Smart buttons - turn them OFF???

[NJSmith]

I found out where to turn off the smart button associated with Paste -
in preferences, editing.

Where can I turn off the smart button associated with autotext, and
autocorrect? I did not see anything in their dialog / settings box.

thanks!
NJSmith

 

[Dayo Mitchell]

The controls for AutoText and AutoCorrect are in the dialog under Tools |
AutoCorrect--several tabs almost as important as prefs for controlling Word.

DM

 

[Neva Smith]

OK, I'll believe I missed the checkbox or whatever - can you describe where
the "turn of autocorrect smart button" check box is?
I've looked for a while today.

I do *not* want to turn of autocorrect features - just the smart button that
pops up as you type something that was in the autocorrect list.

Thanks for helping the unfocused...
NJ Smith

 

[Beth Rosengard]

Hi Neva,

Do you mean that yellow popup that shows your AutoText entries? If so, Dayo
pointed you generally to the right place. Tools> AutoCorrect> AutoText tab>
Show AutoComplete Tip.... Uncheck the latter. Unfortunately, that setting
doesn't always stick, for some reason, and you may have to uncheck it again
in the future.

If you're talking about something else, please describe it more carefully.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

If Neva is using Word 2004, she must mean the wonderful "Smart Tags" that
appear when you paste, letting you choose whether to keep original
formatting, destination formatting, or text only.

If you're happy with the default paste on any occasion, just type anything
at all, including a space or Return. The Smart button will disappear. Just
type as if it weren't there and it isn't there - it disappears.

It offers such a great function I can't imagine anyone _never_ wanting it to
appear - without it, it's so much trouble to fix the Pasted style. However,
if typing a space is too much trouble and you really don't want the smart
button at all, go to Preferences/Edit, and uncheck "Show Paste Option
Buttons". You can also turn off "Smart cut and paste" or change some of the
behavior by pressing "Settings..." button.

You can also use a simple text editor like TextEdit if you don't want the
great extra features Word provides.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

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[Neva Smith]

Thanks to all for the answers -

It's true, I'm using new Office 2004 for Mac.
It's also true that I turned off the smart tags for the paste function.

I also like many of the features newly added. Especially the fading
formatting palette, the new stripes in the document map, and the project
center in Entourage.

I just happen to find AutoText clunky. My own view, not to be mistaken for a
gripe.

A long time ago, I used a program called Ami Pro. It had a "glossary" or
"abbreviation" function. One could use any character combination to stand
for any other combination.

Auto text works (or it seems to) by looking at the first part of what you
type.

I use autocorrect replace as you type like this:

replace: amed
with: academic medical research center

or

replace sfb
with 64-bit
(because I can never hit the right numbers on the top row)

or
replace asf
with AS/400

or
cfp
21 CFR Part 11

So as you can see, I don't use the first part of the word or phrase
substituted as my "abbreviation" for the whole word or phrase. That makes
AutoText clunky for me - especially if the first characters are those
numbers I can never hit right. I can also use a 3-4 character abbreviation
for just about everything I need - no matter how long the replacement is.

I've built up a memorized vocabulary of my abbreviations, well over a
thousand by now. I rarely write a complete sentence - at least in the
reports I do - without using at least one of those abbreviations, and
frequently more than one.

I really don't want that smart tag popping up every time I use one of them.
While it might be useful on occasion, generally I've put what I wanted in
there.

I'm afraid that the time Word spends looking through my very large
vocabulary of abbreviations and offering to change things for me seems long,
and the little line popping up is very distracting. Maybe if it didn't
actually display at all until I went back and actually put the cursor on it,
I wouldn't notice a difference. As it is, every few seconds that line pops
up as I type.

Given the proportion of the time I would actually use it, I'd rather have it
turned off, and go the long way around if I need to.

Sorry if I've offended the smart-tag lovers. It just doesn't fit the way I
work just now.

[Same thing really for paste formatting - I have about 50 styles set up, and
regularly use 20-30 in the course of a week. I've assigned them all keyboard
shortcuts - hot keys. So, changing format is faster for me with the keyboard
than mousing over a smart tag.]

Thanks to everyone again!
Neva

 

[Clive Huggan]

Thanks for taking the trouble to describe how you use these features, Neva
-- many people will find it very useful (it's how we *drive* Word as much as
the fixes that's interesting in this newsgroup).

And I happen to use AutoCorrect the same way, but not so extensively.
Wonderful!

I expect to get Word 2004 soon and try out these new gizmos, but the
steamship hasn't got this far south yet!

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
===================

Thanks to all for the answers -

It's true, I'm using new Office 2004 for Mac.
It's also true that I turned off the smart tags for the paste function.

