If chapters do not have sections, QuarkXPress creates a “book chapter start” for the first page of each chapter. A book chapter start tells a chapter to begin its page numbering after the last page of the previous chapter. To override a book chapter start and create a section, open the chapter and choose Page > Section. Check Section Start; this unchecks Book Chapter Start. When you add pages to a chapter, reorder chapters, or remove chapters, subsequent pages and chapters will be numbered according to this section start.

Any user who opens a book can add, reorder, and delete chapters. The user can also add sections to chapters to override the sequential page numbering or synchronize chapters. You may want to assign these tasks to one user (such as the editor) and ask other users to simply open and close chapters through the palette.

If you open a chapter outside of its associated QuarkXPress book (meaning that you didn’t use the Book palette to open it), the page numbers may temporarily change. If the chapter contains book chapter starts, which automatically update page numbers across chapters, then the chapter will begin on page number 1 while you are editing outside the book. When you reopen the chapter using the Book palette, the page numbers will automatically update. If the chapter contains regular section starts, then the page numbers will not be affected when editing outside the book.