A dynamic header variable - is it possible.

Question

Hi,

I hope this is possible to do with Word, if anyone can show me how to do the following I would be exceedingly grateful...

I am writing a historical novel which spans 200 years; sometimes skipping many years within each chapter. To orient the reader I would like to have the year I am writing about in the header of each page.

Where possible I would like to embed within the document, a non-printed incrementer that would make the header variable display the correct year.

Given that I am still writing, often inserting sections or deleting others all throughout the document, it makes each page year number often shift.

Much appreciated for any assistance.

Answer 1

Doug Robbins has the idea:

1. Create a new style that will be applied to the hidden year. The font color can be set to white, to be invisible against the page background, or the font can be hidden, which means it doesn't take up a line space in your final document.
2. Enter the date for the chapter, then apply the hidden year style. To keep track of it, it would make sense to place this just below the chapter title.
3. Open the header and click on the position where the year will be entered, then choose Insert>Field... from the OS X Word menu at the top of your screen.
4. In the Categories list, choose Links and References.
5. In the Field names list, choose StyleRef.
6. Click on the Options button, then on the Styles pane.
7. Select the style you created earlier, then click on OK.

Now when you type a year, then apply the hidden year style, the year will automatically appear in the header where you placed the StyleRef field.

Answer 2

You could most probably make use of a StyleRef field.

Answer 3

If you set a bookmark at the year you want to refer to, and then in the page header use the ref field, would that be a solution?