[Doug Robbins - Word MVP on news.microsoft.com]

In Word, you cannot protect a cell in a table. The only types of protection
available are those that you will see when you access the Protect Document
Item on the Developer tab. If you select the Restrict Formatting and
Editing option and then check the Editing box, an option will become
available for "Filling in Forms". That option however is for use with the
FormFields inserted from the Legacy Forms item in the Controls section of
the Developer tab (the icon looks like a folder with a wrench and hammer on
it)

What type of controls did you use on your form?

If you want to protect everything on the document other than the controls
into which the user is to enter data, then it would be best to use the
Legacy Form controls. For information on doing that, see:

http://www.mousetrax.com/techpage.html#autoforms

Please Fill Out This Form
Part 1: Create professional looking forms in Word
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=22

Part 2: Adding Automation to your Word forms.
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=46

Part 3: Learn more VBA (macros) to automate your forms.
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=119

Part 4: Use custom dialog boxes in your Word forms
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=127

Part 5: Connect your AutoForm to a database to save input time and keep
better records!
http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=136

To facilitate the use of the Legacy Form controls in Word 2007, see the
following page of fellow MVP Greg Maxey's website:

http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Classic%20Form%20Controls.htm

For information on using the type of form controls (Content Controls) that
come with Word 2007 and which do not require that the document be protected,
see the following pages of Greg's website:

http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Mapped_Content_Control.htm

http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Modify_CC_...older_Text.htm

http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Custom_CC_Checkboxes.htm

http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Validate_CC_Entries.htm


--
Hope this helps.

Please reply to the newsgroup unless you wish to avail yourself of my
services on a paid consulting basis.

Doug Robbins - Word MVP, originally posted via msnews.microsoft.com

"WillW" wrote in message
...
For my very first template, I need to protect cells in a template table.
I
see in Help (I think) how to protect a control, but can't find how to
prevent
users from entering a cell used only as a text label.

An issue probably for another forum (I wonder if I'm the only one
experiencing this): I don't think MS Office 2007 Help has EVER returned a
useful result for my questions. Typing key words for my search (e.g.,
"protect table cell" or "template protect table cell", or any combination)
always returns multiple suggestions, but NONE of them are helpful - and
often
seem to have no relation to my question ("Create a hyperlink"?). Thank
goodness for Google. I'm sure it's something I'm missing, but it's
baffling
to me how I could get it wrong 100% of the time.

Thanks.