Block indent for numbered list items

[Tyler2]

LO 7.4.6.2

Dear community, I’d like to format a numbered list so that the left indent of the whole item paragraph (first and following lines) is controlled by the width of the item number, like so:

1 First item with long paragraph bla
  bla bla

(... many items follow ...)

139 Another item with even more
    lines in its paragraph bla bla
    bla bla

Is this possible? I know that I can set a tab after the number, with a tab stop (and the left indent) at a fixed position. What I’m after is to have the amount of indent controlled by the actual width of the number.

[ajlittoz]

Unfortunately this is not possible. The left indent has a fixed (constant) value set at list configuration time. So the workaround is to account for the widest possible number in your list and set the indent accordingly.

You didn’t tell how you configure your list. Format>Bullet & Numbering is not your friend. It is offered as a Quick’n’Dirty compatibility feature with M$ Word. What you configure needs to be reinitialised for every new list.

Use a list style instead. Remember that any list style (even default Format>Bullet & Numbering) takes over the left indent. It overrides what is defined in the paragraph style. You have three important parameters in the Position tab:

• Indent at: left indent of the list item
• Tab stop: where to stop after the item number; set it to same value as the indent (unless you want a special layout)
• Aligned at: position of the number; usually at 0cm for the first level

These settings can be configure separately for each level.

[Tyler2]

Thanks for that clarification. Rest assured, I’m all in favor of list styles

Speaking of lists: After typing the last item of a bullet list, I find myself sometimes accidentally deleting the list symbol (the bullet) instead of switching the paragraph style back to “Text Body”. I then end up with an extra, unwanted “List 1” paragraph (sans symbol).

Is there any way I can avoid this, or at least make the mistake obvious?

[mikekaganski]

The removal that you mention likely means the effect of pressing backspace when you are in the very first position of the list item. This shortcut creates an unnumbered entry (the very useful feature, allowing to have several paragraph per list entry, in a semantically correct way).

And if you press backspace the second time, you remove the list.