Fixed continuous Section Break

Word does not really work with pages.  The pages you get when working with Word are based on the default printer you have set on the computer.  Change the setup on the printer, or change the printer, and Word will repaginate your file.  Pass the file to someone else with a different printer and you document will look different.

Your problem explanation confuses me slightly as if your page 1 cannot extend beyond the first page then the problem should not arise.  The section break will only move into page 2 if the content inserted before it extends beyond the capacity of page 1.  Likewise page 2.

What exactly are you putting in the template?  You just need two consecutive section breaks with possibly a single space character or paragraph character before each.

If you haven't already, turn on display of hidden formatting marks to ensure you don't have a lot of unnecessary paragraphs or spaces.  Turn them on/off by clicking the Pilcrow character on the Home tab. (Looks like a backwards P)

It goes like this...I have three different header situations in this newsletter:  the Logo Banner is on page 1, the Editorial Banner is on page 2, then no header for the rest of the document.  I need the headers to remain where they are no matter what I enter into the pages.

For example, let's say I'm creating the document for the first time.  I enter text all the way down to the bottom of the page then insert a Continuous Section Break.  I keep typing onto page 2 of the document, then go to the header on page two, turn OFF 'Same as Previous,' and insert a fresh header.  OK, I keep typing until I get to the bottom of page two and insert another Continuous Section Break, keep typing onto page 3, then go up to the header on that page and again turn OFF the 'Same as Previous' option, delete what carried over from the previous section and continue.

Everything is fine at this point.  However, now I wish to go back and edit the document.  I've discovered, say, that I wish to enter an additional paragraph into page 1, which now 'kicks' the section break I previously entered over to page 2.  Well, I don't think I need to tell you what now happens:   all hell breaks loose.  Headers appear all over the page, overlapping one another, deleted entirely...you name it.  It's gruesome to try and fix manually just be reinserting new section breaks, believe me.

What I need is for these section breaks to remain fixed to the last character on each page no matter what that character is, or have them anchored to some other fixed element.  I mean, how else to I prevent the jumping around of these headers?

Does this make the situation clearer?

As Sanwin2 says, you can't force a section break to stay put. But you can certainly solve part of the problem by using the Different First Page setting. This allows you to have different headers on the first page (in the First Page Header) and the second (primary Header). You would then need a section break after page 2 in order to omit the header unless you use a conditional header of this format:

{ IF { PAGE } = 2 "Text you want in the page 2 header" }

or

{ IF { PAGE } > 2 "" "Text you want in the page 2 header" }

All field delimiters (the things that look like braces but can't be entered from the keyboard) must be inserted using Ctrl+F9, though a shortcut for inserting the PAGE field is to press Alt+Shift+P. What goes between the quotes in either the TrueText (first example) or FalseText (second example) can be anything. If your header is complex, the easiest solution is to Cut it to the Clipboard, create the IF field, and then Paste it between the quotes.

Hi Suzanne:

Thanks for your response!  It seems that only one questions remains:  can material other than text be inserted in your instruction line in place of text?

Header 1 in my document is a grouped set of images.  Header 2 is a formatted text box with borders and colors, including tabs and justification of text.

Will your solution accommodate all of this?  Thanks!

P.S.  I'm surprised at this point in Word's history that something so simple and obvious as header and footer control is still so complex, but at least I know that I haven't been missing something simple before posting here.

Theoretically yes; as I wrote, "What goes between the quotes...can be anything." You can certainly test it.

The content of the First Page Header is immaterial; if you currently have it in the primary Header, select all the content, cut it to the Clipboard, and paste it into the First Page Header.

Then select all the content of Header 2 and cut, then paste it between the quotation marks. If it appears on page 2 (and not on page 3), you're good to go.

Hi Suzanne:

I've been struggling with this method for over two hours and nothing seems to work.  No matter what I do, no matter how the pages are set, if I delete that Section Break which separates page 1 from page 2, then my header on page 1 simply disappears - POOF!  I can't even get to the part where I can try out the code. 

This is the case for my existing document and even for a new one, but I have to confess that I haven't done too much with a new document because of how poorly Word performs with Copy & Paste.  I've discovered that no matter what I do, the new document requires a massive amount of reformatting work even though I select the choice 'Keep Source Formatting.'  I can't even tell you how many aspects of the original document that it ignores!  This would require literally hours of rebuilding.  Sorry about the paragraph runon, but I'm using Microsoft's own product - IE11 - and for some reason, the return key doesn't work.  Will this company ever get it right??

Cut or copy the header you want on the first page before deleting the section break. Headers are a section property and are saved in the section break, but if you cut/copy it first, then you can paste it where you need it.

If you want to send the document to me at ssbarnhill at gmail dot com, I'll fix it for you.

Hi Suzanne:

I've accepted your invitation - look for email.  THANKS!