Word 2007: Custom dictionaries

[Elizabeth]

I have a question about custom dictionaries. I've just recently moved
over to Word 2007 and have already been helped a great deal in making
the transition from many helpful posts here. I don't find it too
difficult to cope with changes to software and with a combination of
info here and my own tendency to click on buttons just to see what
happens, I've managed to find my way through the new version of Word
without too many problems.

However, I'm stuck on getting my mind round the concept of custom
dictionaries. I have set them up in the past in Word 2003, but for the
life of me I can't remember how I did that (it was some time ago). And
in any case, I don't know whether remembering how I did that in the past
is of any help with Word 2007.

Anyway, I want to set up various custom dictionaries, let's call them
"science" and "philosophy". From Word's help files I know how to set
those up, but it seems that it's the language that's relevant, rather
than the document. I have the feeling that back in Word 2003 there was
the facility to specify which custom dictionary would be used for a
specific document, maybe on the right-click context menu, but I can't
see if there's the same option in Word 2007, or if my memory isn't what
it was.

I want to produce documents that are (a) to do with science, or (b) to
do with philosophy. And both documents are in UK English. Is there a way
of determing which custom dictionary would be used for each type of
document, or is it the case that all docs in UK English will have to
share a custom dictionary that will include, say, "deoxyribonucleic
acid" and "Rousseau". Overall, I guess it won't make too much
difference, unless the custom dictionary gets too long (and what would
be the length limit?), it's just that I like the facility to separate
out the various areas of my interests, as I do in Windows Explorer (lots
and lots of subdirectories), and I'd like my custom dictionaries to
reflect that.

If it is possible to have different custom dictionaries per document,
I'd be grateful for details on how to achieve that. If it is possible
that I've completely dis-remembered my use of custom dictionaries in
previous versions of Word or that Word 2007 doesn't offer that facility,
I've be grateful to know that as well - at least it would stop me
spending time going round and round in the Help files!

Many thanks in advance for any advice. And also many thanks for the
excellent help from MVPs and others posting here that I've made use of
for quite a number of years.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi Elizabeth,

You can have multiple custom dictionaries for a single language, and you can
switch them on and off individually (go to Office button > Word Options >
Proofing > Custom Dictionaries and check/uncheck them). So you could have
both a science.dic and a philosophy.dic stored in the UProof folder, and
turn on only one of them for a particular document.

What you can't do -- except perhaps with a macro -- is automatically
associate a particular dictionary or set of dictionaries with a particular
document.

As an aside, when you have more than one custom dictionary active at the
same time, one of them is always designated as the "default" custom
dictionary, the one into which new words will be added during
spell-checking. That's the purpose of the Change Default button in the
Custom Dictionaries dialog. It's worth double-checking which dictionary is
the default, to save yourself the work of rearranging entries later.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
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[Elizabeth]

Hi Elizabeth,

You can have multiple custom dictionaries for a single language, and you can
switch them on and off individually (go to Office button > Word Options >
Proofing > Custom Dictionaries and check/uncheck them). So you could have
both a science.dic and a philosophy.dic stored in the UProof folder, and
turn on only one of them for a particular document.

What you can't do -- except perhaps with a macro -- is automatically
associate a particular dictionary or set of dictionaries with a particular
document.

As an aside, when you have more than one custom dictionary active at the
same time, one of them is always designated as the "default" custom
dictionary, the one into which new words will be added during
spell-checking. That's the purpose of the Change Default button in the
Custom Dictionaries dialog. It's worth double-checking which dictionary is
the default, to save yourself the work of rearranging entries later.

Thanks, Jay. I understand what to do now. I hadn't realised that I could
uncheck my own custom dictionaries, nor what the Change Default button
would do.

I'm pretty much up to speed with Word 2007 in terms of ordinary use,
except for one other thing I haven't been able to figure out. But I'll
post that as a separate topic.

Many thanks again.