Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a mixture of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be customizable for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Hi Charles,

Thanks. Sounds promising but ... (before I go off on a spree) what are the
implications if the template is shared between scattered users? A number of
them are in different locations (even in different countries). If the
template takes off some recipients (outside the training sphere) will have
pretty basic skills so anything they have to do with macros (i.e. saving them
someplace) might be a bit intimidating.

Thanks again,

Sharon

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Hi Charles,

Oops! I hadn't noticed the content in the parentheses of your reply. Ignore
my last mail. I have checked the links you included and it looks as though
your solution will work. If so ... you've saved my life!

All the best,

SM

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Glad to have helped. Good luck with your project.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi Charles,

Oops! I hadn't noticed the content in the parentheses of your reply.
Ignore
my last mail. I have checked the links you included and it looks as though
your solution will work. If so ... you've saved my life!

All the best,

SM

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a
mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be
customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field
areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve
what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Hi again Charles,

A further probe into your respository of expertise, if I may? :-)

I tried the MacroButton field in my template, it works great. However, it
doesn't (unless I am mistaken) give me the opportunity to add Help Text. In
which case I could just as easily stay with Form Fields - unless there are
any other benefits to using MacroButton??

I went through all those (fascinating) links in your original response and
saw a brilliant (as in innovative) solution (it was either yours or Graham
Major's ... can't remember which) using text boxes/in front of text/marked as
hidden. Is this the only solution for including help?

Grateful your further enlightenment! Or Graham's. Or Suzanne B.'s (all of
you have been extremely helpful in past posts).

Thanks a mill,

S.

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Glad to have helped. Good luck with your project.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi Charles,

Oops! I hadn't noticed the content in the parentheses of your reply.
Ignore
my last mail. I have checked the links you included and it looks as though
your solution will work. If so ... you've saved my life!

All the best,

SM

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a
mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be
customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field
areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve
what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Hi,

You are correct that there is no pop-up style help. You could use the
techniques shown in
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFm...acroButton.htm to display a
message box on a Ctrl-Click.

In my experience people seldom see the help for form fields that shows up in
the status line.

The text boxes came from my site. I use text boxes without borders and with
hidden text. I use Comic Sans in Red or Blue for the text. The text boxes
float in front of the text but are usually in a margin or someplace that
doesn't have text.

For templates where people will be improvising or making changes, writing
their own, such as a letterhead, I use macrobutton fields along with a
UserForm that can gather basics. Where everything is set and the user only
adds a name and address and a few details, an online form does well. I also
use mailmerge to produce drafts which can be custom edited after having
basic information inserted by the merge. Your choice.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi again Charles,

A further probe into your respository of expertise, if I may? :-)

I tried the MacroButton field in my template, it works great. However, it
doesn't (unless I am mistaken) give me the opportunity to add Help Text.
In
which case I could just as easily stay with Form Fields - unless there are
any other benefits to using MacroButton??

I went through all those (fascinating) links in your original response and
saw a brilliant (as in innovative) solution (it was either yours or Graham
Major's ... can't remember which) using text boxes/in front of text/marked
as
hidden. Is this the only solution for including help?

Grateful your further enlightenment! Or Graham's. Or Suzanne B.'s (all of
you have been extremely helpful in past posts).

Thanks a mill,

S.

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Glad to have helped. Good luck with your project.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi Charles,

Oops! I hadn't noticed the content in the parentheses of your reply.
Ignore
my last mail. I have checked the links you included and it looks as
though
your solution will work. If so ... you've saved my life!

All the best,

SM

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for
more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a
mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be
customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field
areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve
what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

Hi Charles,

Thanks for that ... it just about ties everything up nicely. I have decided
to go with the floating text box solution. It's actually the easiest option
from the user perspective since they won't have to go looking for help. (My
experience with the status bar help is the same as yours). A great tip!
Thanks again.

Sharon

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Hi,

You are correct that there is no pop-up style help. You could use the
techniques shown in
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/TblsFldsFm...acroButton.htm to display a
message box on a Ctrl-Click.

In my experience people seldom see the help for form fields that shows up in
the status line.

The text boxes came from my site. I use text boxes without borders and with
hidden text. I use Comic Sans in Red or Blue for the text. The text boxes
float in front of the text but are usually in a margin or someplace that
doesn't have text.

For templates where people will be improvising or making changes, writing
their own, such as a letterhead, I use macrobutton fields along with a
UserForm that can gather basics. Where everything is set and the user only
adds a name and address and a few details, an online form does well. I also
use mailmerge to produce drafts which can be custom edited after having
basic information inserted by the merge. Your choice.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi again Charles,

A further probe into your respository of expertise, if I may? :-)

I tried the MacroButton field in my template, it works great. However, it
doesn't (unless I am mistaken) give me the opportunity to add Help Text.
In
which case I could just as easily stay with Form Fields - unless there are
any other benefits to using MacroButton??

I went through all those (fascinating) links in your original response and
saw a brilliant (as in innovative) solution (it was either yours or Graham
Major's ... can't remember which) using text boxes/in front of text/marked
as
hidden. Is this the only solution for including help?

Grateful your further enlightenment! Or Graham's. Or Suzanne B.'s (all of
you have been extremely helpful in past posts).

Thanks a mill,

S.

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Glad to have helped. Good luck with your project.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi Charles,

Oops! I hadn't noticed the content in the parentheses of your reply.
Ignore
my last mail. I have checked the links you included and it looks as
though
your solution will work. If so ... you've saved my life!

All the best,

SM

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for
more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a
mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type" form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be
customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field
areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve
what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.

It depends on how much "help" users need. The MacroButton NoMacro field is
best suited to situations where a simple prompt such as "[Click here and
type name]" will suffice. The prompt text cannot exceed one line, so that
does limit what you can put in it.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA
Word MVP FAQ site: http://word.mvps.org
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi again Charles,

A further probe into your respository of expertise, if I may? :-)

I tried the MacroButton field in my template, it works great. However, it
doesn't (unless I am mistaken) give me the opportunity to add Help Text.
In
which case I could just as easily stay with Form Fields - unless there are
any other benefits to using MacroButton??

I went through all those (fascinating) links in your original response and
saw a brilliant (as in innovative) solution (it was either yours or Graham
Major's ... can't remember which) using text boxes/in front of text/marked
as
hidden. Is this the only solution for including help?

Grateful your further enlightenment! Or Graham's. Or Suzanne B.'s (all of
you have been extremely helpful in past posts).

Thanks a mill,

S.

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Glad to have helped. Good luck with your project.
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Hi Charles,

Oops! I hadn't noticed the content in the parentheses of your reply.
Ignore
my last mail. I have checked the links you included and it looks as
though
your solution will work. If so ... you've saved my life!

All the best,

SM

"Charles Kenyon" wrote:

Try a macrobutton field. See
http://www.addbalance.com/usersguide...tm#MacroButton,
http://www.gmayor.com/Macrobutton.htm and
http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/TblsFl...acroButton.htm for
more
about macrobutton fields.

(No macros or document protection required.)
--
Charles Kenyon

Word New User FAQ & Web Directory: http://addbalance.com/word

Intermediate User's Guide to Microsoft Word (supplemented version of
Microsoft's Legal Users' Guide) http://addbalance.com/usersguide

See also the MVP FAQ: http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/ which is awesome!

My criminal defense site: http://addbalance.com
--------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ---------
This message is posted to a newsgroup. Please post replies
and questions to the newsgroup so that others can learn
from my ignorance and your wisdom.


"Sharon M." wrote in message
...
Can anyone help with the following problem?

I have designed a template for a group of trainers containing a
mixture
of
standard text, graphics as well as a number of "click and type"
form
fields.
I would like to add Help Text to the form field areas to help
novice
trainers
*BUT* I do not want to protect the document as it should be
customizable
for
all users. As far as I know Help Text cannot be added to form field
areas
unless the document is protected. Is there any way around this
restriction?
Probably not so, next question ... is there a better way to achieve
what I
want without using form fields????

Any suggestions *gratefully* received!

Sharon M.