I have created a one page form with a header and footer. The main body is a relatively simple 5x17 table with a few small boxes on the left side and then longer boxes to the right for narrative. The header tracks the current page number, with the user only having to enter the total number of pages. This form can sometimes be a single page, or many more pages. I currently have just duplicated the form to create 8 identical pages. There are linked text boxes that connect the narrative sections from page to page.



Is there any way to make this a single page template that would automatically duplicate itself when the user runs out of narrative lines?

I'm not sure I explained this very well, but if there's some more info I can provide, please let me know. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

You do not need to duplicate the header and footer. Keep the ones you have and they will work on the new pages.

While I understand what you want, you need to understand that in Word jargon, "template" means something else. You mean a particular pattern of text, textboxes, tables. That is consistent with the English-language meaning of "template."
In Word jargon, it means a special kind of file that holds things that can include text, textboxes and tables, but more.
When you use "template" in asking about Word, you will get information about Word template files, which is not what you are looking for today.
Templates in Microsoft Word

You could save your content as a Building Block/AutoText.

This could be your page of content or even your eight pages.

• AutoText
• Where can Building Blocks be stored?
• Create reusable text snippets

Thank you so much! It seems to be exactly what I was looking for... except I lose the flow of the linked text boxes from one page's narrative section to the next, newly pasted page. I'm guessing there's no workaround for that, though. Still grateful for the knowledge acquired today, thanks to you!

Unless you really need the functionality of text boxes, why not use tables?

Is there any way to make text flow from cell to cell without using linked text boxes?

This form is a daily evaluation report written by an instructor, which is then reviewed by several parties that may require edits and/or additions. So if it's just a form where you have to manually use the down arrow to go down to the next cell and continue typing, that would be a non-starter.

I've attached a sample of the form. The gray area with the red outline is roughly where the text box is placed. Every page is identical and has a linked text box so the narrative can be typed and flow between pages. Edits can be made and everything just moves down, instead of having to cut/paste or drag/drop.

Attached Images

Sample.jpg (74.7 KB, 16 views)

This is a screenshot, a picture, not a document.
Attach a Sample File Demonstrating the Problem - Here's How

Is the signature block at the bottom to be filled in by hand when signing off? If so, I assume that it is in the footer rather than the document.

You could have the table rows so they can expand to hold content and break across pages. As it is, your textbox comments are not going to connect to specific rows.
You could use the Comments feature in Word to add comments, as well. These can be attached to specific text.


Text boxes make for somewhat more fragile documents than tables. (This is the report of Word MVP Doug Robbins who has fixed many word documents with both.)

If you wanted all the area under "Describe Specific/Notable Events" to be one continuous text, simply merge those cells together by highlighting them and hitting Merge Cells in the Layout portion of the ribbon.

Also, there should be no need to amend your footer with the total number of pages. Word has the ability to automatically update that (page 2 of 4, etc.) Check under your footer options when you're clicked into it. Under Page Number, I see under 'Current Position" the ability to add several different styles of page number, including page x of y. One less thing to manually do!

Additional notes.

1. You want to be using a true Word template file for this. It will create a new unnamed document each time it is used.
2. You can use the CreateDate field for the date in your template. Using Date Fields in Microsoft Word
3. The number of pages can be calculated automatically using the NumPages field. Page Numbers in Word 2007-2021 (365)

Yes, that was intentional to avoid having to scrub metadata.

Yes, the instructor types in the trainee name and their own name, along with the dates they are signing the document. They then sign the printed form.

I'm not sure I understand about the table rows expanding/breaking across pages. I would need the column headers at the top of each page, not just additional empty rows.

As for the textbox, the text lines up with the table cells nicely.

Your initial suggestion to use AutoText is almost exactly what I need, except that there doesn't seem to be any way to auto-link the new text box to the previous one. I truly appreciate all the time you have taken to respond!

Funny you would mention that, I actually did the opposite while updating this form to look better than the version I inherited. Whoever created it, had merged that section as you suggested, then used the line tool to draw the lines back in. They didn't line up perfectly and I twitched every time I had to use this form!

If I was able to accomplish what I initially created this thread to ask about, then I would be able to use that functionality. Unfortunately, the current version of this form has 8 blank forms so that the instructor can use as many pages as they need. I'm trying to eliminate the extra pages and just have the option to add pages as needed.

The form is a .dotx
I am using a calendar drop down for the date fields. I don't like to use the option that inserts the current date since these are often edited after the fact and that can cause confusion.
As I mentioned in the previous reply to Kilroy, I would love to use the automatic page calculations, but I need to figure out my initial request in order to do so.

By putting the signature block into the footer it appears that you want every page signed in triplicate. That seems massively inefficient and requires a lot more pages than are necessary. I would be putting that full signature block in the document body so it only appears once in the document (at the end). If you need every page INITIALLED then you could add a much smaller block into the footer and your page count would be a whole lot less.

The linked text box approach you are asking about makes no sense to me either. Merged table cells are by far the better approach.

• If you don't need to maintain alignment of text in the last column with rows on the left then merge all the cells in the last column prior to use. If you add subsequent rows, just add merge the extra cells each time you add the rows.
• If you do need to maintain alignment with multiple rows, start with the unmerged cells and merge the required rows as required when you are doing your data entry

__________________
Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

I appreciate that this form, as currently designed, is extremely inefficient. I would not choose to design this form in this way. However, I work for a large organization that is very much stuck in its ways. I'm simply trying to update the form to be as user friendly as possible, without changing the appearance. I've accepted that my options are very limited at this point. I still very much appreciate all of your input!

Ouch, I sympathize with having to go with what works for other people, especially if they might not be as adept as you area.

A couple of years ago, I was asked to make a table that contains a lot of information (about a particular contamination site). It ended up being kind of similar to what you've got going on - that is, three areas that each look like tables. What I ended up doing was put the three tables within a larger table, so we had firmer control of how those three tables relate to each other spatially on the page. You can make the borders of any of the tables invisible, like maybe the outer one in your case.

I did a rough (not pretty and not spatially laid out the same as yours) version with one large no-printable-borders table with three sub-tables inside. If you add a page break below the second one, you can then just copy-paste the large table and it should fill out the third page, and update the page numbering, as needed.

Another thing you could do is save the big table to your Quick Parts, then insert it from Insert/Table/Quick Tables. Just a thought.

Attached Files

Table.docx (27.8 KB, 0 views)

You can mark the top (header) rows of a table to repeat across page breaks. See Header Rows.

The rows in a table can expand to accept more content than would fit on the row. This is, I believe, the default. It is actually the cell that expands down, taking the row with it.

You can set individual rows to break across pages, or to not break across pages. If not, then when the row's content would break to a new page, it takes the entire row with it.

Here is the row properties dialog box set by default to allow breaking across pages and with an indeterminate height (i.e. it can expand).