My biggest request of MS Word

[Pitch]

If I could change just one thing about MS Word 2004 (actually of
version X, 2001, and 6.x), it would be this:

Completely eliminate the cryptic "Do you want to revert to the saved
"Your Document"? " message that comes up if you double click a Word
file that is already open.

Why would any one want that message to appear? Why would Word
codewriters assume that the end user would know what "revert to saved"
even means? I've been using Word since version 5.x. I've written two
books with it. I *still* don't know what that means. You mean the last
time Word auto-saved? The last time I hit Command-S? The last time I
opened the document? And that's all beside the point anyway. I
challenge anyone to sell their mothers on using Word, then then watch
what they try to do the first time they see that dialog box. I'd bet
money that 99 out of 100 would have not a clue why that message
appears, and if No or Yes is the better choice.

To Word coders: the reason someone is double clicking on a file icon is
to open up the document. If the document is already open, it means that
they didn't know that it was already open. Simply show them the
document! If you feel it critical to give people an extra dialog window
at this moment in time, then simply say, "This document is already
open. Would you like to view it? No or Yes."

I would pay good money for a third party hack to get rid of this dialog
box forever. I swear to you developers: there are millions of Word
users out there that never, never, never have clicked on a document
with the desired intention of saving the document at some prior point
in time. They are clicking on the document TO VIEW THE DOCUMENT.

I want to make sure I am clear on this: PEOPLE CLICK ON A DOCUMENT ICON
IN ORDER TO SEE VIEW THE DOCUMENT. THERE IS NO OTHER REASON THEY ARE
CLICKING ON THE DOCUMENT.

At the very least, give us an option in the preferences. "Click this
box if you want to be asked to revert to saved anytime you click on a
document file that is already open." That way, all those who cherish
this feature can still have it. Perhaps a second option could be:
"Click this box if you want nonusers of this option to email you their
revert to saved dialog boxes."

Thank you for listening, Word Creators.

 

[Elliott Roper]

If I could change just one thing about MS Word 2004 (actually of
version X, 2001, and 6.x), it would be this:

Completely eliminate the cryptic "Do you want to revert to the saved
"Your Document"? " message that comes up if you double click a Word
file that is already open.

Amen Brother! Amen!

Whenever it happens, I pack death. I sit there thinking "Will I lose an
hour's work if I say yes or if I say no?"

It would be far better if it said "Document is already open, do you
want to open a new copy as 'Untitled'" OK CANCEL

I'm writing this while I try to recover some composure after a document
exploded in a thou....sand pieces after I tried to accept a tracked
change that would have deleted an empty numbered paragraph.

I am not a happy bunny.

 

[Phillip M. Jones, CE.T.]

Amen Brother! Amen!

Whenever it happens, I pack death. I sit there thinking "Will I lose an
hour's work if I say yes or if I say no?"

It would be far better if it said "Document is already open, do you
want to open a new copy as 'Untitled'" OK CANCEL

I'm writing this while I try to recover some composure after a document
exploded in a thou....sand pieces after I tried to accept a tracked
change that would have deleted an empty numbered paragraph.

I am not a happy bunny.

ehhh! What's up Doc! Cheer up.

If you want something to test your patience, get you tense. Try looking
after a 93 year old father with altheimers, and an 80 year old mother
that still recovering from crushed vertabrae (but still gets about and
does house work), is profoundly deaf in both ears even with hearing aids
(caused by the same afflition that the "elephant man" had only a much
milder version), and has a vision problem.

You did have a Backup didn't you?? :-(

--
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616 Liberty Street |Who's Who. PHONE:276-632-5045, FAX:276-632-0868
Martinsville Va 24112 |[email protected], ICQ11269732, AIM pjonescet
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[Klaus Linke]

I'm writing this while I try to recover some composure after a document
exploded in a thou....sand pieces after I tried to accept a tracked
change that would have deleted an empty numbered paragraph.

I am not a happy bunny.

