Q:The edit comment button has disappeared!
A:Look in the meatball menu.
Continue reading Q&A: How to edit Modern CommentsTag Archives: MS Word
Learn to Make the Most of Word
Do you even know what you don’t know? I didn’t!
I spent years, stumbling onto functions and tools in Word, then searching for hours to find out how to use them; skipping through long videos to find the 2 minutes that answered my question; wrapping my head around how what they said might apply to the publishing tasks and workflow.
There is an easier way!
That’s why I wrote Editing in Word. It might look like a book, but it’s really a self-study multimedia course tailored precisely to how editors can use Word to make it less painful and make their editing more effective and efficient.
And now there are two courses for editors with open start times. Learn what you want, when you need it, on your schedule and at your own pace:
These materials cut right to the chase, and show how these tools are used in the editing workflow for best practices in a publishing environment.
You don’t need Word 365 to follow these materials. There’s little variety across the versions of Word.
Both Mac and Windows instructions are provided in the lessons and in the video demos.
Got a gnarly Word problem? Submit your problem and we’ll try to answer it in the Q&A thread.
Learn with us! Join a course today.
© This blog and all materials in it are copyright Adrienne Montgomerie on the date of publication. All rights reserved. No portion may be stored or distributed without express written permission. Asking is easy!
Q&A: Tracked Changes are hard to look at. Can’t we use something else?
QI find it hard to look at tracked changes; can editors use another method?
AIt’s an interesting question, and one that gives me feels, it seems. TL;DR — No! Don’t make other professionals put up with awkward kludges to assuage some initial discomfort. You get used to it, and let me share some better ways to ease the pain.
Why Publishing Pros Use Track Changes
Continue reading Q&A: Tracked Changes are hard to look at. Can’t we use something else?
Remove Time Stamps from Changes and Comments
Did you work in the wee hours? Did you scramble to finish right before deadline? Do your tracked changes and comments reveal more than you feel is professional about your work habits? If clients can’t let this go or it’s bothering you too much, try this tiny macro that Samantha Pico commissioned that will go into the background coding and remove the time stamps, and only the time stamps from all tracked changes, leaving your beautifully branded user tag in place.
Macro that erases time stamps in Word
Continue reading Remove Time Stamps from Changes and Comments
For Your Eyes Only: Formatting That Boosts Editing
One thing that makes Amy Schneider such a darned fast editor is that she formats manuscripts to make editing easier. It’s weird-looking, but it’s temporary. With just a few clicks, Amy uses Styles to change what is on her screens (and she uses four) to suit her needs, and then back to the publishers’ submission requirements when she’s done.
Q&A: Can I make a list of in-text citations without a macro?
QIs there a way to make a list of all in-text citations without using a macro?
AYes, with a wildcard search!
Great question. Many editing checks could be done with such a list, and creating one is easy:
Continue reading Q&A: Can I make a list of in-text citations without a macro?
Q&A: How can I tell what section of a document I’m in?
QI’m working in a document with dozens of headings and subheadings. I want to check which section I’m working in without having to scroll back up to find the heading. Is that possible?
Continue reading Q&A: How can I tell what section of a document I’m in?
Q&A: Detect Changes to Styles
QI think the author made subtle changes to the Styles when they were revising. Things like the space above the Style and its exact colour. How can check?!
Continue reading Q&A: Detect Changes to Styles
Delete Resolved Comments Only
Resolved Comments go quiet in Word, but they don’t go away. It’s important to delete them when finalizing a document so they don’t inadvertently travel into the wild with the document, or get (much worse!) printed!
Continue reading Delete Resolved Comments Only
Launch Classic Spellcheck
With the introduction of the Editor pane, Word changed the look of Spellcheck. But you can still access the classic Spellcheck interface by adding it to the Quick Access Toolbar! You can see that at the very top of the image above.
Here’s how:
Continue reading Launch Classic Spellcheck