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Word 2010 refuses to do page numbers

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Revit

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The text ,etc., for my new book is ready to go, but Word 2010 won't let me insert page numbers. I started writing this book in Word 2003, finished it on a computer that is running 2010, and saved it to .doc, not to the 2003 extension. Now when I call it up I can do other editing, but I can't get it to insert page numbers. I get this message: "Word cannot open this document template (C:\Users\Owner\...\~$ildingBlocks.dotx)". I have no idea what this means, and I don't even recognize .dotx. Can anyone give me some advice here?

Don Lindman
 

Chromodynamic

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Open the document and save it on a .docx format. Then you should be able to do so assuming you're running on Word 2010.
 

robjvargas

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When you wrote that document, you originally associated it with a "template." A template is sort of a document. Instead of content, though, it has formatting options. The default font, paragraph layout, maybe header and footer options, and it sounds like it had some page numbering options. But now that you're on 2010, 2010 never got a copy of that template.

Chromodynamic's idea may get the file associated with the "normal.dotx" template, the factory default one for MS Word. If not, let us know. I think there's a way to "unplug" from that other, unknown, template.
 

MttStrn

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If you do a simple "save as" and make sure you save as a ".docx" then you should be able to insert page numbers into the header or footer. Just remember to use your new document from then on when you are editing, not the old .dotx file.
 

Revit

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More Info

I've discovered two things since I first posted: (1) Word is recognisiing everything on my computer as a .dotx file; and (2) When I go to "Save As" I get a long list of names, not the actual extension. Since I don't know what .docx is, I can't save to it. Need some more help.
 

MttStrn

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Once you've chosen "Save As." Where is says "Save as Type" you will choose "Word Document." That should give it the .docx extension.
 

Chromodynamic

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Yeah, as MttStrn said, it should read as a Word Document and not a Word Template, and make sure not to select a format older than 2004 (which should read as just a .doc file without the x).
 

Dennis E. Taylor

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Under File -> Options -> Save, you may find that you've set the default "Save Files in this format" to DOTX. Change it to DOCX and future files will be the right type.

Regarding your current file, I think you'd be safer to create a new DOCX, then copy all your text from the current file and paste it into the DOCX. Once you're satisfied that you've saved all your work, get rid of the DOTX file. (make sure it isn't named NORMAL).
 

Revit

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Thanks!

Thanks for the advice! While no one actually solved my problem, you gave me directions in which to look, and I think I've found what's wrong. I think I began with a template and after writing on it failed to save it as a .doc file extension. I just clicked "save," and of course it was saved as a template. I located an old backup that was in .doc, downloaded it, and things seem to be working again.

REVIT
 

Jamesaritchie

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The first thing I do with any version of word is change the default to .rtf I also avoid docx completely. Too many out there still can't open a docx file. I have no problems opening any Word file, inserting page numbers, or anything else, and the .rtf file is accessible to all the word processors I have to deal with from day to day.
 

robjvargas

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The same function that sets RTF as default can also be set to DOC. And that is very widely accepted.

I'm seeing fewer and fewer complaints about DOCX, but DOC is just fine for anything you might do with a general novel format.
 

blacbird

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I'm seeing fewer and fewer complaints about DOCX, but DOC is just fine for anything you might do with a general novel format.

I convert all my standard manuscript documents to .doc or .rtf as well. The newer whistles and bells added to more recent versions of MSWord might be beneficial for some specialized purposes, but for straightforward manuscript documents they are just plain a pain in the ass.

caw
 

Jamesaritchie

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The same function that sets RTF as default can also be set to DOC. And that is very widely accepted.

I'm seeing fewer and fewer complaints about DOCX, but DOC is just fine for anything you might do with a general novel format.

Yes, it's much more widely accepted that docx, but I still find people who have trouble with it. If you don't have to deal with a lot of different writers and other who use God only knows which word processor, then defaulting to .DOC is probably the way to go. But DOCx is still not widely used, and, I think, still has some bugs.
 
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