I also like many of the features newly added. Especially the fading
formatting palette, the new stripes in the document map, and the project
center in Entourage.

I just happen to find AutoText clunky. My own view, not to be mistaken for a
gripe.

A long time ago, I used a program called Ami Pro. It had a "glossary" or
"abbreviation" function. One could use any character combination to stand
for any other combination.

Auto text works (or it seems to) by looking at the first part of what you
type.

I use autocorrect replace as you type like this:

replace: amed
with: academic medical research center

or

replace sfb
with 64-bit
(because I can never hit the right numbers on the top row)

or
replace asf
with AS/400

or
cfp
21 CFR Part 11

So as you can see, I don't use the first part of the word or phrase
substituted as my "abbreviation" for the whole word or phrase. That makes
AutoText clunky for me - especially if the first characters are those
numbers I can never hit right. I can also use a 3-4 character abbreviation
for just about everything I need - no matter how long the replacement is.

I've built up a memorized vocabulary of my abbreviations, well over a
thousand by now. I rarely write a complete sentence - at least in the
reports I do - without using at least one of those abbreviations, and
frequently more than one.

I really don't want that smart tag popping up every time I use one of them.
While it might be useful on occasion, generally I've put what I wanted in
there.

I'm afraid that the time Word spends looking through my very large
vocabulary of abbreviations and offering to change things for me seems long,
and the little line popping up is very distracting. Maybe if it didn't
actually display at all until I went back and actually put the cursor on it,
I wouldn't notice a difference. As it is, every few seconds that line pops
up as I type.

Given the proportion of the time I would actually use it, I'd rather have it
turned off, and go the long way around if I need to.

Sorry if I've offended the smart-tag lovers. It just doesn't fit the way I
work just now.

[Same thing really for paste formatting - I have about 50 styles set up, and
regularly use 20-30 in the course of a week. I've assigned them all keyboard
shortcuts - hot keys. So, changing format is faster for me with the keyboard
than mousing over a smart tag.]

Thanks to everyone again!
Neva

 

[Neva Smith]

Hi there, Clive-
Thanks for the note. Good to know others are doing this too.


I hope that someone will still be looking for ways to turn off that smart
tag or button or whatever it is.

I'm working on another report full of those useful abbreviations I use, and
am going nuts with the little line popping up....

So, if you know how, do please send a note!
Thanks,
Neva

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

I hope that someone will still be looking for ways to turn off that smart
tag or button or whatever it is.

I'm working on another report full of those useful abbreviations I use, and
am going nuts with the little line popping up....

So, if you know how, do please send a note!

Sorry. Are you saying that it's not the Smart Paste button - which you
already know how to turn off - and you're also not bothered by that tiny
blue line that appears momentarily when you use AutoCorrect.. with "Replace
text as you type"? (In Word 2004, there's a little blue line that appears
when Word autocorrects in the way you use it. You can just ignore it and
keep typing. Or you can select it and tell it to never appear again for
this particular abbreviation or several other options. But you'll want to
just ignore it.)

It sounds to me as if what's bothering you is the yellow tag auto-complete
tip - wasn't that in Word X as well? That's easy to remove:

Tools/AutoCorrectŠ/AutoText tab

UNCHECK the first checkbox "Show AutoComplete tip for AutoText, Contacts and
dates".

Now those yellow tags will never appear again. But as long as you keep the
checkbox "Replace text as you type" checked in the first tab

Tools/AutoCorrectŠ/AutoCorrect tab

your abbreviations entered there will continue to autocorrect automatically.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - **2004**, X
or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise.

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

It sounds to me as if what's bothering you is the yellow tag auto-complete
tip - wasn't that in Word X as well? That's easy to remove:

Tools/AutoCorrectŠ/AutoText tab

UNCHECK the first checkbox "Show AutoComplete tip for AutoText, Contacts and
dates".

And that's what both Dayo and Beth already recommended to you, of course.
Have you tried it?

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - **2004**, X
or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise.

 

[Beth Rosengard]

And that's what both Dayo and Beth already recommended to you, of course.
Have you tried it?

Also, in the nature of recommendations, Neva, since you customize your ACL
list so extensively, I sure hope you're backing it up on a regular basis.
And your Normal template as well, since it stores formatted AutoCorrect
entries, while the ACL file stores plain text ones.

--
Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/WordMac/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>

 

[neva]

Hi Paul, Beth-
thanks for taking the time to expand on this for me.


It is in fact the blue line that's making me nuts.

I've already turned off tool tips for the autocorrect.

And yes, all you MVP types - I back up regularly.

