WD: Setting Up Different First Header/Footer for Even/Odd Pages

ID: Q88404

The information in this article applies to:

SUMMARY

In a Microsoft Word for Windows document containing different even/odd header or footer formatting, you can create a different first header or first footer that automatically determines whether the page number is even or odd and then inserts the appropriate first header or first footer.

MORE INFORMATION

When you select the Different First Page check box, Word for Windows not only sets up a different first header, but also sets up a different first footer. If it is necessary to maintain the appropriate even or odd footer on the first page of the section, but that page could be either even or odd, insert the following field in the first footer: 

   {if {=mod({page},2)} = "1" "->->Page {page}" "Page {page}"}

   Note: In this example, "->" represents a TAB character.
The MOD function divides the current page number by two and then tests to determine if the remainder equals one. If the remainder equals one, the page is odd; if the remainder does not equal one, it equals zero (0), which means the page is even. If the page is odd, the odd page footer is inserted (in the above example, it is two tabs, then the word "Page" and a PAGE field); if the page is even, the even footer is inserted (in the above example, it is the word "Page" and a PAGE field aligned at the left margin).

For example, suppose you have a document for which you want to create different even and odd headers and footers. However, you want the header (but not the footer) on the first page of each section to be blank, similar to the following: 

   Odd page, first page
   of section with             Even page with
   footer, but no header       header and footer
   __________________          ___________________
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        | Header            |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |                  |        |                   |
  |       Page {page}|        | Page {page}       |
  |__________________|        |___________________|
Reference(s):

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Guide," version 2.0, pages 579-582, 639-641

"Microsoft Word for Windows User's Reference," version 1.x, pages 95-96, 97-98, 103, 147-149

KBCategory: kbusage KBSubcategory: kbfield Additional query words: 1.0 1.10 1.10a 2.0 2.0a 6.0 7.0 word95 word7 word6 winword 2.0a-CD 2.0b 2.0c winword2 8.0 word8 word97 

Keywords          : kbualink97 kbusage kbfield 
Version           : 1.x 2.x 6.0 6.0a 6.0c 7.0 7.
Platform          : WINDOWS

Last Reviewed: February 5, 1998