Word should have colored tabs for opened documents

[thefred]

Please add the worksheet feature of Excel in Word to coordinate the handling
and managing of multiple opened docs. Each document should be a tab inside of
ONE application of Word. Right now it is an absolute PITA to work with say 5
opened documents, especially if I have five or more different applications
running in the background. I know about switching windows but I can skip that
if the tabs are right there. Streamline.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...3df115&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

 

[Peter A]

Please add the worksheet feature of Excel in Word to coordinate the handling
and managing of multiple opened docs. Each document should be a tab inside of
ONE application of Word. Right now it is an absolute PITA to work with say 5
opened documents, especially if I have five or more different applications
running in the background. I know about switching windows but I can skip that
if the tabs are right there. Streamline.



----------------
This post is a suggestion for Microsoft, and Microsoft responds to the
suggestions with the most votes. To vote for this suggestion, click the "I
Agree" button in the message pane. If you do not see the button, follow this
link to open the suggestion in the Microsoft Web-based Newsreader and then
click "I Agree" in the message pane.

http://www.microsoft.com/office/com...3df115&dg=microsoft.public.word.docmanagement

I disagree - in fact, I wish they would change Excel to work the way
Word does. Having each open Word doc in its own program window greatly
simplifies tasks that require viewing 2 or more docs at the same time.

To be honest, though, you would think that the programming whizzes in
Redmond could figure out a way to let the user select either display
method.

 

[Tony Jollans]

I don't normally let myself get involved in threads like this, and really
don't care whether or not Word has a 'tab feature' (unless I'm forced to use
such a thing against my will) but ...

... the equivalent of worksheet tabs in Excel is *not* document tabs in
Word. The Excel equivalent of a Document is a Work*Book* and Excel does not
have workbook tabs. It is just as awkward - or just as easy, depending on
your point of view - to work with multiple workbooks in Excel as it is to
work with multiple documents in Word. In fact, if anything, I would say it
is probably easier to navigate a document in Word than it is to navigate a
workbook in Excel.

It is highly unlikely that I will reply to any response to this; I just
thought the point of fact was worth making.

 

[Jean-Guy Marcil]

I don't normally let myself get involved in threads like this, and really
don't care whether or not Word has a 'tab feature' (unless I'm forced to use
such a thing against my will) but ...

... the equivalent of worksheet tabs in Excel is *not* document tabs in
Word. The Excel equivalent of a Document is a Work*Book* and Excel does not
have workbook tabs. It is just as awkward - or just as easy, depending on
your point of view - to work with multiple workbooks in Excel as it is to
work with multiple documents in Word. In fact, if anything, I would say it
is probably easier to navigate a document in Word than it is to navigate a
workbook in Excel.

Exactly right. This is the nth-millionth time I have seen this request in
the last 5 years, and every single time people fail to realize that the tabs
in Excel represent different Worksheets within a single workbook, and not
different Workbooks within the Excel application. I guess the only way that
Word could work like Excel is if Word had tabs to represent pages within the
document.... But that makes no sense! Hence, no tab!

You can't compare apples and oranges...

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Actually, Word does have the equivalent of a tab for each page if you count
Thumbnails.

 

[Jean-Guy Marcil]

Actually, Word does have the equivalent of a tab for each page if you count
Thumbnails.

But aren't thumbnails only available in reading layout?
(I mean they cannot be used as helpful navigational tools while working on
the document in Normal or Print view, which would not be usfeul anyway as
soon as the document went over 20 pages or so.)

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

In Word 2003 they're available in every view but Web Layout view. And you
can scroll the thumbnails (just as you can the Document Map) to locate a
specific portion of the document. The thumbnails scroll independently of the
document, and you can click on a specific thumbnail to go to that page. Not
very helpful if the document is all text, but if it contains graphics,
tables, charts, or anything else recognizable at thumbnail size, they can be
useful.

