AutoText organizer, using on server

[blackarrow]

Hello!



I use AutoText as a way to speed up inserting the same parts of laws which I use in a document.

1. What is the best way to organize my AutoText blocks? For example, I have Law 1 and Law 2 with Article 1 and 2 in each. My idea was to produce text block called l1.a1 which will call up Article 1 of Law 1. Same for the other examples, l1.a2, l2.a1 or l2.a2. This way I will have a lot of blocks in the block organizer, so maybe there is some better way to organize?

2. This is really important. Since we have a server in a company, I would like everyone to be able to use the blocks. So, if somebody opens Word from the other computer, he or she should be able to use the block I made. Is there a way to implement this?

3. I have problem with inserting the blocks. When I insert a block in one paragraph (lets say 2.3.4) it is actually inserted in paragraph 2.3.3. I do not know how to solve this.

Thank you and sorry for my bad English.

[Charles Kenyon]

First, the numbering. You need to set up your numbering attached to styles as shown in How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Ribbon Versions of Word by Shauna Kelly. You need to use the same Styles to show the same numbering levels in each AutoText Entry. You will need to include the paragraph mark at the end of the paragraph in your AutoText to keep the automatic numbering.

More about AutoText and other building blocks can be found here:
Automated Boilerplate Using Microsoft Word

See Building Blocks & AutoText for downloadable tools to organize AutoText and other building blocks.

Distribution:
If your AutoText is for use in multiple different documents, you should save your custom building blocks for distribution to others in a Global Template not in the default building blocks template.

If it is for use in documents prepared using a particular template, the building blocks should be stored in that template. That template should be in Workgroup Templates and not loaded as a global.

My recommendation would be to store either kind template on your network and have it copied/updated to individual workstations as a part of the login through an XCOPY command. That way they can still be used when the network is not available and you will not have to kick everyone off of Word in order to do an update of your building blocks. (The last is a result of the file being locked for editing when anyone has the template loaded as a global when it is on the network. That may have been fixed since I last worked on a server network.)

Moving (Sharing) Customizations in Microsoft Word

Naming. You want your names to be useful, descriptive, and have the first four characters be unique. You may want to prepare a master guide to help people find them.

You may also want to explore creating one or more custom AutoText galleries and putting your entries or galleries on custom QAT modifications stored in the template that contains the AutoText. Greg Maxey's article on AutoText touches on custom galleries and he has a separate page on that issue.

By the way, your ability with English far exceeds my ability with any language other than English.

[blackarrow]

First, thank you for your fast answer. I will go throughout the links you posted, and try to solve the problem.

I have only one note on the second question. People who will use my blocks should be also able to modify them. So, your idea is good, but I am not sure if people were able to change the content of the blocks and share them with others on server.

[Charles Kenyon]

Originally Posted by blackarrow

First, thank you for your fast answer. I will go throughout the links you posted, and try to solve the problem.

I have only one note on the second question. People who will use my blocks should be also able to modify them. So, your idea is good, but I am not sure if people were able to change the content of the blocks and share them with others on server.

Hello,

In that case, leave it on the server without copying locally. Unless you have an unusually well-trained and well-disciplined group of users, though, expect glitches. An alternative would be to add another global on the server to hold suggestions and have one or two people authorized to copy them to the distributed global.

By the way, I am an attorney. I've put a lot of thought into these issues; that doesn't mean that my suggestions are the best practices.

The default name for AutoText entries is the beginning of the text. This is seldom the best name, especially when there are a large number of AT entries to keep organized.

[Charles Kenyon]

If you prepare a master guide, you will probably want to use the AutoText field to keep it updated.

You may also want, in some instances, to look into the AutoTextList field.
AutoTextList field - How to add pop-up lists to any Word document, so you can click your way through changes in seconds

[blackarrow]

Thank you, I managed to format the AutoText blocks the way I need them. Next step is to make the blocks available to other people via server. I will try the suggestions you mentioned.

[blackarrow]

Hello again!

I put template on the server. On each computer I made a connection between Word and the template using Registry Manager. So, it works quite nice.

On the other side, I still have problem with inserting such blocks. For example, I have some other document, I type enter to form a new paragraph, type the code of some text block and hit F3. The text block is there, but it just does not take the properties of the document e.g. the font, size, format of the newly inserted text block do not match.

[Charles Kenyon]

If your AutoText has a paragraph mark included, it will carry formatting.

If the formatting is directly applied (not through styles) it will carry into the new document.

If it is through styles and the styles have not already been used in the new document, the style definitions from the AutoText entry will come into the new document.

When you are doing work like this, you want all of your formatting, in both the AutoText and your document templates to be done using styles.

Understanding Styles in Microsoft Word

[blackarrow]

Maybe I did not have explained the problem properly. I want autotext block to take the properties of the documents in which it has been inserted.

So, for example, in one document I typed the articles of a law, and I do not care which font, size, numbering etc. I used for it. For me, that document is only a template that I can change and update.

On the other hand, I have other documents, in which I insert the auto text blocks. They here their properties, and I want the newly inserted block to take these properties. For example, I have numbering of paragraph 1.1.1 and there I insert a block. I want block to automatically take place in documents as 1.1.2, as well as other properties such as formatting, font size etc.

Right now, I have problem that I insert a autotext block and instead of having new paragraph as 1.1.2 I got 1.1 or whatever number I have in the template document.

[Charles Kenyon]

I apologize for not being clear.

• If you do not include any paragraph marks in your AutoText, paragraph formatting will not be copied. You would also lose any numbering until you reapply a style in the destination document.
• If you are using Styles for your formatting (both in creation and use of the AT) and the style has already been used in the destination document, you should not have this problem. If you are using different styles (style names) in your source than your destination, you will keep the original formatting from the source.
• Numbering must be attached to styles using the methods set forth in How to create numbered headings or outline numbering in Ribbon Versions of Word by Shauna Kelly. Failure to use the steps, all of the steps, set forth there, will cause you problems sooner or later.

This is the same calculus used when you copy or insert text from one document to another. AutoText is simply a way of automating that.

[blackarrow]

Thank you very much.

I would also like to make some kind of auto text block or template (I am not sure about the right term for it) which will allow me to make the layout properties into new document.

For example, I would like to open a blank document, type the name of block or template, and get the layout properties applied to the new document automatically. Some basic text, such as company nam, basic paragraphs as well as header and footer should also appear along, rather than having actual template document which I have to open every time I want to start writing.

[Charles Kenyon]

What you want is to create a custom document template. You double-click on the template and you get a new document with the layout, text, and other modifications from the template. Templates can contain AutoText, among other things.

Templates in Microsoft Word

Templates can be distributed or shared and easily accessed by others on the network.
Workgroup Templates in Microsoft Word
Workgroup Templates

To use a template, you do not open it, you use it as the basis for a new document. This is the default behavior if you double-click on a template's icon.

[blackarrow]

Thank you very much! That was exactly what I was searching for.