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Wish List for Word
I'm not sure where to post this or send this, or even if there are solutions
I'm not aware of, but I thought I'd post it here and see if anyone knows anything about these issues or in hopes that this might somehow get back to Microsoft as suggestions for future updates. There are features I wish Word had (or wish I knew how to do them in Word): Issue #1... Allow repeating text when a page break interrupts a paragraph, table or defined section (other than a header or footer). Example #1: I recently was doing some work where I had tables that were interrupted by page breaks, but other than inserting blank lines and entering the table heading manually, there was no way to automatically repeat the contents of a side column (containing the table topic) across a page break. This can only be done with header *rows*. I wish there was a way to do this with the contents of a column too. This may sound illogical, but in this case the layout had the left-hand column (spanning all rows of the table) showing the topic of the table, with the content and details in right-hand columns and cells. Believe me, it made sense and was an interesting and creative way to display the information, but was awkward when a page break interrupted the table. There would have been too much blank space if I had just started the table on the next page, and there were many tables like this in the document. Example #2: I often like to have a sub-heading that uses a word, phrase or line to indicate a sub-section's topic. This might be at the start of a paragraph (like "Example #2" is used here) or a separate line followed by one or more paragraphs. I wish there was a way to have this word, phrase or line repeat if that section extends onto the next page. In the same way as with the tables in Example #1, it would help to be able to be clear about which section or topic is being continued on the next page. As far as I know, there is no way to continue something on a page change other than using a header. In this case, either it wouldn't make sense visually or the Header is already being used for something else (e.g., a chapter title) or else it's just an in-line phrase that I would like to repeat or have a derivative of it repeat (e.g., "Example #2 continued:"). Issue #2... I wish there was a more straightforward way to handle Headers of different defined sections in a document. I have struggled with trying to set up different headers for different sections, but I have found it VERY confusing and often very arduous to set up. Often when I insert a new Header or Footer, it changes previous Headers/Footers and I have to go back and change them back. I have tried clicking or unclicking the "Same as previous" button, but I find this doesn't always behave as expected or predictably...or even logically! It seems to be a confusing and messy way to do something that should be able to be more straightforward. For example, have a button that says "Begin new header here." Or "Use previous header" which is kind of there, but if I say "yes" it erases the previous header! I struggle with it and manage to get it doing what I want, but if I sneeze or look at it the wrong way, it can throw it all out again. It's infuriating! I get the feeling that the Headers/Footers feature is a mishmash of different features that have been added over the years but no one has gone in and reorganised it all so that it fits together as a whole; instead it's a bunch of features strung together that don't always like to play nice together. - - - I guess that's it for now. There was something else I'd struggled with recently but can't remember what it was. I'll post again if I remember it. I'm sure I'll come across it again. ;-) Jo |
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