My Ph.D. thesis was written in LaTex, which is truly the presentation/display separating from the content. At that time, I got a template from a friend in the Computer Science department. Based on her temple, I formatted my thesis in a second - figure/table/reference cross-referencing, colored hyper-links to almost any part, automatically generated keyword index list ......
However, not everyone wants to take the time to learn LaTex. How to use built-in function in Word/Office2007 to help the thesis formatting is the topic of this blog post.
First, focus on the content and finish the draft with all the text in a word file (sample file: start.docx) and figures in separated files in a folder ready for insertion.
Second, insert figures and tables (sample file: insert.docx). I like to put figure and figure legend in one box to bundle them together.
Third, format the structure of the thesis by signing different styles to different parts (sample file: structure.docx). For me, three levels are enough for a thesis: normal text, title 1 for chapters, title 2 for sections. Of course, you can define title 3 for sub-sections, if needed. Using "filed" to insert table and figure titles. Insert lists with chapter names, figure titles, table titles and corresponding page numbers. If you change anything later, just update the field values! No need to manually correct the numbers. Also, reference to table/figure/page should using cross-reference function in Word. (You will need additional program, such as Endnote, to format the bibliography, which is at the end of the thesis.)
Last, format the text by customizing the styles (sample file: format.docx).
Word is a very powerful program. I believe normally we just use 5% of its function. For a project like thesis writing, we might need 20% of Word's function. Hope what I wrote here will be helpful to you.
Since my Word 2007 is a Chinese version, I am using Chinese in the following section to explain details of the four steps I summarized above. (Don't read Chinese, use the Google Translate button on the right column.)
每章结束嵌入分页符；如需要嵌入空白页（人工校验）以保证每章的开始都是在奇数页上
插入脚注到页面的底部
嵌入文本框用于放置图片及说明文字
默认的文本框是浮于文字上面的，需要修改
选中文本框，修改“文字环绕”方式
我使用四周环绕，当然嵌入或者紧密环绕也可以的
插入图片后，回车，插入图片标题。点击“插入-插入题注”
选择标签为“Figure”，然后空格并写入图片标题
如果选中数字，可看到数字实际上是灰色的域（自动生成并可自动更新）
嵌入表格的标题是类似的，注意选择“Table”标签
表格的域的计数和图片是两套系统的
右键那个灰色的域可以更新数值（实际上可以做完所有的调整，然后更新全部域值）
“List of XXX”的生成是自动的：到合适的位置，插入目录
选择合适的格式和显示级别
自动生成的目录（可惜其格式要手工调整，没有样式的）
“更新目录”可以更新页码和标题
图表目录也有专门的按钮
选择合适的格式和标签
表格列表来了……
把标签改成“Figure”就是图片列表了
文中引用图片，强烈建议使用“交叉引用”的方法进行插入
插入的时候，可以选择引用的格式（你在这里可以调出图片编号、标题、甚至图片所在的页码）
插入的效果（括号要自己加）
右键可以更新
“交叉引用”可用于表格的引用
“交叉引用”也可用于章节（“see page”是自己加的）
关于页码，前面罗马数字，后面阿拉伯数字，通过页码格式可以指定
奇偶页不同，比如在偶数页的页眉显示作者，而在奇数页显示章节编号（这个要手工插入域代码）
首页一般没有页眉和页脚
要实现一篇文章多个页码编号（比如前言和附录用罗马数字，正体用阿拉伯数字，各段分别从1计数），分节符是关键
打开Word，默认工具栏的右半部就是样式选择和调整区域
修改样式，包括文字格式和段落格式。右键“title 1”的样式，选择“修改”
跳出的窗口可以修改文字格式
使用“格式”的下拉菜单，找到“段落”
根据要求，修改“段落”格式。正文/标题1/标题2应该分别设置文字和段落格式。
xixi..........................
To have different page number in one file, "Section Break" is the key - not simply insert a "Page Break"