LibreOffice Writer Numbered headings

Question

I can't seem to get LibreOffice to consistently number my headings.

I created a new document on one computer, with my headings set up to number thusly:

1  First Heading 1 
1.1  Heading 2
2  Second Heading 1-
2.1  Heading 2
2.1.1  Heading 3

Originally, I could assign the appropriate heading to any text and the format and numbering would continue. eg

2.1.2  Heading 3-2

Now that I've moved to my laptop, the same document no longer auto outlines headings. Even if I manually click the numbering button and change the numbering format to outline, the numbering doesn't continue from where it left off. If I subsequently change the heading level, eg from 3 to 2, or 2 to 3, the same numbering is kept, i.e. no indenting of the number. So now my document looks like something like this

1  Orginal Heading 1 
1.1  Orginal Heading 2
2  Orginal Second Heading 1
2.1  Orginal Heading 2
2.1.1  Orginal Heading 3
1 New Heading 1
  2 New Heading 2
    3 New Heading 2

Can't Libreoffice maintain a consistent numbering strategy across headings?

Answer 1

It sounds like the document may have mixed numbered lists and outline numbering. I recommend only using style-based numbering. Set up the numbering by going to Tools -> Outline Numbering and clicking 1 - 10.

if I manually click the numbering button...

Try to avoid doing this in the future. This adds a text:is-list-header tag which is unfortunately invisible. It does not surprise me that the result is several different numbering schemes and formats. The tag can also be added by clicking on a heading in front of the number and pressing backspace -- try to avoid doing this too.

The problem can be fixed after playing around with the headings for a little while. See https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=4770.

The problem is tricky because the tags are not displayed. The tags can be viewed in content.xml by unzipping the .odt file. Actually it may be easier just to fix the problem by editing content.xml.