Multiple users one doc

[John]

Win 98 and XP
Word 2000

Hi,
We effectively have one file (its shared) and we all need access to it to
edit it. One problem is that some like to take a copy home to work on it
there. Is it possible to merge changes made by more that one person? What
might be the best way to manage the file? I thought about having it online?
But we are educational setup with noone in charge of the pcs (really... )
Any thought anyone?

John
UK

 

[Cindy M -WordMVP-]

Hi John,

We effectively have one file (its shared) and we all need access to it to
edit it. One problem is that some like to take a copy home to work on it
there. Is it possible to merge changes made by more that one person? What
might be the best way to manage the file? I thought about having it online?
But we are educational setup with noone in charge of the pcs (really... )
Any thought anyone?

There's nothing part of Office that can really help you, here. Sharepoint
might come close, in that the person who wants to work from home wouldn't
have a separate document from anyone else. But that still doesn't allow more
than one person to work on the file at a time.

Word just wasn't made to support this kind of scenario.

If you all work in different portions of the file, you could split the
document up and use Insert/File with a link to bring them together in a
"master". Then each part could be edited simultaneously, and the "master"
viewed at any time, to see the current, overall situation.

Cindy Meister
INTER-Solutions, Switzerland
http://homepage.swissonline.ch/cindymeister (last update Jun 8 2004)
http://www.word.mvps.org

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