 

[Jean-Guy Marcil]

In Word 2003 they're available in every view but Web Layout view. And you
can scroll the thumbnails (just as you can the Document Map) to locate a
specific portion of the document. The thumbnails scroll independently of the
document, and you can click on a specific thumbnail to go to that page. Not
very helpful if the document is all text, but if it contains graphics,
tables, charts, or anything else recognizable at thumbnail size, they can be
useful.

I have never used that feature. I have just noticed that there is a
"Thumbnails" item on the view menu. I took me just four years to notice it!

Thanks for pointing this out. As you wrote, it maybe useful when handling
documents with lots of graphics or short documents.

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

I confess I haven't actually used the feature, but I'm now realizing that it
would have been useful in dealing with the 600+-page book I just completed,
which did include a number of graphics.

 

[thefred]

yes, I understand. I know tabs in Excel are within "A" workbook. I also note
that my verbiage was incorrect.

I did truly mean, that Word should allow separate unrelated opened docs
shown/aligned in COLOR tabs *similar* to Excel's tabs in a workbook.

It's an absolute friggin' IQ test, at mid night or later, after a whole day
of labor, to try and keep track of your control-tab & copy/paste between 10+
docs with that or more apps opened and running in the background!

Nightmare.

As in IE7, doc-tabs should be able to be turned off and on so some users can
continue to clunk along loading Word zillions of times while others can
operate in a stream-lined, efficient, and simplified "one-incident" manner.

Thank you.

 

[Tony Jollans]

Personally I would find copying and pasting between 10 or more documents a
nightmare at any time of the day with or without tabs. What on earth are you
trying to do?

 

[CyberTaz]

How about Alt+W & type the number assigned to the name of the doc at the
bottom of the Window menu? Or use the Windows Task Bar buttons that
represent the open files?

I truly don't see any advantage to cluttering up the [already restricted]
viewing area with a bunch of tabs that won't all fit in the first place -
and if they don't it would be even more trouble to get to them regardless of
what color they happened to be

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

 

[thefred]

Thanks Bob. Alt+W is what I've been using and it's tiring especially when you
have lots of docs opened. Frankly, having clear "visual" of your docs all
lined up in tabs and just clicking on them is much easier & faster.

Look at it this way. it is a suggestion. I think this feature should be made
available to those who prefers to run the application in this fashion. Others
can disable it and continue the other way. Just as in IE7, tabs can be
turned on and off; this option should be made available in Word.

Best...

How about Alt+W & type the number assigned to the name of the doc at the
bottom of the Window menu? Or use the Windows Task Bar buttons that
represent the open files?

I truly don't see any advantage to cluttering up the [already restricted]
viewing area with a bunch of tabs that won't all fit in the first place -
and if they don't it would be even more trouble to get to them regardless of
what color they happened to be

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

yes, I understand. I know tabs in Excel are within "A" workbook. I also note
that my verbiage was incorrect.

I did truly mean, that Word should allow separate unrelated opened docs
shown/aligned in COLOR tabs *similar* to Excel's tabs in a workbook.

It's an absolute friggin' IQ test, at mid night or later, after a whole day
of labor, to try and keep track of your control-tab & copy/paste between 10+
docs with that or more apps opened and running in the background!

Nightmare.

As in IE7, doc-tabs should be able to be turned off and on so some users can
continue to clunk along loading Word zillions of times while others can
operate in a stream-lined, efficient, and simplified "one-incident" manner.

Thank you.

 

[Graham Mayor]

Click the arrow at the side of the Word item on the Windows taskbar and you
already have the documents listed. And if you add the Switch Windows command
to the Word 2007 QAT you can have all your open documents presented at one
click.

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

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

Thanks Bob. Alt+W is what I've been using and it's tiring especially
when you have lots of docs opened. Frankly, having clear "visual" of
your docs all lined up in tabs and just clicking on them is much
easier & faster.

Look at it this way. it is a suggestion. I think this feature should
be made available to those who prefers to run the application in this
fashion. Others can disable it and continue the other way. Just as
in IE7, tabs can be turned on and off; this option should be made
available in Word.

Best...

How about Alt+W & type the number assigned to the name of the doc at
the bottom of the Window menu? Or use the Windows Task Bar buttons
that represent the open files?

