Master documents in Word 2007

[jmedendorp]

Word 2003 (and prior I believe) had a "master document" function that was
very useful for putting multiple document files into one big document that
you could use pagination, table of contents, etc. EXTREMELY useful for
employee manuals, policy procedure manuals, etc. I don't seem to be able
to work with my master documents now that I upgraded to Word 2007. What do I
use now?

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

The Master Document feature is still there, and still as likely as ever to
result in corrupted documents.

Nonetheless... if you aren't risk averse, go into Outline view (by clicking
the outline view icon on the status bar or in the ribbon's View tab). The
Outlining tab will appear to the left of the Home tab, and the Master
Document controls are shown in the Master Document section. When you click
Show Document, the master document section will expand.

 

[Phil Ardussi]

Hi Herb,

I'm working on a 300 page, 15 chapter book about our local history, and
found your book at Border's. Incredible! you spent at least, I think, 2-1/2
pages describing the pitfalls of this function.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Thanks for the advice.

Phil

p.s. I'm gonna buy the book.

 

[Herb Tyson [MVP]]

Having been burned more than once by the Master Document feature, I'm eager
to save others from encountering the same pain. It's one of those "great
ideas" that never got fully debugged.

--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com