Word -- tabbed document sheets

[Bhuvaneshwar_G._S.]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel Just like tabbed browsers and tabbed worksheets (in excel), why can't we have tabbed document sheets in Word.
It is "sort of" available in Notebook view - but in not in others views

This would be a great boon to keep different versions in a SINGLE FILE or organise chapters or sections, letters - etc etc ALL IN ONE FILE - make it easy to move from one to another - or even searching for older letters written to someone.
bhuvanesh

 

[John McGhie]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) Processor: Intel
Just like tabbed browsers and tabbed worksheets (in excel), why can't we have
tabbed document sheets in Word

Because you have not yet used Help>Send Feedback to send your idea to
Microsoft. Until you do that, they don't know that you want it: they're not
reading this forum.

Two suggestions:

1) Microsoft has an application that does this, named OneNote. If you make
your suggestion in terms of "We want OneNote on the Mac, you may just get
it. It would be a lot easier for them to bring OneNote across to the Mac
than to add this feature to Word.

2) We need to remember that Word is a "Word Processor". The bottom line is
that a Word Processor is an application that represents a paper document to
the user in a specific manner.

Word is the best and most powerful word processor in the world (well, not
2008, but the other versions are ...) But what makes it a great word
processor does not enable it to be used for various other things.

Another way of saying that is "What would make it possible to do tabbed
layout in Word would get in the way of it being a great word-processor".

Most people in the world require a word processor to do word processing.
Many of them require a GREAT word processor to do serious word processing.

Word 2008 is already so burdened with rubbish as a result of attempts to
make it a desktop publisher, a drawing program, a web browser etc that it
has become very difficult to use for what people buy it for.

Be careful what you ask for... You might just get it!

I suggest to you that if you want tab-organised files, OneNote is your
weapon, and I would be arguing against stuffing up Word to add that feature
to Word. I argued against Publishing Layout View in Word when I first saw
it, and I have been proved correct: it has enabled users to unwittingly make
frightful ransom-demand-style documents that can't be used anywhere else by
anything else.

Cheers

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Further to John's remarks as to the "can't", there are simply no 'pages' in
the structure of a Word document to which such tabs can be affixed. Even if
it were feasible, any change to the content would cause the text to flow
differently, so those tabs would perpetually be in the wrong place. Other,
more effective, more precise options are already available.

If a document is properly formatted using Styles, the Navigation Pane is far
more accurate for navigation within a document. Documents of such length
would most likely have a Table of Content which also serves for navigation
as do Footnotes, Endnotes & Cross-References. In addition, there are the Go
To as well as the Browse By tools. All of these features automatically stay
in sync with the ongoing changes in a document.

For documents that are truly _finished_ creating a PDF makes far more sense
that distributing copies of the Word document, itself. A PDF provides the
navigational features as well as discouraging alterations to the content &
appearance of the document.

Although it may sound desirable, storing multiple versions of a document or
multiple documents within the same file is not only a living nightmare but
also a disaster waiting to happen. The same is true for the assortment of
'letters', each of which is a separate document & should be stored that way
- as a separate file. Otherwise it becomes necessary to open a file which
may be 10, 20, 100 times larger than necessary in order to see one small
portion of it.

The operating system provides the functions for storing,
organizing/reorganizing & locating those documents far more efficiently...
That's a major part of what it's designed to do. It also provides the
flexibility for all users to arrange any collection of files in a manner
that works best for their individual needs & preferences. Those who learn to
use the arsenal of features already available most likely have no need for
any additional gizmos & gadgets clogging up their workflow

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac