Google's continuous improvement of Google Docs is going over or around page numbers, for some reason yet not disclosed. Every update has people waiting for this feature like it's the Next Coming and every time they are disappointed to see that the Mountain View based company did not include it on its list. I don't know what they're thinking, are page numbers going against the "Do no Evil" motto or what?

After waiting and waiting and after some more waiting, people have decided to grab the bull by its horns, or, in other words, solve it on their own. Google Operating System's Ionut Alex. Chitu has posted an easier way to number the pages, but you'd have to know some HTML in order to use his solution. Not in the "you need a Master's degree in coding" type of knowledge, but more in the "Edit HTML" option provided, so it's really not that complicated.

In order to have your Google Docs show something like "Page (current page number) of (total number of pages)," all you need to do is add the following code at the beginning of the document:


Should you want to have the page numbers shown in the footer area, the next piece of code will do the trick, if you add it at the bottom of your document:


Do keep in mind that these will only show in PDF format, if you want to print it for example, and not in the web-based office suit from Google. Then again, it's good enough, and most definitely better than nothing, so skip ahead and try it. Until Google decides to insert dynamic information in the headers and footers it so generously provided, it should do.