I use Data Backup X, and have it scheduled to back up my "in process" docs
every 20 minutes.

The files that are important and change a few times a day - including that
ACL - are backed up twice a day.

Other important files are backed up daily. Older files (say the last 2-3
jobs) are backed up weekly, and all the rest monthly.

To an external disk via fire wire.


I recommend highly DataBackupX for any backup novices who still feel they
ought to do it. Scheduling is simple!


[And I periodically copy the ACL over to my laptop as well... can't let all
that work go down the drain!]


Back to blue lines - the feature itself is nice, but anything visual like
that appearing/disappearing line is distracting.
I supposed in time I could learn to ignore it.

But I'm trying to get out a large report in a hurry just now.

thanks again everyone-
Neva

 

[Paul Berkowitz]

Hi Paul, Beth-
thanks for taking the time to expand on this for me.


It is in fact the blue line that's making me nuts.

I've already turned off tool tips for the autocorrect.

Honestly, that blue line was designed to be as discreet as possible, and I
think it succeeds. All you have to do is keep typing and it disappears after
ONE more key is typed.

Back to blue lines - the feature itself is nice, but anything visual like
that appearing/disappearing line is distracting.
I supposed in time I could learn to ignore it.

Just type a space or punctuation at the end of the word and it disappears
before you can even see it.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP Entourage
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/toc.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Entourage you are using - **2004**, X
or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions otherwise.

 

[John McGhie]

Hi Neva:

Yeah: AutoCorrect is a half-replacement for AMI Pro's Glossary function
You do not have to use the first few characters of what is stored, you can
use any string you like.

One limitation is that it won't "prompt" you until it gets a match on three
or more characters, but you can make it fire at any time with F3.

You may also want to have another look at AutoText. It's the other half of
the Glossary function. AutoText enables you to store proforma text, either
formatted or not, and assign each string a keystroke.

Given the proportion of the time I would actually use it, I'd rather have it
turned off, and go the long way around if I need to.

Sorry if I've offended the smart-tag lovers. It just doesn't fit the way I
work just now.

Well, no, you haven't. The Paste Options dialog is a smart tag, but you
could also make your own Smart Tags, and if you did, you could create one
that is more to your liking.

Just don't ask me how yet, I haven't found out how to make 'em on the Mac
yet. (Actually, it may not be possible unless they bring dot-Net to the
Mac).

[Same thing really for paste formatting - I have about 50 styles set up, and
regularly use 20-30 in the course of a week. I've assigned them all keyboard
shortcuts - hot keys. So, changing format is faster for me with the keyboard
than mousing over a smart tag.]

{Grin} I can't believe how keyboard-centric Mac users are I thought
Mac invented the mouse! In Word on both Mac and Windows I use a Styles
toolbar that I make, and I do all of my formatting with the mouse. Then
again, *I* can't touch-type!

Cheers

--

Please reply to the newsgroup to maintain the thread. Please do not email
me unless I ask you to.

John McGhie <[email protected]>
Consultant Technical Writer
Sydney, Australia +61 4 1209 1410

 

[Elliott Roper]

Hi Neva:

{Grin} I can't believe how keyboard-centric Mac users are I thought
Mac invented the mouse! In Word on both Mac and Windows I use a Styles
toolbar that I make, and I do all of my formatting with the mouse. Then
again, *I* can't touch-type!

{Bigger Grin} Don't let him beat you down Neva! You *know* you are a
high power Macintosh maven when you can't find your mouse under all the
paper on your paperless desk!

I have now got rid of every toolbar, one pixel of the formatting
palette is poking out from the trash corner as a workaround for the UI
mis-design, and I have done away with scroll bars and rulers.
Minimalist view with no job for the mouse at all.

 

[neva]

{Grin} I can't believe how keyboard-centric Mac users are I thought
Mac invented the mouse! In Word on both Mac and Windows I use a Styles
toolbar that I make, and I do all of my formatting with the mouse. Then
again, *I* can't touch-type!

John-
it may be a symptom of being truly cross-platform. I've always used both Mac
and PC for various reason over the years - though my first PC was a Mac 128K
received as a wedding present in the fall of 1984.

Once you create and learn hot key customization, you can take your shortcuts
across platforms. And I do transfer my ACL between platforms, too.

Thanks for the note,
njs

 

[neva]

{Bigger Grin} Don't let him beat you down Neva! You *know* you are a
high power Macintosh maven when you can't find your mouse under all the
paper on your paperless desk!

It's true! I can hardly find my desk for all the paper and pens on it!
(Usually a dozen different color pens...)

TTFN,
njs