directory set up

[Stevenjf]

i belong to a loose collection of individual industry proffessionals , who
want to create a directory so that we can individually log our details and
specialities and be used as a reference document .

Few of us have secretarial support so i was wondering if there was a way of
each of us filling in a standard form i create which would then be returned
and used to create the directory .

a) What part of Office 2003 do i use for the emailable form so that the
questions remain unmoveable yet my collegues can add their details to it and
how do i set it up ?

b) How do i arrange the remainder of the job so that when they email the
form back , i can the create an expandable directory ?

i hope this makes some sense and hope someone can help

Many thanks

Steve

 

[Keme]

i belong to a loose collection of individual industry proffessionals , who
want to create a directory so that we can individually log our details and
specialities and be used as a reference document .

Few of us have secretarial support so i was wondering if there was a way of
each of us filling in a standard form i create which would then be returned
and used to create the directory .

a) What part of Office 2003 do i use for the emailable form so that the
questions remain unmoveable yet my collegues can add their details to it and
how do i set it up ?

b) How do i arrange the remainder of the job so that when they email the
form back , i can the create an expandable directory ?

i hope this makes some sense and hope someone can help

Many thanks

Steve

It looks to me like the best choice is a web service, where everyone can
edit their details online. Security is an issue, though, and perhaps the
best choice is to have some kind of "moderation" to ensure consistent input.

For the email strategy you suggest, I suppose it's best to use Word to
create the log entry document. You create a document template (.dot
file) for everyone to use for their logging. That template should use
form fields and default to save entered data only (not the entire form).

To create the template:
- Start Word
- Right click on an empty area of the toolbars for the toolbar selector
- Select "forms" toolbar
- Edit your entry form with prompts for each field.
- Place fields in the form where users should enter text.
- Right click to edit properties for each field, to adjust behaviour
- Menu: Tools - Options - Save ... select to save entered data only
- Lock the form
- Save it as a template

Make the other members of your "collection" copy the template into their
template directory (or save it in the workgroup template directory if
you are all on a common network with Office installed for network
collaboration).

Now the log entries will be semicolon separated files, which can be
imported into Access or Excel, both of which are able to sort and filter
lists. Excel is part of all Office versions and easier to work with.
Access is far more powerful, and gives the opportunity of concurrent
access to data tables.

 

[Keme]

i belong to a loose collection of individual industry proffessionals ,
who want to create a directory so that we can individually log our
details and specialities and be used as a reference document .

[...]
Make the other members of your "collection" copy the template into their
template directory (or save it in the workgroup template directory if
you are all on a common network with Office installed for network
collaboration).

[...]

On second thoughts, you could perhaps use the InfoPath application,
specifically designed for data collection. (Choice of tools depends on
which version of MS Office you have.)

 

[stevenjf]

i have Office 2003 , i have never heard of Infopath ?

i belong to a loose collection of individual industry proffessionals ,
who want to create a directory so that we can individually log our
details and specialities and be used as a reference document .

[...]
Make the other members of your "collection" copy the template into their
template directory (or save it in the workgroup template directory if
you are all on a common network with Office installed for network
collaboration).

[...]

On second thoughts, you could perhaps use the InfoPath application,
specifically designed for data collection. (Choice of tools depends on
which version of MS Office you have.)

 

[Keme]

i have Office 2003 , i have never heard of Infopath ?

I said version, but should have said edition.
It seems that Infopath is only in the Enterprise Edition of MS Office 2003.

 

[stevenjf]

infopath sounds ideal ! Any other ideas?

I said version, but should have said edition.
It seems that Infopath is only in the Enterprise Edition of MS Office 2003.