Re: Word editing question

["Pro TechWriter" <pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com>]

To add to what others have said....

In my current position, I function mainly as an editor, with non-technical
authors writing their own material.

I have tried many of the suggestions given here:
 - protecting the document. I got so many complaints and e-mails that I had
to quit that.
-  asked authors not to do formatting. A lot of them do it anyway to "make
it look nice."
- keep a master document and apply changes there. BINGO. This works.

Document copies go to each author or reviewer with "distribution_copy" and
their initials appended to the document name. They can make changes with
"track changes" turned on in the document (about 1/3 refuse to do that), by
handwritten notes, or just straight on in the document.

When the changes come back, I do a document compare (and deselect
"formatting"), print the document, and then make the changes in my master,
usually by typing them. I still have to edit the author's changes. I
*always* check off the changes on my compare copy, so I can show that the
change was incorporated, even if I changed the language somewhat.

There's no more fixing butchered styles, or inline formatting, or other
weirdness that can happen with Word when a whole bunch of different
templates are applied. And, those who want to put all those spaces in to
make the words line up can format to their heart's content. It's a non-issue
for me now.

This is pretty flexible because each author can give me changes pretty much
how they are most comfortable. It's also reduced my stress, and increased my
productivity.

Good luck :-)
PT




On 5/2/07, Van Boening, Tammy <Tammy -dot- VanBoening -at- fiserv -dot- com> wrote:
>
> Forgiveness is begged from the Word gurus and guru-esses on this list.
> I am a Framemaker fanatic, but have had to work in the throes of Word
> hell on a particular project. Basically, it was a round robin document
> that got started by one person who hacked merrily away and added their
> content, then passed it on to another person who hacked merrily away and
> added their content, and well, you get the picture. This little
> merry-go-round ensued among 6 of my SMEs. I was then handed back this
> monstrosity of a Word document and expected to "work my magic."
>
> Tammy L. Van Boening
> Senior Technical Writer
> Fiserv Insurance Solutions
> Property and Casualty Division
> 303-729-7733
> tammy -dot- vanboening -at- fiserv -dot- com
> ***********************************************************************
> Keep smiling, at least until you get your own way.
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> PT
> pro -dot- techwriter -at- gmail -dot- com
> I'm a Technical Technical Writer!
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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