Hi Lawrence,

You can use date fields - and lock (via Cmd-F11) them to prevent updates until you unlock them (via Cmd-Shift-F11) to allow updates.

As for your numerous ranges using the same date, I'd suggest inserting a DATE field once in the body of the document then bookmarking and cross-referencing that field wherever else you want the date to appear. Then, whenever you want to update the date, select the field, unlock it, do a print preview, then relock the field.

Even simpler is to use a CREATEDATE field and, whenever you want the date to update, simply re-save the document using Save As. No locking/unlocking required and, if you'd prefer not to use bookmarks, you have have the field wherever you want it in the document.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]