Reassigned to BH

I wonder whether this is partly invalid as the header and footer tabs are only
visible in the page settings that are opened from > Format > Page. The page
style, opened from within the stylist, doesn't show these tabs.

However, the idea of having the header and footer tabs in the page style dialog
(from within stylist) is interesting if it contains an option to associate
existing header and footer styles to the page style. As it is already possible
with associating character styles to numbering styles.

I wonder if we're not getting a bit sidetracked here.  I can create new header
and footer styles, but cannot associate them with a page style with the present
setup.  I can design some features of such a style, but cannot use any custom
styles for headers and footers.  If the intent was to prohibit custom styles for
headers and footers, then it should not be possible to create custom styles for
them.  Make sense?

I believe, there is some confusion, what "formating a header or footer" means.
When I alter a pagestyle, from Format->Page or via stylist, I can turn on header
and footer and under more... I can give them border and background. That are the
same kind of border or background I can set for the textarea.
In such a footer or header I can put different paragraphs which I can give
styles like I wish. One of those paragraph styles is named footer, to remember
me, that this style is designed for use in a footer. But I could also make my
own style say "mystyle for pagenumbers". I even can have different styles for
each paragraph in the footer.
So I see no sense in couple a paragraph-style to the footer or header via a
page-style.

Created attachment 13079 [details]
shows two different styled paragraphs in a header

What you say is true, but not relevant for the posted issue.  I am able to
produce a new header (say: Chapter_Header, distinct from Pre_Header or
Annotation_Header) that I want to use in different sections of my work. 
However, when I check the "Header on" or "Footer on" check boxes, I cannot
choose my custom headers for use in my Preface, Chapter or Annotation sections
of my document.  I am forced to go to the created default header and manually
change them.

What I am suggesting is that in the Header's tab, we have a place for "Based on
<drop box> style" so we can select the style we created.

Still it is unclear for me what you want to achieve - why a template document or
a dedicated paragraph style for your header doesn't fit your needs.

Where's the difference between selecting the paragraph style when creating the
pagestyle versus assigning the style when starting to type in the contents of
the header?

If you need this more often, just create a template that has the desired
paragraphstyles assigned to the headers of the page-styles...

Maybe attach a sample document.

I want to be able to use a header or footer style I've created (a custom style
for different pages) with the same ease that I use a paragraph style.  Your
suggestion to use a template would work, but would take quite a bit of time to
set up versus having it readily available.  Unfortunately, it would not work in
the format I use most often -- a Master Document.  

For that, I have discovered that a MD does not inherit a template.  I can create
a MD with a template and those styles are associated with that template and
saved with it, but changes to the template are not reflected in the MD.  A MD
does not import header or footers from the associated sub-docs, nor can they be.
 Thus I must create the associated header and footer styles within the MD. 
Applying them is not only difficult, but they also do not save properly.  Having
the ability to associate the header style I want to a created header should be
as easy as associating a paragraph style to a paragraph -- it isn't.  It's a bit
more complicated than that.

That's why I want the ability to associate the header and footer styles to the
page style so they can be transferred to the MD.  It would make life much
simpler.  The alternative -- import header and footer styles from the associated
sub-docs to the MD -- might work, but is resisted by the developers (to date). 
So I suggest this alternative which would have benefits for simple as well as
complex documents.

Let me see if I can put it simply:

For the TOC, Preface and Introduction, I want a simple header, so I can use a
modified default header.  Simply selecting (in the page style dialog) "Header
on" I get the header I want and "Footer on" gives me the standard footer.

In the chapters, I want a header with an image on the left hand section, so I
create a custom header which I then edit to introduce the image. I do not want
the image in the TOC, Preface and Introduction, nor on the Appendix, Annotated
Bibliography or Index.

For the Appendix, I want the Header to be layed out differently and the footer
to have elements not in the default nor in the chapter header and footer, so I
create another custom header and footer for the Appendices.

The Annotated Bibliography and Index both use the modifed default header and footer.

Obviously, each section has two different page styles (first and following
pages) and I want those page styles associated with either the default header
and footer or with the custom versions.  At present, I have no way of doing this
automatically, but have to manually introduce the changes.

My suggestion is to enable the option of selecting a header or footer paragraph
style other than default.

What we have is the ability to create custom headers or footers, but no way to
select them when creating the page style.

A little clarity here.  I write books.  Some have hundreds of footnotes.  I want
to be able to set up a header or footer in the document to fit with a
publisher's preferred layout rather than the default.  MD's do NOT save any
header or footer information so I have to define them in the template -- one new
template for each document.  I would like to be able to set a default header or
footer for each page style.  I know I can reset any paragraph set for a
particularly unusual entry in a footer -- that is a given.  However, I cannot as
readily set the standard to be sued, and THAT is a problem in preparing the
template.

IF header and footer information could be saved with a MD, the problem would be
solved, but it isn't, so the problem still exists (in 1.1.2rc).

To grep the issues easier via "requirements" I put the issues currently lying on
my owner to the owner "requirements".