I am having a horrible time getting page numbers in my document. I need some roman, some arabic. Right now, I have some page numbers that go backwards. Should I clear direct formatting??? Help!!!
To answer your title question, clearing direct formatting removes from the selected area any formatting which is not defined by a named style (either paragraph or character).
Your page number issue is different. Pages numbers are controlled be page styles (roman, arabic, …) and partially by paragraph styles or manual breaks.
A paragraph style may dictate that an implicit page break precedes it (see Text Flow tab) optionnaly with the page number forced to some value.
Similarly, a manual break, akin to direct formatting, for a new page may also force the new page number.
If your page numbers go “backwards”, you are likely to have “forcing” page breaks. Check your paragraph styles (Text Flow tab) and your manual breaks to clear page resets.
You require pages with arabic numbering, others with roman. This means you need at least two different page styles. Check that you correctly defined them and that the paragraph styles referencing them do not reset page number. If this reset is a required feature, define two paragraph styles, one with the reset, the other without it, and use them in a consistent manner.
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