Word is independently editing my manuscript

[Desert_Dweller]

Version: 2008 Operating System: Mac OS X 10.5 (Leopard) Processor: Intel When I reformatted a book manuscript and repaginated, word - on its own (as unbelievable as that may be), changed some of the book characters names. For example, "Mary called Joe on the phone" became "Mary called Mary on the phone." I didn't do any searches to change copy, I didn't have "Mary" or "Joe" in anything that would be autocorrected.

Can anyone tell me what might have gone wrong. I now have to proofread the entire manuscript over again.

 

[CyberTaz]

Well, contrary to popular misconception Word can't do anything of that
nature "on its own" What happens 'automatically' is because a user
has/has not changed settings or used certain features which are responsible
for the change. Most likely it's the result of unresolved Tracked Changes in
the document... Does the Reviewing Toolbar appear when you open the file or
are there any Comment balloons?

It's also possible that previous handling of the document has caused some
degree of corruption.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[Desert_Dweller]

I was being a sarcastic. I know that I must have done something to cause the problem - but I can't figure out what it is. No I didn't use track changes, the reviewing toolbar doesn't appear when I open the document, and no balloons appear.

I've created book pages with Word before, and never had this problem. It looks like as though I did a search for certain names, and then changed them all - but I didn't do that.

I had changed the typestyle and the page format, to go from manuscript to book page, and made some edits to the pages.

What type of handling would cause such a corruption? I need to correct the document, and want to be sure this doesn't happen again.

Thanks!

 

[John_McGhie_[MVP]]

It's either Find/Replace or Word>Preferences>AutoCorrect>AutoText>"Show
Autocomplete tip for AutoText, Contacts..."

The only other thing I can think of that would do this is Smart Tags, but
Word 2008 doesn't have them.

Just check that you don't have cross-references going crazy. Go to
Word>Preferences>View and turn View>Field Codes on. Do the names suddenly
turn into cross-references?

Hope this helps

I was being a sarcastic. I know that I must have done something to cause the
problem - but I can't figure out what it is. No I didn't use track changes,
the reviewing toolbar doesn't appear when I open the document, and no balloons
appear.

I've created book pages with Word before, and never had this problem. It looks
like as though I did a search for certain names, and then changed them all -
but I didn't do that.

I had changed the typestyle and the page format, to go from manuscript to book
page, and made some edits to the pages.

What type of handling would cause such a corruption? I need to correct the
document, and want to be sure this doesn't happen again.

Thanks!

--

The email below is my business email -- Please do not email me about forum
matters unless I ask you to; or unless you intend to pay!

John McGhie, Microsoft MVP (Word, Mac Word), Consultant Technical Writer,
McGhie Information Engineering Pty Ltd
Sydney, Australia. | Ph: +61 (0)4 1209 1410 | mailto:[email protected]

 

[CyberTaz]

Yeah, I did pick up on the tone but was just playing it safe But you're
absolutely right -- there must be a reason/explanation. If it isn't Tracked
Changes John has offered some other possibilities & I honestly can't come up
with much other than those without more detail about the document's history.

Is this one you originated yourself? Has it ever been transported to another
computer? Have any other users had access to the file? You seem to be
familiar with Find/Replace & AutoCorrect, so I believe you'd know if you had
used them... And AutoCorrect only replaces content As You Type, it doesn't
go back & change existing content

I don't think it is the cause, but what do you mean by "from manuscript to
book page"? Did you simply switch form Normal/Draft View to Print Layout
View? That does cause the document to repaginate & would in turn cause
certain types of fields to update.

Come back with the answers as well as the results of John's suggestions &
include any additional details you can provide.

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac