Creating a form field to be filled out by a user and populate through out the document

Anonymous

I know this is simple but I cannot figure it out.

Working in

|Office 2013

|Microsoft Office Word

|Office for Windows 8.1

Please don't reference Greg Massey, I can't understand anything there and his tutorials seem completely out of whack with Word 2013.

I am building a contract where field are repeated several times, (FirstName, LastName, Address, etc.)

I want to create a field in the contract that populated throughout the document with these variable from the first field I population:

I want to enter the information each time from a template directly on the template. When a user would get to the template the first page might have something like this. There they would fill in the variables in italics

This contract is for FirstName LastName at ThisAddress, ThisCity, ThisZipCode

Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here.

Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here. Static content continues here.

Then one of the variable above is needed again. If it was entered above, it would automatically populate the fields filled in above.

FirstName LastName promises to pay $1 for services.

All Service are performed in ZipCode

I know you can do this with bookmarks, but when I did that, and then wanted to CHANGE the variable to make a contract with another person, I had to recreate the bookmark and all referenced fields on the whole thing from an original bookmark again. I want to make this once, and the use just enters the basic information one time and it autopopulates the rest of the doc.

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K MVP Volunteer Moderator

It is NOT to the default text that you create the cross reference, but to the bookmark that is assigned to the FormField.

It is a good idea to assign a meaningful bookmark name to the formfield and in the example below, I have used TenantName as the bookmark as well as setting that as the default text. Note that I have also checked the Calculate on Exit box

Then, after setting cross references to the Text of the Bookmark and Protecting the document for Filling in Forms, when I enter "Bill Smith" into the FormField

and then press the tab key, this will be the result

0 comments

Answer accepted by question author

John Korchok 236.2K Volunteer Moderator

Hi Davyd,

Legacy Form Fields will not relay the information until you protect the document for Filling in forms.

Developer>Restrict Editing
Editing Restrictions>Check Allow only this type of editing in the document.
Set the dropdown to Filling in forms
Click on Yes, Start Enforcing Protection
Save your document.

0 comments

46 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-03-04T16:54:23+00:00

Seems to me that John sent you down at least one rabbit hole ;-).

Summarizing the steps you took such pains to outline in your article:

1. Insert a formfield textbox

2. Double click-it

3. Rename the bookmark e.g., ClientName

4. Check the box "Calculate on exit"

5. Close the dialog

5. Insert a REF field pointing to ClientName

6. Protect the document.

Despite the apparent shortcomings my tips page contains, I still find it amusing that this thread is four pages long. Regardless, I am pleased that you found a solution to your question.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2015-03-04T17:16:29+00:00

Greg,

If you had sent that when I first posted, or anyone else, I might have given that the right answer. But probably not since I did not know to use legacy form field vs. the newer text controls, did not know what a Quickpart was to get to the REF and several other things that I had to learn by making mistakes and asking additional questions. I do now, thanks to EVERYONE's help.

But that is not what was put forward earlier on the trail. At least not that I can understand. Maybe we did take a long way to get to the end, but John was the most patient and non-judgmental of everyone.

Did John pull someone's ponytail in 3rd grade? ;)

I am not sure why everyone is so obsessed with me thanking EVERYONE, but giving a shout out to someone that made me feel a bit less stupid than I already felt.

I am in IT which might surprise some of you, though I haven't coded in years. I find one of the biggest gaps we have in IT is not talking to users at a level they understand. Not talking down to them, but getting to the point that they might not understand what a "reference", "variable", or "trigger" is. Then we whine about requestor's not giving us good requirements or understanding what they are asking for.

There were probably a lot of correct answers that were given to me IF I understood them. But if the requestor does not understand what he/she is being told, it really isn't the right answer, is it?

So I will thank EVERYONE again as I really do appreciate the time and effort everyone put in to getting me up to speed on this. I tried to do it on my own and failed and was grateful for the help of all the contributors. It was a simple problem, and now I understand it better than I probably would have if I randomly figured it out. I have used to help someone with their small business and probably saved them 100's of hours over the next year and increased the integrity of the data in their paperwork.

Well done everyone. THANK YOU!
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments
Anonymous

2015-03-04T18:14:27+00:00

Davyd,

I did not mean to come across as being obsessed with receiving your approbation or gratitude. Nor to I want to make a federal case over your original dismissal of my published tips. I've updated that page based on your feedback and hopefully others will now find it easier to follow. Again I'm glad you have a solution.
Was this answer helpful?

0 comments No comments