Mac Forum / Applications / Word / May 2008

Don't worry, Greg -- the regulars here don't use a web interface, just a
newsreader, so it doesn't come through formatted no matter what. And the
capacity to edit has been removed by Microsoft because it caused chaos in
some threads.

But I know what you're pointing out.

It would seem that "Accept all changes" was not clicked on the file that
went to the designer. The additional words were retained in the Word file;
it isn't a Quark XPress error (and I'm not aware of a Word 2008 bug in this
regard, but I'll hold off with that assertion since I haven't moved to Word
2008; somebody else may comment on that).

Some of this may interest you: I work on strategic plans that go to and from
many collaborators -- somewhat like an editor's workflow.  I *never* trust
Track Changes on the principal electronic document, because of the potential
for corruption or errors related to having more than one layer of changes,
changes within tables, automatic numbering, deleted paragraph marks, and
footnotes. I've described my practices on pages 67-71 of some notes on the
way I use Word for the Mac, titled "Bend Word to Your Will", which are
available as a free download from the Word MVPs' website
(http://word.mvps.org/Mac/Bend/BendWordToYourWill.html).

[Note: "Bend Word to your will" is designed to be used electronically and
most subjects are self-contained dictionary-style entries.  If you decide to
read more widely than the item I've referred to, it's important to read the
front end of the document -- especially pages 3 and 5 -- so you can select
some Word settings that will allow you to use the document effectively.]

Instead I choose Tools menu => Track Changes => Compare documents and send
the compared document as well as a copy of the principal document.  My own
principal document remains pristine. The procedure when I get a copy back is
described on page 68.

Among other things, the situation you describe never occurs. And even
resolving botched spacing takes more time than is needed to do the document
comparison.

Cheers,

Clive Huggan
Canberra, Australia
(My time zone is 5-11 hours different from the Americas and Europe, so my
follow-on responses to those regions can be delayed)
====================================================

On 7/5/08 5:48 AM, in article 59b4cffc.0@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,

Hello Gregg -

FWIW, I'm in full support of Clive on the matter... Although that's like
parishioner supporting a priest:-) To extend on it a bit though, if the
changes appeared even after actually Accepting/Rejecting all changes it's
possible that you were dealing with a corrupt document - the the very spawn
of continuous change tracking to which Clive refers.

Track Changes is a great feature, but it must be administered sparingly.
Another approach is to not keep it active continuously throughout the
editing process. Instead, Accept/Reject at certain milestones, save to a
copy with no markup & continue editing in that copy. Hold on to the prior
copy for future reference if necessary. Clive's suggestion is more efficient
& practical for most workflows - especially in docs of more than 50 pages or
where extensive revision is necessary.

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

On 5/6/08 3:48 PM, in article 59b4cffc.0@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,

A word of advice from one who learned the "hard way":-)

Although I heartily encourage you to consult Clive's opus I'd suggest that
you merely peruse it to familiarize yourself with the extent of its content,
then refer to it as necessary for guidance on specific topics. If you
attempt to *read* it you'll try to *memorize* it & not get on with anything
else:-) I have it stapled to every accessible resource Word & OS X have to
offer.

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

On 5/7/08 10:10 AM, in article 59b4cffc.4@webcrossing.caR9absDaxw,