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Customizing Multilevel List Styles

I once helped someone who had very specific needs in a list.  The first level of the list should be Roman numerals, the second should be lettered, and the third should be bullets, but not be indented any further than the second level.  Needless to say, there was not a predefined list style to do this.  But by customizing a multilevel list style, we were able to make it work.

If you find that you would like to change your mulitlevel list style, here’s what to do -

1. Click on the arrow next to the Multilevel list button.
2. Select Define New Multilevel List.
3. In the column on the left, click a list level to modify it.
4. If you would like for the text associated with that level in the list to be a predefined style, click the More button, drop down the arrow on the Link level to style box and select the appropriate style.
5. In the Number style for this level box, select the number or bullet style you want.  If you select New Picture or New Bullet, you can select a custom picture or bullet.
6. In the Enter formatting for number box, select the number, and click on the Font button to the right to change the font, font size, font color, and add other effects.  Click OK when you have finished customizing the font.  Back in the box, you can delete the ) and replace it with a period, or anything else you would like to go between the number and the text of the list entry.
7. In the Position section, the Aligned at box determines the distance on the ruler where the numbers (or bullets) for that level will be aligned.  (If you don’t see the ruler when you look at your document, go to the View tab, and in the Show/Hide area, check the box for Ruler.)
8. In the Number alignment box, you will choose how your number (or bullet) will relate to the Aligned at value.  If you choose Left, the the Aligned at measurement will be to the left of your number.  If you choose Right, the the Aligned at value will be to the right of your numbers.   Pick Centered, and the numbers will be centered on the Alignment value.
9. Once you have arranged everything for the first level of your list, click on the second level in the column at the top left corner.  Repeat the process.

If you want to use this multilevel list style again in other documents, you can save it to the Normal template.

1. Select your list.
2. Click on the arrow next to the Mulitlevel list button.
3. Select Define New List Style.
4. In the Name box, type a name for your style.
5. At the bottom of the dialog box, select New Documents Based on this Template.
6. Click OK.

The next time you want to apply that style to a list, click the arrow next to the Multilevel list button and it will be available in the gallery that appears.

This concludes the bulleted and numbered list trilogy.  If you have any questions, leave them in the comments.  This can easily be converted from a trilogy to a saga.