How bset to protect a document/form?

[Christine]

Hi, all. I have a Word 2007 template that includes content controls in a
Word table as the first section, and outline numbering in the second. My
goals are to
make the content controls work, and to make the outline formatting automatic
for the user, with Styles. Here's where my fun begins:

To activate drop downs I've had to protect the first section as Restrict
Formatting and Editing. That messes up user's ability to enter text in
outline numbering in the second section and to Track Changes. Unprotecting
the from has permitted a problem user to rewrite the table, and while I'm
sensitive to user needs, devising one template for all is my job.
Unprotecting the template for each user frustrates them. Do you have any
suggestions about doing it better?

Thanks for your time.

 

[Jay Freedman]

Hi, all. I have a Word 2007 template that includes content controls in a
Word table as the first section, and outline numbering in the second. My
goals are to
make the content controls work, and to make the outline formatting automatic
for the user, with Styles. Here's where my fun begins:

To activate drop downs I've had to protect the first section as Restrict
Formatting and Editing. That messes up user's ability to enter text in
outline numbering in the second section and to Track Changes. Unprotecting
the from has permitted a problem user to rewrite the table, and while I'm
sensitive to user needs, devising one template for all is my job.
Unprotecting the template for each user frustrates them. Do you have any
suggestions about doing it better?

Thanks for your time.

First, if the dropdowns are content controls and not the formfield
dropdowns from the Legacy Controls tools, then you should not be using
Restrict Formatting and Editing at all. Instead, select all of the
first section containing the content controls, and choose Group >
Group. That section will behave like a protected form -- the content
controls will work, and everything else will refuse editing -- while
the rest of the document will be completely unaffected.

If for some reason you used legacy dropdown formfields, my first
suggestion would be to replace them with dropdown content controls. If
you don't want to do that, put a continuous section break between the
form area and the rest of the template. In the Restrict Formatting
pane, after selecting Forms protection, you'll see a blue link for
"Select sections". Click that, and uncheck Section 2 to allow editing
there. That will still interfere with some things, such as modifying
inserted graphics, and it may also interfere with numbering and Track
Changes. If you can avoid legacy controls entirely, that will be the
best solution.

 

[Christine]

Thanks, that helps me. I've still got a problem though: I can't select the
dropdown content control (it is a content control), and Group. The command
is not active. I inserted a content control and Group became active. I've
removed the Restrict Formatting and Editing command, so the document is
unprotected. ???? Thanks again,

 

[Jay Freedman]

The Group command should be active whenever two or more content
controls (and any intervening or surrounding text) are selected. The
kind of content control(s) doesn't matter.

Have you selected the entire chunk of document that contains the
content controls?

 

[Christine]

I selected the whole document to include the RT content controls , and Group
was suddenly alive. Going to test the template now. BIG thanks for your
help!