[Solved] Setting Tabs with Numbering on

tommyleew · Post by **tommyleew** » Thu May 21, 2020 6:45 pm

I have numbering turned on where first line is a number the first indented line is a letter and the second/last indented line is a bullet. That all works fine. But I need to add a universal tab so that I can have an aligned column no matter the indent of the line. I can set tabs and the ruler looks right but the actual text does not align with the tab stop on any line. I have tried setting the tab in Paragraph and Paragraph Style with no expected results. Thanks for any help.

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Thu May 21, 2020 10:59 pm

Don't use the ruler. Click in a numbered item and select Format > Bullets and Numbering. On the Bullets and Numbering dialog, select the Position tab. That's where you should set indents and tabs for numbered paragraphs.

tommyleew · Post by **tommyleew** » Thu May 21, 2020 11:51 pm

Thanks but that only sets the indent not also tabs (as far as I can tell). What I want is an inline tab set at the same position on each line requardless of what level indent it is on.
1. Level one text plus > tab at 6"
a). Level two text plus > tab at 6"
*. Level three text plus > tab at 6"
b). Level two text plus > tab at 6"
etc.

Post by **Zizi64** » Fri May 22, 2020 6:24 am

Re: Setting Tabs with Numbering on

Unread postby tommyleew » 2020 May 21, 11:51 pm
Thanks but that only sets the indent not also tabs (as far as I can tell). What I want is an inline tab set at the same position on each line requardless of what level indent it is on.
1. Level one text plus > tab at 6"
a). Level two text plus > tab at 6"
*. Level three text plus > tab at 6"
b). Level two text plus > tab at 6"
etc.

I think, you must use the Paragraph Styles and the Chapter Numbering feature together and the numeric specification of property values - instead of the manual formatting method, and the graphic method. (Do not dragging the ruler. It has a display function primarily. You can not make precise settings by usage the ruler.)

Please upload a small, ODF type sample file with your actual settings (and with some dummy text) here.

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Fri May 22, 2020 9:41 am

Writer positions the tab stops from the paragraph indent and each level in the list has a different indent. That's why the tab stops aren't aligned in numbered lists with different levels.

Don't set a tab stop in the paragraph style. When you start a new list, set the tab stop for the first paragraph in the list to 6". Ignore the location of the tab stop indicator on the ruler. Your tab stops should be aligned as long as you keep entering items at the same level, but if you change levels, Writer will change the tab stop setting in the new paragraph because the paragraph indent changed. To keep your tab stops aligned, you have to change the setting for the paragraph back to 6".

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Fri May 22, 2020 2:02 pm

This behavior of tab stops is not limited to numbered paragraphs. Writer moves the tab stops whenever the indent of a paragraph is increased or decreased.

Issue 3472 - New tab positioning method: offset from left page margin

Issue 73097 - tab stops get shifted to right on indented paragraph

tommyleew · Post by **tommyleew** » Fri May 22, 2020 3:26 pm

Thanks everybody. Ignoring the tab stops on the ruler really helps. But yes, it seems the only way to get all levels to align is to manually set the tabs and each and every line after all indent levels have been set and finalized.
Ain't gonna happen.
My work around - have all level indents set to the same interval and have the default tab setting also set to that interal. So now I have the indent for each level .25" greater than the level above and the default tab setting to .25". At least I can now have left justified tabs aligned (i.e. 6 tabs on level 1 aligns with 5 tabs on level 2 and 3 tabs on level 4, etc.) but only left justified. So instead of a decimal tab I have to left tab with some leading zeros on some lines.

Post by **Zizi64** » Fri May 22, 2020 5:21 pm

But yes, it seems the only way to get all levels to align is to manually set the tabs and each and every line after all indent levels have been set and finalized.

Please upload your ODF type sample file here.

Bill · Post by **Bill** » Fri May 22, 2020 6:06 pm

A conditional paragraph style can be used to align the tab stops by applying different paragraph styles to each numbering level. Those paragraph styles can have different tab stop settings that account for the different indents.

tommyleew · Post by **tommyleew** » Fri May 22, 2020 9:31 pm

Thanks Bill, that's exactly what I am trying to do.
Zizi64, Bill's attachment is it!

I will give it a shot but I have found style formatting to bit over my pay grade.

Thanks again all.