M
Millie
Is it possible to insert a word count in the footer of a Word document
similar to inserting the date & time whenever a document is changed?
similar to inserting the date & time whenever a document is changed?
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M
macropod
Hi Millie,
Yes, there's a NUMWORDS field, which you can create by pressing Ctrl-F9 to create a pair of field braces (ie '{ }') then typing
'NUMWORDS' between the field braces, thus '{NUMWORDS}', and pressing F9. Note two things about this:
1. Word's idea of a word count isn't what you might expect. For example, decimal numbers with thousands separators will be counted
as multiple words.
2. The NUMWORDS field will count itself when you update it.
Yes, there's a NUMWORDS field, which you can create by pressing Ctrl-F9 to create a pair of field braces (ie '{ }') then typing
'NUMWORDS' between the field braces, thus '{NUMWORDS}', and pressing F9. Note two things about this:
1. Word's idea of a word count isn't what you might expect. For example, decimal numbers with thousands separators will be counted
as multiple words.
2. The NUMWORDS field will count itself when you update it.
H
Herb Tyson [MVP]
Yes. Insert tab, Quick Parts, Field, Category=All, Field name=DocProperty,
Property=Words.
Or... press Ctrl+F9, type "DOCPROPERTY Words" without the quotes, then press
F9.
Property=Words.
Or... press Ctrl+F9, type "DOCPROPERTY Words" without the quotes, then press
F9.
M
Millie
Hi
Does that mean that commas and full stops are also counted as words?
--
Millie
Does that mean that commas and full stops are also counted as words?
--
Millie
macropod said:Hi Millie,
Yes, there's a NUMWORDS field, which you can create by pressing Ctrl-F9 to create a pair of field braces (ie '{ }') then typing
'NUMWORDS' between the field braces, thus '{NUMWORDS}', and pressing F9. Note two things about this:
1. Word's idea of a word count isn't what you might expect. For example, decimal numbers with thousands separators will be counted
as multiple words.
2. The NUMWORDS field will count itself when you update it.
--
Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
Millie said:Is it possible to insert a word count in the footer of a Word document
similar to inserting the date & time whenever a document is changed?
M
Millie
Thanks Herb Tyson. I'll gvie that a go. Would you know why some people say
you can't get an accurate word count using Word and you can't trust it
especially if you're submitting articles for magazines?
you can't get an accurate word count using Word and you can't trust it
especially if you're submitting articles for magazines?
G
Graham Mayor
Having had hundreds of articles published in magazines, the word count is
certainly accurate enough to count submissions. In any case your submission
will probably be sub-edited unless you have full editorial control over your
work, so the final count may not be that you submitted. The count in such
circumstances is only a guide by which you can evaluate whether the text
will fit in a given space and that is flexible in that not all words are the
same length. All the magazines I have worked for paid by the page or the
feature and not by the number of words.
--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
My web site www.gmayor.com
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
certainly accurate enough to count submissions. In any case your submission
will probably be sub-edited unless you have full editorial control over your
work, so the final count may not be that you submitted. The count in such
circumstances is only a guide by which you can evaluate whether the text
will fit in a given space and that is flexible in that not all words are the
same length. All the magazines I have worked for paid by the page or the
feature and not by the number of words.
--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP
My web site www.gmayor.com
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
M
Millie
Thanks for the clarification. I appreciate your help.
M
macropod
Hi Millie,
With the NUMWORDS field, a number like:
12,345,678.90
will only be counted as 1 word.
However, if you use periods as bullet points, for example:
.. Hello
That would be counted as 2 words.
If your document contains a formula like:
C = 2 x 3.141459 x 4.37
that would count as 7 words.
The same applies to the 'DOCPROPERTY Words' fields suggested by Herb.
It's only when you try to use a macro to process words in a document that you get problems. For example, in a document with nothing
more than:
12,345,678.90
This macro:
Sub Test()
MsgBox ActiveDocument.Words.Count
End Sub
returns a count of 8!
--
Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
With the NUMWORDS field, a number like:
12,345,678.90
will only be counted as 1 word.
However, if you use periods as bullet points, for example:
.. Hello
That would be counted as 2 words.
If your document contains a formula like:
C = 2 x 3.141459 x 4.37
that would count as 7 words.
