I hope that when you write a “word doc” you don’t mean a .doc(x) formatted file. If this is the case, no hope.
With .odf (and .odt for the template), you benefit full Writer power with styles.
Unless you already noticed, direct formatting (or manual formatting) in all its guises (keyboard shortcuts, menu items, toolbar buttons) are there for quick’n’dirty experimenting but causes then formatting nightmares. It is also offered to ease transition for Word aficionados until they understand the driving principles in Writer, i.e. styles.
The toolbar button(s) for numbered and bullet lists is one of these pitfalls. It does not offer a persistent setting because any new list must be made independent from the previous one. This implies the behaviour you experienced.
The “native” way to configure user lists is through a pair made of a paragraph style and a so-called list style which is in fact a set of attributes to format the number.
Some built-in styles are intended for lists but the number is not yet configured. I’ll show you how to adapt Numbering 1 to your needs.
- Display the style side pane with
F11 or Styles>Manage Styles
- Look for Numbering 1 and right-click to
Modify
- Go to
Outline & Numbering tab
- In Numbering section, change the Numbering style drop-down menu to
Numbering 123.
OK
Back in the style sidepane, click on the fourth icon in the toolbar (it says List Styles when the mouse hovers over it); this will list the list styles.
- Right-click on Numbering 123 and
Modify
- You can optionally play with
Bullets … Image tabs to preset parameters
- You tune these preset parameters in
Position and Customize tabs.
But, once you’ve started tuning the attributes, Never use again the Bullets…Image tabs because they will reset your tuning and eventually create contradictions forcing you to customize again from scratch!
When this is done, all you have to do is to assign Numbering 1 style to your list item paragraphs.
CAUTION! Never use again the toolbar buttons because this will override your style and perhaps add “sticky” direct formatting you’ll have a hell of a job to remove.
Numbering 1 to Numbering 5 are available for 5 different looking numbered lists. List 1 to List 5 are for bullet lists.
What makes lists different is the list style. So don’t make the mistake to associate the same list style to several paragraph styles because these styles will be part of the same list.
To show the community your question has been answered, click the ✓ next to the correct answer, and “upvote” by clicking on the ^ arrow of any helpful answers. These are the mechanisms for communicating the quality of the Q&A on this site. Thanks!
In case you need clarification, edit your question (not an answer which is reserved for solutions) or comment the relevant answer.
