TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
>
> 2) The documents include certain elements that are repeated in many
> places, such as a protocol number. I'd like the author to enter the
> protocol number on the first page and have it automatically populate the
> rest of the document. Can this be done and if so, how?
Two possible ways.
1. Mark the original point with a bookmark, and use REF fields elsewhere to
reflect the same data
2. Set the data in a custom document property and reflect it everywhere
using DOCPROPERTY fields. You can write a UserForm that is displayed
allowing the user to type in the appropriate items and update the properties
with the entered values.
I prefer using option #2, since it is all-too-easy to accidentally delete a
bookmark when you are typing new text into it.
>
> 3) Certains parts of the document contain text that should never be
> changed by the authors. Is there a way to protect those pieces of text
> while leaving the rest of the document editable?
With Word 2003 this would be much easier, as Word 2003 includes the ability
to set any arbitrary part of the document as non-editable. With Word 2000
you are limited to placing section breaks round the unchanging areas and
protecting them for forms. This is no use to you if you are looking to
protect small areas such as individual table columns or cells.
If you are restricted to Word 2000, then I suspect that it is going to have
to be a matter of training the authors rather than finding some infallible
technical solution.
>
> 4) The templates as given to me were supposed to work as follows: Author
> places cursor over the specially-formatted prompting text that explains
> what the content in this part of the document is supposed to be. When
> Author starts to type, the prompting text is replaced by properly
> formatted text. Instead, Author gets text formatted inthe same way the
> prompting text was formatted. I'm not sure how it was supposed to work,
> but my simple solution has been to put the prompts/instructions in the
> document formatted as hidden text. Any comments/suggestions on this?
Create a MACROBUTTON field which you use as the placeholder. (Just use
"null" as the name of the macro to be included, it doesn't need to point to
a real macro.) In the MACROBUTTON field, you apply special formatting ONLY
to the prompt text, and not to the rest of the field. When you click on the
field and then start typing, the entire field is deleted and your text is
typed using the standard formatting.
Now Shipping -- WebWorks ePublisher Pro for Word! Easily create online
Help. And online anything else. Redesigned interface with a new
project-based workflow. Try it today! http://www.webworks.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as:
archiver -at- techwr-l -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
Send administrative questions to lisa -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.techwr-l.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
