Creating Numbered Lists
in Microsoft Word

 

This document shows you how to create a Shorthand Pick List which numbers the selected items.  This example works with Microsoft Word but the concepts should apply to other word processors as well.

Creating a Keyboard Shortcut in Word

The first thing you need to do is find out the keyboard shortcut in Word to do what you want to do. Shorthand can only simulate keystrokes; if you know the keyboard command you can use Shorthand to simulate those keystrokes.

 

In Word, there is no default keyboard command to create numbered lists so we will need to create one:

 

  1. First, bring up the “Customize Keyboard” window in Word:
  1. If you are using Word 2007 or later: click the round Office button at the top left corner of the Word window then click  the Word Options button, select Customize,  and click the Customize button.
  2. If you are using Word 2005 or earlier: choose Tools | Customize | Keyboard button.
  1. In the Customize Keyboard window:
  1. In the Categories list box, choose either “All Commands” or “Formatting”..
  2. In the Commands list box, select FormatNumberDefault.
  3. Click the Press New Shortcut Key box.
  4. Press ALT+N (or any other keystroke combination you want)
  5. Click on Assign.
  6. Click Close
  7. Click Close

 

Pressing Alt+N will now toggle numbered lists on/off.

Create the Shorthand Entry

 

Once the keyboard shortcut is defined, we can now create a Shorthand Dictionary entry to simulate the required keystrokes.  

 

In Shorthand, select Add from the Dictionary menu to create a new entry. In the Text to Type box, enter these lines:

 

{@KEY ctrl+b}This list is left aligned and numbered:{@KEY ctrl+b}

{@KEY alt+n}{@INPUT Select 2 or more items @SEP="{@CR}"  

item1

item2

item3

}{@CR}{@KEY alt+n}

{@KEY ctrl+b}This list will be indented:{@KEY ctrl+b}

{@KEY Tab}{@KEY alt+n}{@INPUT Select 2 or more items @SEP="{@CR}"  

item1

item2

item3

}{@CR}{@KEY alt+n}

 

Use Shorthand to expand the above entry in a Microsoft Word document to see how it appears.

 

Notes:

  1. {@KEY alt+n} is the Shorthand command to simulate ALT+N which is what we had defined to enable/disable numbered lists.
  2. To indent a numbered list in Word, simply insert a Tab ({@KEY tab}) before {@KEY alt+n}.
  3. {@CR} is the Shorthand command to simulate a new line (same as {@KEY Enter}).
  4. {@KEY ctrl+b} is the Word keyboard command to enable/disable bolding.

 

 

Author: OfficeSoft LLC   http://pcshorthand.com