Hi Dan,
Whos's Kevin?
The issue with the AutoOpen macro is that it won't run as a Private sub. Delete 'Private' and it should run. However, if the document is protected, as you say it is, you'll get a run time error. The document needs to be unprotected before you can change the design mode.
Try as I might, though, I can't get Word to protect a document and leave it in design mode. So developing & testing code to get a protected document out of design mode is somewhat problematic ...
Give the following a go. It'll work with a protected document and explcity turns off design mode.
Code:
Sub AutoOpen()
' Runs when this document is opened.
Dim Pwd As String ' String variable to hold passwords for protected documents
Dim pState As Boolean ' Document protection state flag
With ActiveDocument
' Insert your document's password between the double quotes on the next line
Pwd = ""
' Initialise the protection state
pState = False
' If the document is protected, unprotect it
If .ProtectionType <> wdNoProtection Then
' Update the protection state
pState = True
' Unprotect the document
.Unprotect Pwd
End If
' Swith off Design Mode
.FormsDesign = False
' If the document was protected, reprotect it, preserving any formfield contents
If pState = True Then .Protect wdAllowOnlyFormFields, Noreset:=True, Password:=Pwd
End With
End Sub
The code can be run manually or by opening the document.