User profile for user: AndrewG7862
AndrewG7862 Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Preventing Pages from formatting bullets

Hi,


I use Pages (latest version) to take notes. When I format a word on a bulleted line at the beginning of that line (i.e. bold, underline, or italicize), the bulleted number itself is also formatted. How do I prevent this from ever happening, as it is highly annoying.


More problematic:

If I do the above (have a bulleted line that begins with a formatted word), if I choose to unformat the text after that word (i.e. turn off underline), then hit return, the next bullet number has that same format although the text won't (because I turned the formatting off). The only fix I can find is to re-format the blank line (so in this case, after hitting return, hit, for example, underline and then turn it off again). This will reset Pages to thinking "oh ya, why am I bothering to underline this bullet number when the user is not even wanting to underline the text". This will continue ad-infinitum, i.e. each and every new bullet number will have this formatting, until I perform this fix.


This is excrutiatingly annoying. Does anyone know of a way to disable this "feature", or is it a bug altogether? I noticed this issue existed in previous versions of Pages, back to '08.


Thank you so much for your time, consideration, and help.

White MacBook 2.0GHZ, Mac OS X (10.5.4), 1GB RAM, 320GB HD

Posted on Sep 25, 2011 5:08 PM

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11 replies
User profile for user: PinkSakura
PinkSakura
User level: Level 1
121 points

Nov 2, 2017 11:11 PM in response to AndrewG7862

The following method works for me. I’m using Pages 4.3 and Lion 10.7.5.


1. Click the bold button on the Format bar.

2. Type the first line of your numbered list.

3. Press Return. The second number will be bold. Before you press the space key, click the bold button. The second number will change to regular font style. Now you can press the space key.


Whether you use this method or the way you want to do it, you will still end up clicking the bold button once.

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User profile for user: PinkSakura
PinkSakura
User level: Level 1
121 points

Nov 4, 2017 9:20 PM in response to AndrewG7862

You can create a numbered list in which the numbers are automatically bold and the text that follows the numbers is automatically regular.


  1. Click bold on the Format toolbar.
  2. Type the first number followed by a period and then a space.
  3. Click bold on the Format toolbar to turn off the bold. Type your text; it will be in regular font. Press Return at the end of the paragraph. The next number in the list will automatically be bold and the text that follows it will automatically be regular. This pattern will continue automatically throughout your list; you won’t have to use the Format bar again.
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User profile for user: AndrewG7862
AndrewG7862 Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Sep 25, 2011 6:12 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Peter,


Yes, I'm running 10.7.1, as is blatantly obvious by the computer I have, and is altogether unrelated to the issue. Your post was incredible in how it contributed nothing to a potential solution. Please refrain from posting on this thread unless you have an answer to the direct questions posed.


This is a very basic and fundamental flaw with Pages, that it formats bullets in ways it is specifically instructed not to.


Apple has never designed products that hope to force the user to bend to it's non-user friendliness, as you suggest the solution should be.

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User profile for user: PeterBreis0807
PeterBreis0807
User level: Level 8
41,241 points

Sep 25, 2011 6:37 PM in response to AndrewG7862

As you have chosen to be blunt, I shall be equally as blunt.


You are indignant because you don't understand styling. I have noticed that the less users understand, the more indignant they are that they do.


The styling is layered as my link explained.


The base paragraph style is modified by any additional character styles which is what you see when you pick out individual words in a paragraph and change their color or underline or bolding or italics. That change sticks until it is modified again or turned off.


List styles are purely a numbering or bulleting applied to existing text as you would expect. You wouldn't want the type to be Times if you had chosen Lucida for a font for your paragraph text. So if you have bolded text and hit return to make a new point then the bold is still there as a continuation of the text in the numbering.


I can make a list with 1st word bolded without changing the numbering simply by creating the list then selecting the word only for local character styling. In fact I can do anything to that local text, color it, change its font, superscript it, change its language. The important thing is restrict it only to the text you want and not to let it run on.


You could easily get around one of your issues by hitting command b after the bolded text to switch it back to plain, or use f keys and character styles where wanted.


Computers follow a logic, humans rarely do. Which is why some humans get upset when the computer doesn't get their "logic" uncommunicated as it may be.


Peter

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User profile for user: AndrewG7862
AndrewG7862 Author
User level: Level 1
16 points

Sep 25, 2011 7:14 PM in response to PeterBreis0807

Perhaps you are not understanding. You describe a process that is not consistent with what I am describing. Here it is more plainly:


In a bulleted list, text will appear as follows, with actions in brackets


1. [command+b]The dog[command+b][enter]

2. The dog


Notice that "2." is still bolded. This is in direct contradiction to your statement that "So if you have bolded text and hit return to make a new point then the bold is still there as a continuation of the text in the numbering". In fact, the numbering is no longer following the text at all. We had unbolded text and hit return to make a new point, where the unbolded text was not there as a continuation of the text in the numbering. Even worse, the problem persists in the following scenario:


1. [command+b]The dog[command+b] is [enter]

2. The dog is


Here, "2." is still bolded even after unbolded text was written on the previous line. Outside of selecting the entire line of "2." and bolding, then unbolding (which would reset all bolding done on that line), the only other way to "reset" the type correctly is to:


1. [command+b]The dog[command+b] is [enter]

2. [command+b][command+b] The dog is


That, is not "logical", as it doesn't follow the text arround it and only responds when cylced.


Note further that Pages is registering the font as non-bolded upon creation of the "2." in the last two scenarios. After hitting "[enter]", when the bolded "2." is placed, the toolbar in Pages registers the font as non-bolded (by a lightly shaded box). Pressing [command+b] at this point will turn the box dark gray, as if bolding was active, although it does not affect the "2.". Hitting it again to make the box light gray (unbolded) again will change the "2." to unbolded. The cursor was not moved during this entire process. Pages indicated formatting changing twice, while formatting only actually changed once, because the "2." was incorrectly formatted.


A solution is not to write out notes first, then go back and individually select words to be bolded after bulleting has been assigned. This tedious process would negate the purpose of keyboard shortcuts altogether.

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User profile for user: PeterBreis0807
PeterBreis0807
User level: Level 8
41,241 points

Sep 25, 2011 8:14 PM in response to AndrewG7862

OK that I agree on. I apologise, it was the one thing I hadn't tested.


It retains the bolding in that case even with intermediate plain text and can not be restyled back afterwards without total deletion and retyping.


It is indeed a bug.


I have reported it and suggest you do as well.


Menu > Pages > Provide Pages Feedback


When styling a list, if text is bolded and a return hit, the next list numbering is styled bold as well, which then sticks and can not be changed back by selecting and restyling.



Changing text style immediately after a word eg back from bold by using cmd b does not change the next list number, which sticks on bold, but contrarily the subsequent text is not-bold.



The anticipated behavior should be that a format change takes place and sticks from the point forward from the change.



In addition List numbering should be directly selectable and editable.




Peter

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Preventing Pages from formatting bullets

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