AutoText (Glossaries) in Microsoft Word 2003



AutoText (Glossaries) in Microsoft Word 2003

Introduction

A glossary, known in Microsoft Word 2003 as AutoText, is a collection of commonly-used words or phrases which are assigned to shortcut key sequences (abbreviations) consisting of one or more letters. There is one key sequence for each AutoText entry.

Glossaries are a very useful tool as they can be used to enter the name of a department, phrase, sentence or any other frequently-used text using an abbreviation. For example, if you often type the phrase Department of Parapsychology and Paranormal Studies, the glossary entry for this phrase could be set up as dpps. Now whenever you type dpps and then press the full phrase will be entered for you. Note that AutoText entries can include formatting, such as bold or italics.

Creating an AutoText Entry

To create an AutoText entry :

1. Start up Microsoft Word either with a new or existing document

2. Type in the required text (eg The University of Reading) then drag through the words to select them (or just select text in an existing document) and apply any formatting (there's no need to here - you'll be modifying the entry later)

3. Open the Insert menu, choose AutoText and then New... (or press )

The following dialogue box will appear containing all or part of your selected text:

[pic]

3. Replace the existing text in the Please name your AutoText entry: box with the abbreviation you want to use - in this case uor (entries are NOT case-sensitive)

4. Press for [OK] and your AutoText is available for use

Now try using the AutoText entry:

5. Type in some more text - stop when you next need to type in The University of Reading

6. This time just type the abbreviation, uor then press - the full text should appear

7. Repeat steps 1 to 4 to create your own AutoText entries (eg for your department and personal name) then test them out as in steps 5 and 6

Note: An AutoText entry must be at the start of a paragraph or preceded by a space (immediately before you type the abbreviation). Entries can also be added via AutoText from the Insert menu - a list appears when you select Normal. Using this method, a space need not precede the entry.

When using AutoText, the entries appear using the current font settings (ie font type, font size, bold/italic/underline etc). To see this:

8. Type in some more text, stopping when you next want to insert an AutoText entry

9. Turn on [Bold] and change the [Font] to Arial

10. Type in the AutoText abbreviation (eg uor) and press , as before - the full text should appear, this time in Arial bold

11. Turn off [Bold] and reset the [Font] to Times New Roman to return to normal typing

If you always want your AutoText entry to appear in some special format then you can include this in the AutoText, as you will see next.

Modifying an AutoText Entry

To change an AutoText entry:

1. Insert the AutoText entry to be changed - eg type uor and press

2. Modify it as required - correct any spelling mistakes and apply any formatting (here, select the entry and make the words [Italic])

3. Open the Insert menu, select AutoText then New... - or press

4. Enter the original abbreviation - in this instance uor then press or click on [OK]

5. When asked if you want to redefine the entry press for [Yes] - the modified text will replace the original entry

6. Try out the modified entry (type uor and press ) - you should find the words appear in italics but any subsequent typing appears as normal (you don't have to turn italics off)

Note that you can also amend the text (but not any special formatting) on the AutoText tab in the AutoCorrect dialog window, which you will be looking at next.

Deleting an AutoText Entry

To delete an AutoText entry:

1. Open the Insert menu and choose AutoText then AutoText... again

The AutoCorrect dialog window will be displayed:

[pic]

2. On the AutoText tab, select the entry to be deleted

3. Click on [Delete] - beware: this cannot be undone

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 to delete any other entries not wanted

5. Press or click on [Close] to finish

6. Try using uor, as before, and note the message on the Status Bar at the foot of the screen

Note: You can also [Insert] entries from your glossary here - very useful if you have forgotten the abbreviation for a particular entry.

Printing the AutoText Entries

If you have a large glossary, it can be advantageous to print it out. This can be done as follows:

1. Open the File menu and select Print...

2. Click on the list arrow attached to the Print what: box and select AutoText entries

3. Click on [OK] to print the list or on [Cancel] to abort the print

Assigning AutoText Entries to a Specific Template

By default, AutoText entries are made available to any active templates associated with a particular document. Normally, you are using the normal.dot template. However, if you want to create a special glossary for use with a particular template, then you proceed as follows.

To create the special template:

1. Open the File menu and choose New... - the Task Pane appears

2. Under Templates click on On my computer...

3. Under the Create New heading (bottom right), click on Template

4. Press or click on [OK]

You now have a template rather than a document file, which can be set up with special features (see Styles and Templates in Microsoft Word 2003 for further details) and which can have its own glossary. To add an AutoText entry to this template:

5. Type in the required text and select it as usual

6. Open the Insert menu and choose AutoText then AutoText...

7. On the AutoText tab, type in your abbreviation under Enter AutoText entries here

8. Click on the list arrow attached to Look in: (at the foot of the box) and select the template required - here Template1 (template)

9. Press or click on [Add] and your entry will be added to the list for that template

10. Repeat steps 5 to 9 to add further AutoText entries to your special template

11. Try using both your old and new entries - you will find only the new ones work

Currently, AutoText is set to use only the glossary associated with the new template. To pick up entries from both the new template and normal.dot:

1. Open the Insert menu and choose AutoText then AutoText...

2. Click on the list arrow attached to Look in: and select All active templates - the entries stored in normal.dot should also now be shown

3. Click on [OK] to close the AutoCorrect dialog box

4. Try out your AutoText entries - you should be able to use them all

If you would like to know how to attach special templates to a document, see the section on attaching templates in Styles and Templates in Microsoft Word 2003. This document has another section which covers copying AutoText entries between templates using the Organizer.

The AutoText Toolbar

[pic]

Microsoft Word provides a special AutoText toolbar, as shown above. The three buttons give you immediate access to AutoText in the AutoCorrect dialog box, a list of all your entries and a new entry button (a very quick way to add several new words to your glossary). If you use AutoText a lot, it is worth displaying this toolbar:

1. Open the View menu and choose Toolbars

2. Choose AutoText (the toolbars currently displayed have a ticked check box)

The toolbar can be hidden by repeating steps 1 and 2 above.

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