The Sections panel displays with a click on the corresponding button at the top of the Control Board.

This panel displays the formatting of each document section, and allows to adjust it.

Sections of the active document are listed in the corresponding box at the top of the panel:

As you navigate through the document, the current document section is automatically highlighted in that "Sections" box.

To bring a section into view in the document window, you can double-click a corresponding item in the "Sections" box.

When a section is selected (highlighted) in the "Sections" box, the larger box below displays the section's properties:

The properties of a document section normally include "Breaks", "Page Settings", "Columns Settings", "Page Numbering", "Line Numbers", "Headers/Footers", and "Footnotes/Endnotes". Each of these categories can be expanded or collapsed to reveal or hide the corresponding properties. This can be done in 2 different ways:

• You can click the plus/minus sign on the left of each category.
• You can also double-click the category name directly.

The first set of properties - Breaks - is available only if the document contains multiple sections. New sections are created by inserting section breaks. The "Sections" panel gives the details about the type of break before and after the highlighted section:

The second set of properties - Page Settings - shows the page settings currently defined for the highlighted section:

Note, when a continuous section break is found before a section, the pages of that section don't display in the document window with the page settings defined for that section. That section automatically displays with the page settings of the nearest section above it which doesn't have a continuous section break before. In other words, continuous section breaks don't allow sections to display with their own page settings. In such cases, the "Page Settings" category displays a corresponding note:

If you want sections to display with their own page settings, you have to use a break type before that is not continuous.

The third set of properties - Column Settings - reports the newspaper column settings of the highlighted section:

The fourth set of properties - Page Numbering - shows the page numbering settings currently defined for the highlighted section:

The "default number format" of the section is used by all the "current page number" fields in that section that were created with the "Use Default Numbering" option selected in the "Insert | Field..." dialog:

The fifth set of properties - Line Numbers - can be used to adjust the line numbering options for the highlighted section:

The sixth set of properties - Headers/Footers - shows all the header/footer settings of the highlighted section:

Up to 6 individual headers and footers can be created and displayed on the different pages of a section (first page, odd and even pages). Using the "Sections" panel, you can create any type of header or footer, you can view and edit them in the document window, and, if desired, you can delete them.

Important!

1. Headers and footers can be part of a section properties even when the corresponding pages don't exist in the document window. For example, an "Even Page header" can be available for a section which no longer includes a single even-numbered page. Even then, such headers or footers can be viewed using the "Sections" panel. Note that such headers or footers are not viewed in the document window, but in a special window.

2. When a section doesn't have its own header or footer of a particular type, it uses the corresponding header or footer of the first section above it for which such a header or footer has been defined:

Finally the seventh set of properties displays the footnote/endnote settings of the highlighted section

When the Mouse Hover Previews option is checked in the settings menu of the Control Board:

hovering the mouse over the sections in the panel temporarily highlights them in the document window:

The toolbar at the bottom of the "Sections" panel includes the following commands:

Command	Button	Description
Insert section break		Displays a menu allowing to choose a type of section break which should be inserted at the current cursor position in the document. By inserting section breaks, you create new sections in the document. A new section is created with all the properties of the section which was current in the document before you clicked the "Insert section break" command. The only exception is the headers/footers: a newly created section initially has no own headers or footers.
Delete section		Entirely removes the highlighted section. The properties of other sections don't get affected.
Merge highlighted and previous section		Sections can be merged simply by removing the corresponding section breaks in the document. But it is recommended that you use these two commands of the "Sections" panel for merging neighboring sections. The "Merge highlighted and previous section" and "Merge highlighted and next section" commands not only delete the corresponding section break but also ensure that the resulting section will have all the required properties. When a section is merged with the next or previous section through any of these two commands, it becomes and integral part of the target section and automatically uses its properties.
Merge highlighted and next section
Select section in the document window		The section highlighted in the "Sections" panel, gets entirely selected in the document window. You can copy a selected section to the clipboard in order to insert it to another document or to another place of the active document. You can also format the selection in any desired way.

See also...