Here is my dilemma,

My work uses forms which are approved by administration and were made on word, I have attached a sample of what the form looks like.

However, the form typically has text boxes over each of the required fields which need to be completed. This is rather time consuming and I'd prefer that instead of clicking I could simply lock the form and use content controls in the desired data-input locations.

The problem is that I need the form to not look altered in any way. It must be a user upgrade, not an amendment to the form structure. Everyone in a business with administration knows what a headache that can cause.



I've played with the content controls, the legacy form fields, but my problem is the same. They push the already existing text fields over changing the appearance of the form. The large blank sections need a "rich text content control" however once the first line is filled it bumps down the entire form.

I've experimented with Tables, trying to make the entire current form a watermark, trying to keep the text boxes but inserting content controls (doesn't work). Am I missing something obvious? Is there anyway to make the content controls appear in front of the text like a picture or text box? Or is there anyway to make all the current text a layer, then build a second layer on top of that?

TLDR: Using sample form, how do I use content controls without changing the appearance of the form or pushing existing text lines down to the next return line?

Attached Files

Sample.docx (16.8 KB, 15 views)

I enclose a sample with only the first two plain text content controls.

These are placed in a borderless table. Each content control needs to be in a single cell that is fixed in height and width. The bottom border of the cell is active so it provides the underline. The reason for the fixed size is to keep the form from expanding when someone types in too much. The extra will be lost. An alternative would be to have macros that keep each entry from being too long, but I suspect that would not work for you.

You will need to adjust the cell width to exactly match what you have now for your blanks.

In each content control, I typed a single space. This is to get rid of the placeholder text so that it will be blank when printed and not typed into.

The tab key will move the person from content control to content control.

If you have drop-downs, the default choice will have to be blank if you want to be able to print it without the choice showing.

This is going to be a pain to set up.

I noted that some of your form (body) was in the Heading 1 style reformatted to look like body text. This is a very bad idea.

Create a body text style for your form. If you want Arial 12, then use that. Set it for single spacing and no space before or after. Use that Style in your table and any other text.

The document is then protected for no editing. Each content control is selected and allowed as an exception for everyone. The sample I am sending has no password.

This will NOT work in any Word version before Word 2007.

Attached Files

deleteme.docx (27.4 KB, 10 views)

I would also recommend saving it as a .dotx template rather than a .docx document.
Templates in Microsoft Word

If properly used, nothing anyone types into the documents created from the template will change the template. If it is placed in the Workgroup Templates folder it will be available under File New. You may want to add a utility to make the classic file new dialog easily available to your users. File New Variations in the Versions of Word

Yet another note. You are using justified text. Word does not do really well with that. If you need to use justified text make sure that the compatibility option is set as described here.
Alignment / Justification of Text in Microsoft Word

Thanks for the feedback!

I can see that re-generating the entire form is going to take some time. Thanks for the help, now onto the work.