Linking Objects in Word

[Guest]

Early today I found the information I needed in your Discussion group, but
before I was able to copy or record it - I was called away on an emergency.
Tonight I have spent hours trying to find that same post - I have been unable
to do that so will have to post my own question and hope I get a response.

We are attempting to place several text boxes throughout a large document.
Each text box will appear numerous times in this document and will require
editing periodically. We want to be able to edit the first (source) text box
and it update each similar text box. I have attempted to link each text box
as an object but I must be missing a step because when I follow the
directions I can find - it says to click on edit, then object or link, the
object or link option is always greyed out and so that clicking on it
produces nothing. Please give me a hint where I can go to find the basics
for placing text boxes in my document and having them show up as an object so
that I can link them.

Thank you.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Perhaps the reply you saw pointed you to
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Repeating_Data.htm?

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Suzanne,

Thank you for your response but if it helps me I am too much of a novice to
know it. No, that wasn't what I was looking for. It was a community
discussion like this one and they were trying to do what we are trying to do.
Place a text box into a document and have that text box appear many times in
the document while being linked allowing changes to the first text box that
will update all the other text boxes.

I have tried bookmarking a text box and have been unsuccessful. I am at a
total loss on how to go about this but I know that Word will do it.

 

[Guest]

OKay - now I am getting a glimmer that I don't even know what Microsoft means
by the word "Object". I have tried pictures, text boxes, etc in an effort to
be able to go to Edit on the menu bar and have links or objects be anything
but grey. And nothing in the Help options is helping me.
Thanks,
CodyKid

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

If you use text form fields in a protected form, then they are bookmarked by
default, and you can insert a cross-reference to the bookmark in order to
repeat the content. For an ordinary text box (if this will work at all), you
would have to manually bookmark the text box and then insert a
cross-reference to the bookmark, selecting "Bookmark text" as the
cross-reference type. "Text" is a bit misleading: if you bookmark a picture,
then the repeated "text" will be the picture.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.

 

[Guest]

Thank you Suzanne but again I got lost. But what I did find was a hint to
give me directions to get started. Following are the steps I took, should
someone else be trying to do this, and it worked in a new document. However,
I could not make it work in an already written, formatted and saved document.
In other words, I couldn't go back to an old document and insert the
linking. Any explanation as to why?

1) First I placed data in a new Word Document.
2) Then I highlited a paragraph that I wished to repeat as a link in future
pages and copied it.
3) Then I positioned my cursor elsewhere in the document where I wished the
paragraph to be placed.
4) From the edit menu I choose Paste Special, then from the pop up box I
clicked on the radial button "Paste Link'. (this is the first time that
option became available - it will not in an existing word document).
5) Also from the Paste Special drop down box I chose Microsoft Office Word
Document Object. Then I clicked ok.
6) I repeated steps 3 thru 5 until I had this paragraph as many times in my
document as I wished.
7) Then I went back to the source paragraph, made changes and all my linked
paragraphs changed also.

I was so thrilled. I now know how to accomplish the linking - BUT I STILL
DON'T KNOW HOW to do this function in an already created document. MY
QUESTION IS: Can it be done and if so how?

This will save us hours and hours - no weeks of work so I sure hope you can
help.
Cody Kid

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

You've veered off into an area of Word I've never experienced. The steps to
accomplish what I'm describing are pretty clear. You can select text, use
Insert | Bookmark to give the selected text a bookmark, then use Insert |
Reference | Cross-reference to Bookmark text to insert the text elsewhere.
But bookmarks can be fragile, so if you're trying to set up a document into
which someone can type new data and have it repeated, then you'll do better
to use either form fields or a UserForm, and both of these are amply
described in the article I originally referenced,
http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Repeating_Data.htm. You might also want to see
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Userforms/CreateAUserForm.htm and
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/MacrosVBA/InsertingTextAtBookmark.htm.

--
Suzanne S. Barnhill
Microsoft MVP (Word)
Words into Type
Fairhope, Alabama USA

Email cannot be acknowledged; please post all follow-ups to the newsgroup so
all may benefit.