns

Hi! I have a long thin list that I put into three columns The list
is divided into sections. Each section has a heading. The second
page begins with a new section. After about five lines, the list
continues on the second column instead of continue down to the end of
the page. It then continues on to the third column. When the section
ends, the list continues from the first column again and behaves
normally. It's almost as if the first five lines of the page are
being treated as a separate page. Does anyone have any ideas as to
how I can solve this? Thanks.

Well, you could use linked text boxes instead of newspaper columns;
this would give you more control (but it is also more difficult to
maintain).

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"mdt" wrote in message
...
Subject: Newspaper Columns


Thanks. I did the second option you mention below. This indeed
solves the problem. However, it causes the next column to start at
the section break which in my case is a few lines down from the top.
Nothing I do can get the second and third columns to start at the top
of the page. Is there a way to get the subsequent columns to start at
the top of the page.



-----Original Message-----
Word will balance columns if they are followed by a continuous
section
break. Switch to Normal view (ViewNormal) and see if a continous
section follows your "problem list". If this is the case, there
are
some things you can do:

You can change the type of section following your "problem
columns".
Place the cursor immediately *after* the break (don't select
anything,
just leave the cursor blinking), and, on the File menu, click Page
Setup. On the Layout tab, pick a different setting for "Section
start", such as "New page". Click OK.

Alternatively, click Options on the Tools menu, and then click the
Compatibility tab. Check the "Don't balance columns for Continuous
section starts" option. Click OK.

--
Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP


"mdt" wrote in message
...
Subject: Newspaper Columns

Hi! I have a long thin list that I put into three columns The
list
is divided into sections. Each section has a heading. The second
page begins with a new section. After about five lines, the list
continues on the second column instead of continue down to the end
of
the page. It then continues on to the third column. When the
section
ends, the list continues from the first column again and behaves
normally. It's almost as if the first five lines of the page are
being treated as a separate page. Does anyone have any ideas as
to
how I can solve this? Thanks.

The solution depends a bit on what you mean by "a new section." I suspect
you don't mean that there is actually a section break of any sort here, as
that would cause more of a break than you're seeing. My guess is that either
there is a column break (Ctrl+Shift+Enter) between the sections (which is
causing the new section to jump to the second column) or the "Keep with
next" formatting of the section heading, combined with text flow properties
of the following paragraphs, are causing them to clump together and move to
the next column as a block.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"mdt" wrote in message
...
Subject: Newspaper Columns

Hi! I have a long thin list that I put into three columns The list is
divided into sections. Each section has a heading. The second page begins
with a new section. After about five lines, the list continues on the
second column instead of continue down to the end of the page. It then
continues on to the third column. When the section ends, the list continues
from the first column again and behaves normally. It's almost as if the
first five lines of the page are being treated as a separate page. Does
anyone have any ideas as to how I can solve this? Thanks.