I’m currently trying to use the Compile feature to export a 20,000 word document to Word for final formatting, and I can’t seem to make the footnotes work correctly. I’m on the MacOS version 3.4, and none of the compile footnote settings are currently checkmarked (including the one that would export inline or inspector footnotes to endnotes). I feel like I might just be having a user error to get these footnotes to export correctly as page footnotes.
When I export the document as a folder of individual sections, the footnotes are formatted correctly.
As an experiment, what happens if you select the “Default” format, at the top of the left sidebar, and compile using those settings? You could set up the middle column if you wish, but for the purposes of this test it doesn’t really matter, as we’re mainly just looking to see if you get footnotes the way you expect them to, with this very basic setup.
When I do it this way, the footnotes export and function correctly. So maybe I avoid using the MLA Formatting and manually set my settings in the middle column?
I tried this earlier today. The footnotes all export as endnotes and fill the pages as you would expect them to, except that the text has no formatting, so none of them are connected to the footnotes in the text, and if I delete a footnote in the text, it doesn’t automatically adjust the other footnote numbers or delete the footnote. AmberV’s solution helped me get the footnotes formatted and working in the same page, so I’ll keep tinkering with those options. Thanks!
Okay! That’s probably the whole problem then. The MLA format in particular intentionally “breaks” footnotes, and turns them into simple formatted text, to achieve a particular grouping of them that is not otherwise possible: placing them not at the very end of the work, but before the citations are listed.
So you can use the MLA format, but you would need to disable that setting to achieve normal operation. Here’s how I would do it:
After opening compile, right-click on the “MLA Format” in the left sidebar, and choose to Duplicate & Edit it.
Give it a name, like “MLA Format (Footnotes)”.
Select the Compatibility tab in the left sidebar, and disable the Flatten footnotes and comments into regular text setting.
Go ahead and give that a test with the Test button (or on Windows, save and test compile normally). If that looks like what you want, then save your settings, but before doing so, consider switching the Save to setting at the top to “My Formats”, so that any other projects you work on can also use this setup.
Other tweaks:
You may want to visit the Footnotes & Comments tab after changing the above, to double-check the settings there.
Back in the main project, locate the document named “Endnotes”, and in the editor footer bar, click the document icon that has a checkmark in the corner, so that it becomes an X icon. This excludes it from compile so you don’t get this marker printed (which no longer can work).