The same applies to the 'DOCPROPERTY Words' fields suggested by Herb.
It's only when you try to use a macro to process words in a document that you get problems. For example, in a document with nothing
more than:
12,345,678.90
This macro:
Sub Test()
MsgBox ActiveDocument.Words.Count
End Sub
returns a count of 8!
--
Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
Millie said:Hi
Does that mean that commas and full stops are also counted as words?
--
Millie
macropod said:Hi Millie,
Yes, there's a NUMWORDS field, which you can create by pressing Ctrl-F9 to create a pair of field braces (ie '{ }') then typing
'NUMWORDS' between the field braces, thus '{NUMWORDS}', and pressing F9. Note two things about this:
1. Word's idea of a word count isn't what you might expect. For example, decimal numbers with thousands separators will be
counted
as multiple words.
2. The NUMWORDS field will count itself when you update it.
--
Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
Millie said:Is it possible to insert a word count in the footer of a Word document
similar to inserting the date & time whenever a document is changed?
H
Herb Tyson [MVP]
Presuming that the word count is for space/length guidance, I would think it
entirely appropriate to count numbers, in any event. Numbers consume
space--and 12,345,678.90 takes up a lot more space than "a" or "I". The same
could be said for bullets, since they effectively consume space (although,
in most cases, when you add a bullet, depending on the length of the
paragraph and if hanging indent is used, any given bullet can consume a lot
more space than just one word).
My reason for suggesting the DocProperty field was that it was a quick way
to expose Millie to the variety of additional kinds of information that can
be inserted via field code. If I were doing this for my own purposes, I'd
use NUMWORDS, since I usually create fields manually and it's shorter to
type. But, I don't think I'd worry much about faux words. On the other hand,
if I were being paid per word, I do a quick count of bullets and numbered
paragraphs and subtract those from the total. Fortunately, while I've
sometimes had targeted word counts for articles, I've never encountered a
client who paid by word.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
entirely appropriate to count numbers, in any event. Numbers consume
space--and 12,345,678.90 takes up a lot more space than "a" or "I". The same
could be said for bullets, since they effectively consume space (although,
in most cases, when you add a bullet, depending on the length of the
paragraph and if hanging indent is used, any given bullet can consume a lot
more space than just one word).
My reason for suggesting the DocProperty field was that it was a quick way
to expose Millie to the variety of additional kinds of information that can
be inserted via field code. If I were doing this for my own purposes, I'd
use NUMWORDS, since I usually create fields manually and it's shorter to
type. But, I don't think I'd worry much about faux words. On the other hand,
if I were being paid per word, I do a quick count of bullets and numbered
paragraphs and subtract those from the total. Fortunately, while I've
sometimes had targeted word counts for articles, I've never encountered a
client who paid by word.
--
Herb Tyson MS MVP
Author of the Word 2007 Bible
Blog: http://word2007bible.herbtyson.com
Web: http://www.herbtyson.com
macropod said:Hi Millie,
With the NUMWORDS field, a number like:
12,345,678.90
will only be counted as 1 word.
However, if you use periods as bullet points, for example:
. Hello
That would be counted as 2 words.
If your document contains a formula like:
C = 2 x 3.141459 x 4.37
that would count as 7 words.
The same applies to the 'DOCPROPERTY Words' fields suggested by Herb.
It's only when you try to use a macro to process words in a document that
you get problems. For example, in a document with nothing more than:
12,345,678.90
This macro:
Sub Test()
MsgBox ActiveDocument.Words.Count
End Sub
returns a count of 8!
--
Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
Millie said:Hi
Does that mean that commas and full stops are also counted as words?
--
Millie
macropod said:Hi Millie,
Yes, there's a NUMWORDS field, which you can create by pressing Ctrl-F9
to create a pair of field braces (ie '{ }') then typing
'NUMWORDS' between the field braces, thus '{NUMWORDS}', and pressing F9.
Note two things about this:
1. Word's idea of a word count isn't what you might expect. For example,
decimal numbers with thousands separators will be counted
as multiple words.
2. The NUMWORDS field will count itself when you update it.
--
Cheers
macropod
[MVP - Microsoft Word]
Is it possible to insert a word count in the footer of a Word document
similar to inserting the date & time whenever a document is changed?
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