TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY COMPUTER TIPS AND TRICKS

Page 1

TENNESSEE STATE UNIVERSITY

COMPUTER TIPS AND TRICKS

Productivity Tip

Have you ever wondered how to create a form that you could use for user input using Microsoft Word?

How to Create a Form

Step 1: Set up Word for creating forms

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Word Options.

2. Click Popular.

3. Select the Show Developer tab in the Ribbon check box, and then click OK.

Note: The Ribbon is a component of the Microsoft Office Fluent user interface.

Step 2: Open a template or a document on which to base the form

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click New.

2. Under Templates, click My templates.

3. Double-click Normal, and then click Template or Document under Create New.

4. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save As.

5. In the Save As dialog box, give the new template or document a file name, and then click Save.

Step 3: Add content controls to the form

Design the form by sketching a layout first, or use an existing form as a guide. In your form, you can add

content controls, tables, and other graphics elements.

On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Design Mode, and then click where you want to insert a

control.

Do any of the following:

Insert a text control where users can enter text

1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click the Rich Text control or the Text control

Page 2

Insert a text fill-in field

IMPORTANT Spell Check will not flag any errors that are typed in the text form field. If you want to

run Spell Check, use the Rich Text control or the Text control.

1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Legacy Tools.

2. Click Text Form Field.

3. In the Controls group, click Design Mode, and then do any of the following:

• To add a line under the field, select the field, and then click Underline in the Font group

on the Home tab.

• To limit the amount of information a person can type in the field, set a maximum width

by selecting the field, clicking Properties in the Controls group, and entering a value

under Maximum length.

• To make the field look as long as its maximum length, add instructional text by clicking

Properties in the Controls group, and typing text, such as Type your first name here,

under Default text.

Insert a drop-down list that restricts available choices to those you specify

1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click the Drop-Down List control .

2. Select the content control, and then on the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click

Properties.

3. To create a list of choices, under Drop-Down List Properties, click Add.

4. Type a choice in the Display Name box, such as Yes, No, or Maybe.

Repeat this step until all of the choices are in the drop-down list.

Insert a check box

1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Legacy Tools.

2. Click Check Box Form Field.

3. Type a space, and then type a label for the check box.

4. To remove the shading from the check box, click Legacy Tools, and then click Shading.

NOTE You won't be able to select or clear the check box until you protect the form.

Step 4: Set or change properties for content controls

Each content control has properties that you can set or change. For example, the Date Picker control offers

options for the format you want to use to display the date.

1. Right-click the content control that you want to change.

2. Click Properties, and change the properties that you want.

Page 3

Step 5: Add instructional text to the form

Instructional text can enhance the usability of the form you create and distribute. You can change the default

instructional text in content controls.

To customize the default instructional text for your form users, do the following:

1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Design Mode.

2. Click the content control where you want to revise the placeholder instructional text.

3. Edit the placeholder text and format it any way you want.

4. If you want the content control to disappear when someone types in their own content to replace

your instructions in a Rich Text control or a Text control, click Properties in the Controls

group, and then select the Remove content control when contents are edited check box.

5. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Design Mode to turn off the design feature

and save the instructional text.

NOTE Do not select the Contents cannot be edited check box if you want form users to replace the

instructional text with their own text.

Add protection to a form and prepare it for distribution

You can protect individual content controls in a form template to help prevent someone from deleting or

editing a particular content control or group of controls, or you can prepare a form to be distributed and filled

out by locking it. You can help protect all of the form template content with a password.

TIP If you want, you can test the form prior to distributing it. Open the form, fill it out as the user would, and

then save a copy in a location that you want.

Protect parts of a form

1. Open the form that you want to protect.

2. Select the content control or the group of controls to which you want to restrict changes.

To group several controls, select the controls by pressing SHIFT and clicking each control that you want to

group. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Group, and then click Group.

1. On the Developer tab, in the Controls group, click Properties.

2. In the Content Control Properties dialog box, under Locking, do either of the following:

• Select the Content control cannot be deleted check box, which allows the content of the

control to be edited but the control itself cannot be deleted from the template or a

document that is based on the template.

• Select the Contents cannot be edited check box, which allows you to delete the control

but does not allow you to edit the content in the control.

NOTE This option is not available for all controls.

Page 4

Prepare a form to be filled out

1. Open the form that you want to lock so that it can be filled out.

2. On the Developer tab, in the Protect group, click Protect Document, and then click Restrict

Formatting and Editing.

3. In the Protect Document task pane, under Editing restrictions, select the Allow only this type of

editing in the document check box.

4. In the list of editing restrictions, select Filling in forms.

5. Under Start enforcement, click Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.

6. To assign a password to the document so that only reviewers who know the password can remove

the protection, type a password in the Enter new password (optional) box, and then confirm the

password.

IMPORTANT If you choose not to use a password, anyone can change your editing restrictions.

Use strong passwords that combine uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. Weak

passwords don't mix these elements. Strong password: Y6dh!et5. Weak password: House27. Passwords should

be 8 or more characters in length. A pass phrase that uses 14 or more characters is better. For more

information, see Help protect your personal information with strong passwords. It is critical that you remember

your password. If you forget your password, Microsoft cannot retrieve it. Store the passwords that you

write down in a secure place away from the information that they help protect.

See it in action ------ The following link shows videos that demonstrate the basics of how to create a Word

2007 form and prepare it for distribution.

Go to:

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/HA100307461033.aspx?pid=CH100991571033 (Check for

videos at bottom of screen.)