Page numbering options greyed out in Pages 7.1

Hi, I had the same issue. Very awkward. I had page numbers inside shapes as a design feature.

However, after I did 'Viking's trick', I was able to do it. Different sections, different page numberings, and then I could change the starting number. Then I deleted the page numbers in the previous section and hoped the new numbers were good to go. They were not, however, it took the system a while to process it. My page number in the document displayed 4, but I had told it to start at 3. After 5 minutes thoughit had magically changed:)

Cart before the horse. 😉

On your first page, just hover over the footer, and insert a page number when the Insert Page Number panel hovers there. That is key to everything else here. Now click Document on the toolbar, and then click the Section tab.

In the Headers & Footers segment, check Hide on first page of section, and leave Match previous section unchecked. In the Page Numbering segment, choose your format, and click Start at and your appropriate page number.