With that form of editing restriction, callouts, for example, can be attached to any unrestricted range, via Insert>Shapes. Similarly, you can insert rectangular shapes and use the 'Add Text' option to give them textbox functionality.

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Cheers,
Paul Edstein
[Fmr MS MVP - Word]

Thanks macro I guess it's just a Microsoft design decision. Have to say I don't see the logic in it. I've defaulted the shape format in the template to an unfilled black border. Strange but the default text colour cannot be changed which means it appears white and hence invisible until changed to black font colour. Again a strange choice to allow you to set the format of some but not all the shape attributes.