Protect areas of a document while leaving other areas unprotected. Word 2002 XP

[jereviscious]

Hi all

I'd like my users to have a company letterhead that they can type free form
text, change fonts, spellcheck (all the normal functions) WITHOUT changing
the company logo at the top of the first page *or* the footer information
which contains the address, web site etc..

I'd also like to do this without having to use scripts or macros.

Is this possible? I have a user in my office which insists that it is and
that it has been possible for a long time ( I think he's full of it
frankly).

 

[Jezebel]

Insert section breaks around the areas you want to lock, then use Tools >
Protect document and select protect for forms, but exclude the sections in
which you want to permit user entry. This protects the headers and footers
also. If it's just the headers and footers you want to protect, insert a
continuous section break at the top of page one, and lock section one only.
(The fact that there are no formfields in the protected sections doesn't
matter.) And yes, this has been possible for a long time.

Whether it's worth doing is another matter: experienced users will defeat
your controls on principle, because they can; and novices will complain that
their copy of Word is no longer working properly. Why would your people muck
around with the logo or change the address anyway? -- don't they have enough
work to do?

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

While entirely endorsing Jezebel's sentiments, I offer:

How can I prevent users from editing the header of a document in Word 2000
or higher?
http://word.mvps.org/faqs/customization/ProtectWord2000PlusHeader.htm

How can I prevent users from editing the header of a Word 97 document?
http://word.mvps.org/FAQs/Customization/ProtectWord97Header.htm

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

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[mertz]

Thanks for the response guys, I guess I will have to eat crow on that one. I
knew this was possible to a certain extent using VBA, but not using section
breaks. I'm not a microsoft word developer, and I didn't want my users to
attempt to use Macro's, so Jezebel opened my eyes a little there..

I still think that a read-only copy that the user could take and modify and
save to a separate location would have worked perfectly fine.. I'm glad that
my sentiments are agreed with here..

Thanks again for the responses