Formatting user entered free form text fields?

[Rae]

A form that has been built with dropdowns and free form text fields is
working for the most part except when a user needs to change a free form text
field by using bold/italics or color font. If the form is protected, the
user can not use special formatting on the free form text fields.

If I unprotect the form, then the dropdown boxes are no longer active for
the user to select an option.

Because of the layout of the form, I don't believe the use of section breaks
as recommended here by another poster (thank you), doesn't work for this form
either. The form has been written to match the software/applicaton screen as
exact as possible to reduce keying and am mixing free form text with dropdown
boxes on the same line in some cases.

Are there any other suggestions other then unprotecting or use of section
breaks to allow special formatting and/or track changes?

This form can be updated multiple times throughout the life of a project.

 

[Stefan Blom]

In Word you cannot apply formatting to text form fields in a protected
document. The idea of those fields is that the designer provides the
formatting and the user only adds the content.

I suspect that using an unprotected section is your only option...

Or, even better, ask in a programming newsgroup such as
microsoft.public.word.vba.general; maybe someone there has a better
suggestion.