page numbers

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page numbers

I have formatted a book using Pages version 7.1. I somehow successfully numbered the pages starting with the first page of the book (starting after cover and table of contents). I have added chapters and the page numbers were adjusted accordingly. But about once or twice a month, after saving the file, and re-opening it, the page numbers disappear from the footer. This has happened three times now. Inexplicably, the page numbers randomly re-appear when I open the file. But they have disappeared again. I have followed all the instructions on how to number pages, and now when I insert page 1 in the footer, it simply numbers all the pages 1. Or it gives me the option of starting from the wrong page number. When I go to "Page Numbering" in the document section, it is entirely grayed out. So that's no help. I will save my comments about how poorly designed this program is. Any help would be appreciated.

Posted on Feb 4, 2022 12:00 PM

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Answer 1

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Barry

Level 9

59,957 points

Feb 4, 2022 11:55 PM in response to DonyT

"and now when I insert page 1 in the footer, it simply numbers all the pages 1."

If you enter the value "Page 1" in the footer, Pages sees that as a text string, and displays that string in the same footer box on every page.

If you click on the (empty) box, Pages presents this message:

Clicking the text opens a four item menu showing your choices in what format to use for the page number—2, 2 of 2, page 2, or page 2 of 2.

Page numbers displayed initially will correspond to the actual position of each page in the document.

If the opening pages (cover, inside cover, TOC, etc. are to be left unnumbered, you will need to insert a Section Break at the end of text on the last verso (left side) page in the group to place these pages in a section.

On the first page (a recto page) click on the box that is to contain the page number, click the insert page number button in the dialogue that opens, and choose the format you want. The page number that appears will not be 1. It will be the number of that page in the Document (including those unnumbered pages in the first section.

Open the Document inspector and choose Section.

Uncheck the checkbox beside "Match Previous Section,"

Check the radio button beside Start with,

and the box will likely set itself to 1.

If not, use the stepper controls to make that setting.

Regarding the page numbers disappearing completely: Pages 11 has exhibited a few bugs similar to this one. Recommended steps are to close all open Pages Documents, Quit Pages, shut down and restart the computer, then relaunch Pages and open the document again. If the page numbers are still missing, re-construct them.

Use the Provide Pages Feedback menu item in the Pages menu to report this bug directly to Apple.

And keep your eyes open for upr=dates to macOS and to Pages.

Regards,

Barry

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