DOC Office Consulting

Headers and Footers in Word documents leave many users confused. They change when you don’t want them to, don’t change when you do want them to and sometimes they just appear or disappear when you’ve done something seemingly unrelated.

There’s always a reason why Word does what it does with the headers and footers. Although they can be confusing and produce unexpected results, if understood correctly can make document creation much easier.
First you need to know that although only one is visible on each page at any one time, Word stores three different headers and three different footers in each page. They are the Primary header & Primary footer, the First Page Header & First Page footer and the Even Page Header & Even Page footer.

1. Primary Header

When you set the header for the first time in your document (without changing the header & footer settings), you’re working on the Primary header. This is the default header, which is applied to all pages in the document, until or unless the header & footer settings are changed.

2. First Page Header

Ticking the Different First Page box in the header settings will apply the first page header to the first page of the document. This header hasn’t been created yet, so the header field on the first page appears blank. Editing the header on the first page will now save the edits as the first page header. Even if you turn off Different First Page, to apply the Primary header, the first page header will still be waiting in the background, ready to reappear if you change your mind and turn the First Page header back on.

3. Different Odd & Even Pages

Ticking the Different Odd & Even Pages box will apply the Even Page header to all of the even numbered pages in the document. Again, if the Even Page Header hasn’t been created yet, the header section on even numbered pages will appear to be blank. Edit the header on any even numbered page with the Different Odd & Even Pages box ticked to update the Even Page Header throughout the document. Even if you turn off Different Odd/Even Pages, to apply the Primary header, the Even Page header will still be waiting in the background, ready to reappear if you change your mind and turn the Different Odd & Even Page headers back on.

Section Breaks

Large documents are often broken into separate sections enabling each sections page layout (including header and footer) to be edited independently from the rest of the document. Adding a section break into your document will change the headers applied if you are using Different Odd & Even Pages or Different First Page headers.

1. Different First Page

The First Page Header is applied to the first page of each section, this means that the first page after the section break will show the first page header (i.e. if a section break is added to the bottom of page 4, page 5 will show the First Page Header, not the Primary Header because it is the first page of the new section).

2. Different Odd & Even Pages

The Primary Header is applied to all odd numbered pages throughout the section and the Even Page Header is applied to all even numbered pages. Changing any settings, sections or page layouts that modify the numbering of these pages will update the header and footer applied to the page.

Linked Headers

1. Link to Previous

By default the second and subsequent section headers are linked to the previous section, which means that changes made to the first section are replicated throughout the remainder of the document and changes made to second or subsequent sections also replicate throughout the whole document, including the first section. This includes all set headers and footers (First Page, Primary and Even Page headers).

2. Un-link Headers & Footers

To edit the header or footer of the second or subsequent section without modifying the header & footer of the previous (first) section, turn off the toggle button Link to Previous while working in the second or subsequent sections page header. Clicking this button will unlink the current section header so that it can be edited without updating the previous sections header.
Note that changing the current sections Link to Previous settings will not unlink the following sections from the current section. Changes made to the current header & footer will be replicated throughout following sections, unless the Link to Previous setting is changed in the next section.

3. Editing Sections

Inserting and deleting entire sections can and will modify the headers and footers applied if Link to Previous is used. (i.e. If section 3 is linked to section 2, deleting all of the second section in the document will update the section 3 headers and footers with the section 1 headers & footers. This is because section 3 isn’t linked specifically to section 2, it’s linked to the previous section (which became section 1 when section 2 was deleted).

Footers

1. Different Footers

While the actual headers and footers can be seperately edited, the settings for any given section are not independently modified. If a section has a first page header applied, it also has a first page footer applied. Turning off the Different First Page setting, even if you’re working in the footer at the time, will turn off the Different First Page header for the current section as well. This also applies for Different Odd & Even Pages.

2. Linked Footers

Link to Previous or Un-link to Previous is also applied to both the headers and footers of the current section simultaneously. Attempting to link or unlink the current sections footer to or from the previous section will also link or un-link the header for the current section, sometimes producing unexpected results.

Your Template

We hope that his has cleared up a somewhat confusing subject for you. If you’re still not confident with your header and footer settings, DOC Office can set up your Word templates for you – complete with text styles, auto text entries, headers & footers, cover pages, document layout and anything else you might need.

Personalisation

We understand that your data and communication requirements are unique to your business, so we design each template specifically for the business and the task. Our plan is always to make your templates as flexible as possible to ensure they can be easily updated as your requirements change in the future.

Cost

Generally the cost involved in designing style templates will be offset by the efficiencies gained within a couple of months. The actual cost of designing your style template is difficult to predict as it will depend on the functionality required.
Once your requirements have been reviewed, we’ll submit a proposal to you documenting our vision and detailing the cost, which will include:
• Professionally designed, individually created style template(s) to suit your requirements
• Comprehensive user manual
• Three months support

To start the ball rolling, call us to make an appointment. We’ll visit you in your office, take a look at your documents, discuss what you hope to achieve, then submit our vision in a formal proposal for you to consider. It’s a risk free / fee free appointment where you have nothing to lose and plenty to gain. Call us to inquire and begin the journey to greater efficiency.