Tailoring an existing document over and over again....

[sararose15]

I have an existing Word doc that I would like to be able to easily customize
repeatedly (there are certain portions of the text that are always needing to
be tailored). Can the doc be set up to prompt me with all the areas that need
to be tailored? Should I set up a merge to accomplish this? How? I'm hoping
there's a quicker, easier way to be doing all these customizations rather
than scrolling through and adjusting around my editing marks. Thanks for any
help!

 

[matt neuburg]

I have an existing Word doc that I would like to be able to easily customize
repeatedly (there are certain portions of the text that are always needing to
be tailored). Can the doc be set up to prompt me with all the areas that need
to be tailored? Should I set up a merge to accomplish this? How? I'm hoping
there's a quicker, easier way to be doing all these customizations rather
than scrolling through and adjusting around my editing marks

There are various ways to do this; how you choose to do it depends upon
your temperament and the nature of the changes. One simple approach to
consider is the use of document properties: in the a document is a field
referring to a document property, and you just make the changes each
time in the File > Properties dialog. (You can create your own
properties there.) That's how, for example, I would handle a piece of
legal boilerplate where the names of the parties needed to be changed
throughout the document every time. Another possibility is bookmarks
showing you where text needs changing, or a Find that looks for hidden
text so as to get you to the right places. m.

 

[mmmmark]

I haven't done this in the Mac version, so someone correct me if this isn't
possible.

In the PC version, we create templates with form fields (things like blanks
or check boxes, even pull down lists of choices). Once the document is
locked for editing, these form fields are accessed by tabbing between each
one. It works good for filling out forms, i.e. items not heavy in text, but
heavy in format requirements.

Someone please let me know if these can be created on a Mac. AND, if
created on a PC, will they behave the same way on a Mac.

-Mark

 

[CyberTaz]

Hi Mark-

The use of templates as you describe is essentially the same for Mac.

_Usually_, templates created on either platform are interchangeable with the
other. One major exception is that PC templates may contain fields that are
actually Active-X controls which are not supported by the Mac OS.

Regards |:>)

 

[mmmmark]

Thanks, I figured they would work that way, but sometimes these things can
bite one on the butt.