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

Anonymous
2015-03-01T18:08:02+00:00

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.

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
2015-03-02T05:53:50+00:00

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

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John Korchok 236.2K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
2015-03-02T14:44:28+00:00

Hi Davyd,

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

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

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  1. Anonymous
    2015-03-02T04:23:55+00:00

    John,

    I assure, i am pretty sure this is not your fault.  I am coming at this from a very basic understanding of this.  here is what I have done now with what I understood.  You have been very helpful.

    So I did it again with a legacy Text Form Field

    All I did was click that from the Developer tab in the controls area.

    I made the default text "TheTenantName"

    Everything else was the default until field settings.

    There I made sure that Fill-in enabled was checked

    Calculate on exit was checked.

    It looked like this:

    Test for changeable field that will populate other parts of the document   { FORMTEXT }

    Field to test that the field above populates correctly { REF TenantName }

    And a second time to see it does it every time   { REF TenantName }

    If I use CTRL + F on the fields it looks like this:

    Test for changeable field that will populate other parts of the document  TheTenantName

    Field to test that the field above populates correctly TheTenantName

    And a second time to see it does it every time   TheTenantName

    I changed the default text field in the { FORMTEXT } and successfully toggled the REF fields for them to update the change I made in the original form field from the properties window 

    • Good progress.

    But

    1. The REF fields do not update automatically without me going to each one individually to toggle the field and update the change.
    2. I cannot select the original { FORMTEXT } and just type in it.  When I do, it disappears and is basically deleted and the text I write is simply text with no relationship to the REF fields

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-03-02T04:21:19+00:00

    Charles,

    Thanks, I am comfortable that I am not smart enough to succeed at this from Greg's page.  I pointed that out right from the beginning.  So though I do appreciate you coming on to point to what you believe will help.  I have failed to succeed from Greg's page.  I apparently need someone to come down a level to communicate what I am trying to do.

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-02T04:19:16+00:00

    Doug, I am trying to point out that I am " failing to understand or follow the instructions" as you kindly pointed out. .  I realize that site may seem very straightforward to you, but it is not to me.  And nothing there seems to match what I am looking at in Word 2013.

    We can assume I am much too junior for that page.

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