Request for new feature!

  • Thread starter Thread starter Steve
  • Start date Start date
S

Steve

I don't know how to humbly crave the ear of Microsoft itself, so I write
here in the hope someone who has the ear of someone who has the ear of
Microsoft will hear me.

Such a simple thing, I can't believe such a clanking, tin pan jangling
programme like word can't do it. (When it does so many things I don't want
it to.) Or maybe it can and I just haven't found it.

A layering of different texts within a single document in levels.

A simple example. I want to write a document. I might start with a plan and
develop that into a fuller synopsis before working on the document proper.
Throughout the whole project I might want to refer to plan and synopsis.
This would be a lot easier, neater and more logical if I could keep the plan
and synopsis as part of the main document. At the moment (I believe) the
only way of doing this is to literally write each sequentially and then
scroll back and forth through the document (or open a copy of the same
document and alt-tab between them). Instead, it should be possible simply to
stack these different texts on top of each other and access them with a tab
or keystroke. But they'd all be saved as part of the same document and could
be printed individually or together.

The same system would simplify all sorts of things - correspondence with a
particular company or individual could be kept as a single file, for
instance. Maybe with an "Import file as layer" command to file replies etc.

I have a lot of problems with Word. It is over-bloated and laughably slow. I
told myself I wouldn't upgrade Word any further until it stopped making fast
new computers feel slower than old XTs. However I would upgrade to a version
that had a feature like this. Or find a competitor that does.
 
Well, I hate to be the bearer of good news, but if you properly use Styles
(Heading 1, Heading 2, etc.) in Word, you can easily move through your
document by clicking "View", "Document Map" and a pane to the left similar
to the Bookmarks of Acrobat Reader will appear. There you can simply click
a style to go to that location in your document. You can also expand and
collapse styles by clicking the "-" and "+" signs.

This link may help:

http://www.microsoft.com/Education/WordTutorial.aspx
 
Not what I mean at all! (I do in fact use this feature regularly and I'm
experienced enough in Word to know very basic stuff like this!)

I don't want to repeat myself. I think my original post is fairly clear. But
I'm talking about a SEPARATE document layer, in which you can keep stuff
related to the main document without cluttering the thing itself.

I think probably the nearest thing that exists to what I'm talking about is
the Autotext tool, which is essentially a store of various pieces of text
that are accessible from the main document. The problem is they're not
stored as immediately accessible text in their own right. You have to paste
them into your document to be able to read them.

Rather than have many related files open simultaneously, plus a whole folder
of their own to keep them in, wouldn't it make more sense to be able to save
them as a single file?

For instance you might have a plan, ongoing notes, research, other readers'
commentaries, an index, appendices etc. If I were doing that now, I would
keep each one in a separate file to stop the main document getting messy.
But it would be much cleaner and faster to have them all as components,
layers (or call them what you like) in a single document.

In other words (I'm trying to be as clear as I can): a Word document would
be able to comprise many related subdocuments.
 
Probably the easiest way I can think of for this in the current version of
Word is to use the "Split Window" feature.

Keep your plan and synopsis in the same document for now, scroll to the
start of the plan/synosis and split the window at that point. Then you can
work in both regions of the document independantly without having to scroll
up and down the entire document all the time.

When you've finished your drafting, simply copy and paste your plan/synopsis
etc into another document, leaving your main one intact...

Pete.
 
Yes, this is the sort of thing I do, but it's a faff, and splitting the
window when you've got three or four documents just isn't an option. But
thanks anyway.
 
Things tend to get a bit tricky when you've got a load of work to do and
don't have much screen area to work with.

Something else to toy with having two machines, side by side, and just refer
one to the other.
 
P.S. You forgot to spam-proof your email address. Better do it quick our
you'll get all sorts of junk in your inbox...
 
You can also email MS directly at (e-mail address removed), just don't expect an
answer. But if you construct the email correctly, it should get logged.

From what I hear about OneNote, it *might* satisfy part of your desires. I
say this with zero knowledge of the program, but perhaps you could get a
trial version somehow.

I happen to disagree with you, personally--while those are all part of the
same project, research, notes, etc, don't belong in the same file as your
written final product. What about sending it off to someone, or printing it
quickly? I also format all those types of documents differently, search for
different things in them, etc, etc, etc. However, my workflow easily absorbs
(and depends on) having multiple windows open (which might be easier on a
Mac than on a Windows machine, I've not used windows intensively enough to
know).

Index/Appendices are/can be part of the same file--to some extent, I see
your request as akin to those who want Excel's worksheet tabs in Word, to be
able to click on a tab and go straight to the Index. (that request comes up
occasionally)
 
I have OneNote, and I was about to suggest it. This is exactly the sort of
application it is designed for--a way to assemble disparate bits and pieces
of notes, outlines, graphics, URLs, and documentation of various sorts. If
you have a Tablet PC, it really comes into its own because you can write
stuff into it directly. Although the built-in handwriting recognition
software can convert your scribbles to text, you don't have to convert it to
be able to perform full-text searches.

--
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.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Similar Threads

Jawbone headphones 8
How do I have Word showing while also reading and scrolling web? 1
"Blocked for Editing" 2
Where is the Keep Text Formatting feature located in Word 07 8
Can't underline in microsoft word 2
Inserting last date saved from one document to another 3
Anyone use Lotus Notes? Similar Feature in Word? 2
Every page in word, new .docx file 1

Back
Top