Word just silently closed down on me when I tried to search for a style (WinWord 2003 that is).
No automatic restart, no AutoRecover file, nothing.

I know, nobody gets out here alive anyway, but it isn't a big consolation when something like this happens...

Klaus

 

[Elliott Roper]

Word just silently closed down on me when I tried to search for a style
(WinWord 2003 that is).
No automatic restart, no AutoRecover file, nothing.

I know, nobody gets out here alive anyway, but it isn't a big consolation
when something like this happens...

You set 'em up. I'll knock 'em down!


The *biggest* request of all.....
<drum rolll>
Make the damn thing reliable!
We doan' need no steenkin' *features*
<boom tish!>

 

[Klaus Linke]

You set 'em up. I'll knock 'em down!

In my dreams...

The *biggest* request of all.....
<drum rolll>
Make the damn thing reliable!
We doan' need no steenkin' *features*
<boom tish!>

Yeah! Spread the word!!

Thanks,
Klaus

 

[Tony]

Hi,

I would just give Microsoft a hint: please, please, please, make things
as simple and easy as possible; please, make them as intuitive as
possible. That is the Mac way.

Example: why on Earth to sort a list of words you have to go to
"Table/Sort"? That list that I want to sort alphabetically is not a
table. Why not put it in the "Edit" menu? And why does the sorting
process takes away my double carriage returns? I just want to sort; not
to take away any carriage return.

Well, that is just one example, but there are many more... Another
would be preferences spread across the "Word/Preferences" and
--confusingly-- many other submenus like "Fomat/Autoformat"... Why
complicate things when they can be so easy!

For a neat example of what I mean, please check out the good old
MacWrite Pro 1.5v3. That was the essence of the Mac way in a word
processor.

Thanks,

---

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

And why does the sorting
process takes away my double carriage returns? I just want to sort; not
to take away any carriage return.

Because you told it to sort by paragraph. It doesn't take away your
carriage returns, it sorts empty paragraphs to the end (or the beginning,
whatever) as is perfectly logical. If you want space between lines, use
Space After or Space Before instead of empty paragraphs.

Daiya

 

[Tony]

Thanks.

I can only see "Sort by Paragraphs". No "Space" option is available at all.

In any case, I guess that when using the sort feature, most people want
just that: sort and keep all the other formatting, including spaces...

---

 

[Clive Huggan]

Tony,

You have been in this newsgroup a while now. I think it's time you hurled
yourself over the cliff and got into styles! Among other things you would
abandon the double-returns of the typewriter world and start applying
leading (i.e., space before/after paragraphs).

There are many, huge advantages of using styles in documents longer than
short business letters, including -- for example -- an ability to nudge
paragraphs closer (or further apart) to fit on a page or go over a page, to
"glue" a heading to the following paragraph, and to enjoy much more stable
long documents. And your problem with sorting would disappear.

Essentially Word is a styles-based word processor; manual formatting is just
for people who don't want to go beyond the typewriter. For short memos
that's fine, of course; but for anything more complex, which I gather from
your other posts is where you're going, you really need to use styles.

Have a look in Help, and Google this newsgroup for discussions of styles.
No-one I know of has gone on the styles journey and regretted it!


Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is at least 5 hours different from the US and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
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[Daiya Mitchell]

Clive explained the principle.

An empty paragraph is not "formatting." Formatting would be adding Space
After or Space Before via the Format | Paragraph dialog.

Start with these links:

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/WordVsWordPerfect.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)
(an empty paragraph is still a container)

http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/General/RevealCodes.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

http://www.shaunakelly.com/word/
And read the four links under Styles in MS Word.

 

[Tony]

Clive & Daiya,

Thanks.

The problem here is that I receive hundreds of Word documents from Mac
and Windows from many people that do not use styles. I also must send
Word documents to people (using Mac or Windows) that do not use styles
and we all must edit such documents.

Regards,

---

 

[Clive Huggan]

C'mon, Tony -- are we going to take you on the journey of styles? ;-)

Cheers,
Clive
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