Would you use "header 1" style for top level book sections?

[RobNik]

Let’s say I write a document, and use “Heading 1” and “Heading 2” styles to divide up and organize the text. I style the headers differently, and I can see the document structure as a nice tree in the Navigator pane. After some time, I have twenty level-1 sections, and I decide that they fit into two main parts, so I would like to create a “Part I” with sections 1-10 and a “Part II” with sections 11-20.

Do I reset every “Heading N” element to be “Heading N+1”, and then use Heading 1 for my new “parts”. Or, is there another way to divide a document that I could put above the “Heading 1” sections?

[ajlittoz]

The problem in your specification is the requirement that chapters are numbered continuously across parts. This implies that part titles cannot be styled by some Heading n because all these styles belong in the same numbered list. If you reallocate your parts to level 1 and chapters to level 2, chapter number is reset whenever your enter a new part.

Trying to outsmart Writer by sending your parts to lower outline levels is also a bad idea because there your part number will always be reset to 1.

Another consideration is whether you want your part headings to appear also in TOC and be able to format their appearance independently from your chapter entries. I assume you also want the part titles in the TOC, otherwise the solution is trivial: use any other paragraph style for your part titles.

The solution requires both reallocating the chapter heading levels (so that parts and chapters have the correct level relationship) and using two separate lists.

The easiest step is demoting all your existing outline one level deeper. The tool is the Navigator.

1. collapse the Headings Navigator section to leave only Heading 1 (a quick way: right-click on the Headings line and Collapse All, then click on the right-pointing triangle at left of Headings to open only the first level)
2. click on each level-1 heading in its turn and use the > button to demote one level (all subordinate headings are also demoted one level, preserving the hierarchy)

Level 1 is now available. You’ll create a dedicated list style for part numbering.

1. activate the style side pane
2. click on the fifth icon from the left (List Styles pops up when you hover over it) to display list styles
3. right-click anywhere in the list and New
4. give it a name like Part Numbering in Organizer tab
5. configure the desired properties in ``PositionandCustomizejust like you'd do inTools>Heading Numbering`
6. OK

Alternatively, you can use some built-in styles if it fits your need (Numbering IVX seems to fit your specification).

You could create a dedicated paragraph style for your part headings but it is possible (and more “natural”) to use Heading 1 after detaching it from outline numbering.

1. Tools>Heading Numbering, Numbering tab
2. in level 1, set Paragraph style to [None]
3. OK

Heading 1 is no longer a member of outline numbering. It is now available for other purposes.

Edit paragraph style Heading 1:

1. go to Outline & List tab
2. set Outline level to Level 1 so that part titles are collected in TOC at the correct level
3. set List Style to the custom list style you created (or Numbering IVX)
4. OK

All tools are now in place.

Style your part headings with Heading 1 and your chapter, sub-chapter, … headings with Heading 2+. They’ll be numbered on independent sequences but collected in the correct relative levels in the TOC.