Hi Lizzy:
The official answer is "No", it is NOT possible for more than one editor to
have a Word file open concurrently. The file format itself does not support
this mode of access.
However, multiple "consecutive" access is a lot easier.
The simplest way to produce this is to give each user a copy of the
document, then use the Compare and Merge function to merge the changes from
one into the other. See the Help topic "About comparing and merging
documents".
The check-in, check-out functions are Document Management facilities. Jim
is correct, Windows Sharepoint Server provides simple document management
functionality that may be all you need.
However, for a small-ish (less than 1,000 documents) single project, I would
not go to the expense of a document management system unless I wanted to
leave the project under maintenance for several years.
Instead, I would implement a naming convention for files. The one I use is
"File name date.doc"
So:
"Proposal Chapter 1 20060207.doc"
"Proposal Chapter 1 20060208.doc"
Note that I have turned the date into ISO format, which makes the files sort
in date order in folders. You set the project folder up so that only one
user has "Write" access to it, then users email their finished work to that
user, who checks that the file name date has been correctly updated and save
the document into the folder. All users have "Read" access to the folder,
so any user can get a document OUT for editing, they just can't save it back
in again without going through the (manual) document control system.
To preserve the old versions, you leave them in the folder. However, the
Sent Items record in the email system provides an added version control
storage.
This is all you need for a team that is trying to do the correct thing for
quite large projects.
It is important to impose a policy that REQUIRES each user to send their
document in for check-in before leaving work each day, and to spank the
first couple of users who 'forget'
To assist you, you should enter the names of all the documents that are part
of the project into an Excel spreadsheet, with added columns showing the
version and status for each document. Have the project Administrator update
this each time they check a document in.
Document management software generally is expensive to buy, complex to
implement, and presents quite a training problem for users who are not used
to document management systems.
Of course, they work very well in large organizations with hundreds of
thousands of documents under management, but they're overkill for a single
project.
Cheers
Hello all,
I'm seeking advice on how to allow multiple editors to access the same
document at the same time. Is this possible? I am creating content
for a document that is in constant revision by two parties. I am
setting up a shared server to share files, but don't know how the nitty
gritty of sharing the document will work. I assume two people can't
have the same document open at the same time on different computers.
Is there a 'check out' option, so I will know if someone else is using
the document? Any other suggestions?
Thanks so much!
-Lizzy
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John McGhie <
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Microsoft MVP, Word and Word for Macintosh. Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 (0) 4 1209 1410
