problem with formatting in word (i hate my computer!)

i hope someone can help me, it is really urgent.

i have been trying to do the headlines of my thesis according to the scheme:

1.
1.1.
1.1.1

etc etc

but it doesnt work. i have tried changing the settings of the headlines, but it is all messed up and i dont know what to do. i was trying to do this:

1. headline

2. headline

2.1. next headline

but instead it is giving me this:

1. headline

2. headline

1.1. headline

i have no idea why it would start at 1.1. again, even though i already had a second level one headline.

the same problem exists with all the other lower level headlines.

can someone here help me out?

Word can be massively troublesome for things like this. I suggest having a good poke through Office help, it normally has what you need.

Otherwise, do it manually, if it doesn't auto-format that is I can't help myslef, since I havent used Office for a good while, I use Macs.

Get a Mac and use iWork 08!!

i tried it with the help function but no luck

First type everything you want, then start formatting. People often try to format their text as they go along, but that really doesn't work. It's easier to write everything down first and after that start formatting.

Ice

yeah i did that. only started the formatting when the thesis was written, not before because i knew it would cause problems...

anyway, i finally figured it out. i kept resetting it about 10 times and the 11th time it actually worked

Randomness = Office.

I really don't like Word, and it's not meant to write long and complicated documents (and yes, 1, 1.1, 1.1.1 is complicated as far as Word is concerned...).

What I do is I create my own styles from the go. It makes it easy to modify the font style/align etc, and it gives me greater control over formatting.

I hate using Word for formatting too, and if you want to include images and get them all in-line it just makes it worse.

I installed Open Office a while ago, but haven't really used it yet. Anyone know if it's any good?

I use it from time to time. It's not bad at all. Very similar to Office of course but, IMO, it's a bit more streamlined.

Not as good as iWork though

I use Word for writing all my papers and never had a problem with formatting. I used to hate it, but once I knew how it works, I kinda like working with it! I have to admit I got a sjablone (stencil key set) from school which works very well.
Cannot explain it very well in English, so I won't even start

LeEnTjE