J
jmd
I'm using Mac Word 2008, and use the track-changes and commenting features extensively. When I exchange documents with Windows users (specifically Word 2002 SP3) we've discovered that accepting all changes in a document and then saving it in Windows makes some comment bubbles disappear, apparently at random--the brackets in the text are visible, and you can see the comments in the Reviewing Pane, but they don't appear as bubbles in the print layout view. We had one recently that had four comments missing on the first page, eight on the second page, and two on the third page.
I can reproduce this as follows:
- Create a new document in Compatibility Mode in Mac Word 2008 (saving as a Word 97-2004 .doc rather than .docx) and put in about three pages of text (I used the Lorem Ipsum generator at www.lipsum.com).
- Turn on Track Changes. Go through and make some edits. (I deleted the first sentence of the first paragraph and put it at the end, deleted the second paragraph entirely, moved the second sentence of the third paragraph and the first sentence of the third paragraph, and so on.)
- Put in some comments--I put in a comment on the last sentence of the first paragraph, the first sentence of the second paragraph, all of the third paragraph, the first sentence of the fourth paragraph, and so on, until I had ten comments total: four on the first page, three on the second, and three on the third. For text, I put "comment 1," "comment 2," and so on.
- Save and close.
- Open the document in Word for Windows (as mentioned, we were specifically using Word 2002 SP3) in print layout view. Note that all comments are visible as bubbles. Accept all changes in the document and note that all comments are still visible. Save the document.
- Reopen it. For me, at least, comments 2 and 3 are not visible, although the brackets are in the text and the comments can be seen in the Reviewing Pane.
It doesn't appear to matter whether the changes are accepted in the Mac or Windows Word, but the problem doesn't begin until the document is saved in Windows. The comments are fine when first opened in Windows, and are fine in Mac Word even after it has been saved in Windows.
In Windows, inserting a comment in the same paragraph as one of these two comments makes them appear, and they remain even if the newly inserted comment is deleted, but upon saving the document and reopening it, the comments are invisible again. Any additional comments inserted in either of these paragraphs also become invisible on saving and reopening in Word for Windows. Comments inserted elsewhere appear normally.
Has anyone else run into this? This bug basically renders Mac Word 2008 useless to me, because I need the comments to show up reliably in previous versions of Word for Windows, and I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do.
I can reproduce this as follows:
- Create a new document in Compatibility Mode in Mac Word 2008 (saving as a Word 97-2004 .doc rather than .docx) and put in about three pages of text (I used the Lorem Ipsum generator at www.lipsum.com).
- Turn on Track Changes. Go through and make some edits. (I deleted the first sentence of the first paragraph and put it at the end, deleted the second paragraph entirely, moved the second sentence of the third paragraph and the first sentence of the third paragraph, and so on.)
- Put in some comments--I put in a comment on the last sentence of the first paragraph, the first sentence of the second paragraph, all of the third paragraph, the first sentence of the fourth paragraph, and so on, until I had ten comments total: four on the first page, three on the second, and three on the third. For text, I put "comment 1," "comment 2," and so on.
- Save and close.
- Open the document in Word for Windows (as mentioned, we were specifically using Word 2002 SP3) in print layout view. Note that all comments are visible as bubbles. Accept all changes in the document and note that all comments are still visible. Save the document.
- Reopen it. For me, at least, comments 2 and 3 are not visible, although the brackets are in the text and the comments can be seen in the Reviewing Pane.
It doesn't appear to matter whether the changes are accepted in the Mac or Windows Word, but the problem doesn't begin until the document is saved in Windows. The comments are fine when first opened in Windows, and are fine in Mac Word even after it has been saved in Windows.
In Windows, inserting a comment in the same paragraph as one of these two comments makes them appear, and they remain even if the newly inserted comment is deleted, but upon saving the document and reopening it, the comments are invisible again. Any additional comments inserted in either of these paragraphs also become invisible on saving and reopening in Word for Windows. Comments inserted elsewhere appear normally.
Has anyone else run into this? This bug basically renders Mac Word 2008 useless to me, because I need the comments to show up reliably in previous versions of Word for Windows, and I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do.
