continuous section break in a template with a different first page reverts to a next page section break when another section break is put into the document

You need not have a section break to seem to have different margins on the first page and should not.***

I am not sure this first sentence is true. I have tried this numerous different ways and read many, many community forum messages. Apparently you know how to do it. ***

I and Suzanne Barnhill and many others here know that it is true.

I gave you a link to a sample document doing that.

Here it is again. Letterhead Textboxes and Styles Tutorial

It is a workaround to actually having a different margin because inserting a section break for that causes all sorts of problems, as you have observed. The key is "seem to have different margins." The pages look and act as if they have different margins, but they do not change the Word setting for the margin.

That tutorial is more than twenty years old and works as well today as when it was created. I updated it for the .dotx format. The screenshot is from a document in the tutorial which appears to have different margins on the first page, top, side, and bottom, but does not. It is also about using the StyleRef Field in the header/footer to reflect content typed on the first page, but you need not use that.

We are here to help you with some of the quirks of Microsoft Word. Having to do these things to accomplish your result may not make much sense but that is how it works. The quotation below is from Bob Buckland, a very knowledgeable and helpful Word MVP more than twenty years ago. It is still true.

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This is a user-to-user support forum and I am sorry if my previous posts seemed to not be supportive. That was not the intent.

Unhelpful.

Removing the continuous section break is possible but removing the ability of an entire company to be able to insert a landscape page for a figure is not an option. I understand your examples and those are fine solutions if I have constant control over the document. But as stated in the question, this is a corporate template which requires maintaining a certain lower level of Word familiarity.

You need not have a section break to seem to have different margins on the first page and should not. You do not need to have constant control over the template to use these solutions and they have worked for thousands of users in the past.

Your entire company can insert the landscape page. If someone inserts a landscape page in a document, there will be a next-page section break before that page and after it. This means two new sections.

These sections continue the settings in the previous section for different first page and for link to previous in the first page headers and footers. If those are not desired, Different First Page needs to be turned off in the new sections.

I can't change how Word works, and neither can you. This is how it works and how it has always worked.

I do not work for Microsoft and am a volunteer.

Only your corporation can decide how much training people need.

Do not change the margin!

Do not use the continuous section break under the header!

See::

• Setting Up Letter Templates - Ribbon by Suzanne Barnhill, MVP ,
• How can I get a different header/footer on the second page?, and
• Letterhead Textboxes and Styles Tutorial

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Although those are written for letterhead, the same principles apply in reports or other documents where you think you want a different margin on the first page.

A change in orientation for one or more pages will always cause a Next-Page section break (or two).

To have different settings for the first page, you don't need a section break. For more, see the articles for which Charles provided links. In particular, MVP Suzanne S. Barnhill explains how to set up different margins on the first page at http://wordfaqs.ssbarnhill.com/Letterhead.htm#Complex.

To add a landscape section, you do need a section break.

Unhelpful.

Removing the continuous section break is possible but removing the ability of an entire company to be able to insert a landscape page for a figure is not an option. I understand your examples and those are fine solutions if I have constant control over the document. But as stated in the question, this is a corporate template which requires maintaining a certain lower level of Word familiarity.