Where is Auto Text in Word 2007

[Guest]

I work at home and recently purchased windows vista. I use auto correct and
auto text a lot on my job. However, I can't figure out how to use auto text.
I need to act the way it did in Word 2003 where you start to type something
and the whole phrase appears and you just hit enter to insert it into the
document. Is there such a thing anymore in Word 2007? I hope so because
right now I'm still using my Word 2003 because I need this feature. It is a
time saver and a money maker. Thanks in advance for your help and responses.

 

[Luc]

Leastep91,
Those are called building blocks now. You can locate them clicking Insert -
Text group - Quick Parts - Building Blocks Organizer.
You can still use Alt+F3 to make one, just select the text and press Alt+F3.
Or add a button to the quick access toolbar, Office Button - Word Options -
Customize - All Commands - Create AutoText

 

[Graham Mayor]

As Luc indicates, autotext is still present, though it does not work in the
same manner. In particular, the autocomplete function is no longer
available. You can either use logical and unique names for your autotext
entries that you can remember then press F3 to complete them, or you can
pick them from a list, or you can create toolbars that hold the entries,
while you still have Word 2003, and save them in a template you can add in
to Word - see http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm . I have one
such toolbar in 2007 from which I pick from a variety of smileys.
If you want anything more sophisticated, you might consider a third party
approach. When corresponding in these forums, I have a large number of
standard texts stored in GhostTyper XML. This will work in all applications
that accept keyboard input.

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

Autocorrect still works as before.

 

[Guest]

AutoComplete is no longer supported for AutoText/building blocks. But you can
type the name of the AutoText entry and then press F3 to insert it.

 

[Guest]

Oh, No! It takes me longer to do this than in Word 2003. It looks like I'm
stuck with using the older version of Word with my job. Whatever happened to
"if it's not broken don't fix it". Why couldn't they leave a good thing
alone. I can't believe we don't have that option anymore. Thanks for your
replies. Now, I know I can stop looking for the answer as I got one here.

 

[Guest]

Luc,

I used about 100 auto text entries in 2003 for my reports. I did as you
suggested in your comment below and got all of them into the Building Blocks
Organizer. The only thing is now when I use the Insert, Quick Parts I get
all 100 of them.

Does this mean that I should the Alt+F3 for each line item to generate a
"drop down list" in the Quick Parts?

Thank you for your assistance.

Randy

 

[Graham Mayor]

Autotext works much the same as before except that it doesn't have the
autocomplete tip. You can type the first four characters (provided they are
unique - otherwise enter more) and then press F3 to complete the entry.
The building blocks list can be made alphabetical by clicking its header.
You can add the building blocks organizer to the QAT. You can probably
assemble sets of autotext entries on Word 2003 toolbars (given that you
still have 2003) and add them to the add-ins tab - see
http://www.gmayor.com/Toolbars_in_word_2007.htm

--
<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>
Graham Mayor - Word MVP

My web site www.gmayor.com

<>>< ><<> ><<> <>>< ><<> <>>< <>><<>

 

[Beth Melton]

If the Building Blocks you created can be organized you can assign groups of
them to one of the Custom galleries and then add the gallery to your QAT.
For example if you have a group of signatures those can be displayed in
their own gallery.

I'm not sure how your reports are created, but if you select from a few
choices of content in specific locations in your report then you can use a
Building Block Content Control. These are drop down list of choices of BB
that are placed in the document. So for example if in say, Section B of your
report you use one of 4 choices then the BB content control can provide
those choices.

Please post all follow-up questions to the newsgroup. Requests for
assistance by email cannot be acknowledged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Beth Melton
Microsoft Office MVP

Coauthor of Word 2007 Inside Out:
http://www.microsoft.com/MSPress/books/9801.aspx#AboutTheBook

Word FAQ: http://mvps.org/word
TechTrax eZine: http://mousetrax.com/techtrax/
MVP FAQ site: http://mvps.org/

 

[Rapunzzel]

I'm sorry, but there was just something about the original AutoText (AutoComplete) that was better. I'm not a fan of all of this F3 stuff. I suggest that if you are equally disturbed, go to the Microsoft website and send in a complaint via their customer service contact email address. That's what I just did, and I apologized for possibly wasting a few seconds of their time (since it's not a "question"), but they're wasting MY time! It's not that hard to have AutoComplete available to be activated or something. I just paid out of my rear for this program and it's not what I need for MY typing job either. That's an imperative feature in my book.