stuck - hard to explain

[David]

i need to create a new vacation / sick leave request form for the office.
the current form being used, when opened, you just tab all the way through to
the different sections that need to be filled in (name, dept, dates, etc)
without affecting the text. well, we came up with a new layout and other
options so i have to create the doc from scratch. but, i can't figure out how
to create it so you just open it and tab to the various sections. right now,
if i open it, and hit tab, it just edits the document and indents the text.

i know this is a terrible explanation but can anyone help? thanks.

david

 

[Jay Freedman]

i need to create a new vacation / sick leave request form for the
office.
the current form being used, when opened, you just tab all the way
through to the different sections that need to be filled in (name,
dept, dates, etc) without affecting the text. well, we came up with a
new layout and other options so i have to create the doc from
scratch. but, i can't figure out how to create it so you just open it
and tab to the various sections. right now, if i open it, and hit
tab, it just edits the document and indents the text.

i know this is a terrible explanation but can anyone help? thanks.

david

If you're using form fields, you have to "protect the document for forms" to
make the fields active and the rest of the document protected from editing.
Click the lock icon on the Forms toolbar, or go through Tools > Protect
Document to the Protect Document task pane, and set the protection to
"Filling in forms".

Read http://www.computorcompanion.com/LPMArticle.asp?ID=22 for help.

--
Regards,
Jay Freedman
Microsoft Word MVP
Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[DeanH]

What you are looking for is "Forms".
Look up "Create forms that users complete in Word" in the Help for the basic
instructions for forms and the protection of, and the navigation within.
Hope this helps
DeanH

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

What you are describing is a protected form. See
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/FillinTheBlanks.htm and especially
the forms tutorials by Dian Chapman that this article links to.

 

[Phil Ardussi]

.... and if I could throw in 2c worth ... I use OmniForm from Nuance. You
scan the form, bring up the image and pop through the form where underline
sections show up. You can also manually set up fields to fill in that don't
have underlines. After filling it in, save and print.

If you can Word to do the job, you don't need to spring for another
application, of course. It's just nice to know it's out there just in case.