I truly don't see any advantage to cluttering up the [already
restricted] viewing area with a bunch of tabs that won't all fit in
the first place - and if they don't it would be even more trouble to
get to them regardless of what color they happened to be

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac

yes, I understand. I know tabs in Excel are within "A" workbook. I
also note that my verbiage was incorrect.

I did truly mean, that Word should allow separate unrelated opened
docs shown/aligned in COLOR tabs *similar* to Excel's tabs in a
workbook.

It's an absolute friggin' IQ test, at mid night or later, after a
whole day of labor, to try and keep track of your control-tab &
copy/paste between 10+ docs with that or more apps opened and
running in the background!

Nightmare.

As in IE7, doc-tabs should be able to be turned off and on so some
users can continue to clunk along loading Word zillions of times
while others can operate in a stream-lined, efficient, and
simplified "one-incident" manner.

Thank you.

:

:

I don't normally let myself get involved in threads like this,
and really don't care whether or not Word has a 'tab feature'
(unless I'm forced to use such a thing against my will) but ...

... the equivalent of worksheet tabs in Excel is *not* document
tabs in Word. The Excel equivalent of a Document is a Work*Book*
and Excel does not have workbook tabs. It is just as awkward - or
just as easy, depending on your point of view - to work with
multiple workbooks in Excel as it is to work with multiple
documents in Word. In fact, if anything, I would say it is
probably easier to navigate a document in Word than it is to
navigate a workbook in Excel.


Exactly right. This is the nth-millionth time I have seen this
request in the last 5 years, and every single time people fail to
realize that the tabs in Excel represent different Worksheets
within a single workbook, and not different Workbooks within the
Excel application. I guess the only way that Word could work like
Excel is if Word had tabs to represent pages within the
document.... But that makes no sense! Hence, no tab!

You can't compare apples and oranges...

 

[thefred]

Thanks Graham. The side-arrow and the Switch command in QAT are about the
closest I can come to a "preference" for tabs so I guess I'll live with it.

Note that if you have a whole bunch of apps opened concurrently, you have to
"look" for that Word item; and switching windows is two-clicks, plus you have
drag the cursor all the way to the right, & then down to find your doc.

With tabs, they all right there.

Thank you again.

Click the arrow at the side of the Word item on the Windows taskbar and you
already have the documents listed. And if you add the Switch Windows command
to the Word 2007 QAT you can have all your open documents presented at one
click.

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

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

Thanks Bob. Alt+W is what I've been using and it's tiring especially
when you have lots of docs opened. Frankly, having clear "visual" of
your docs all lined up in tabs and just clicking on them is much
easier & faster.

Look at it this way. it is a suggestion. I think this feature should
be made available to those who prefers to run the application in this
fashion. Others can disable it and continue the other way. Just as
in IE7, tabs can be turned on and off; this option should be made
available in Word.

Best...

How about Alt+W & type the number assigned to the name of the doc at
the bottom of the Window menu? Or use the Windows Task Bar buttons
that represent the open files?

I truly don't see any advantage to cluttering up the [already
restricted] viewing area with a bunch of tabs that won't all fit in
the first place - and if they don't it would be even more trouble to
get to them regardless of what color they happened to be

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 3/8/08 12:07 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "thefred"

yes, I understand. I know tabs in Excel are within "A" workbook. I
also note that my verbiage was incorrect.

I did truly mean, that Word should allow separate unrelated opened
docs shown/aligned in COLOR tabs *similar* to Excel's tabs in a
workbook.

It's an absolute friggin' IQ test, at mid night or later, after a
whole day of labor, to try and keep track of your control-tab &
copy/paste between 10+ docs with that or more apps opened and
running in the background!

Nightmare.

As in IE7, doc-tabs should be able to be turned off and on so some
users can continue to clunk along loading Word zillions of times
while others can operate in a stream-lined, efficient, and
simplified "one-incident" manner.

Thank you.

:

:

I don't normally let myself get involved in threads like this,
and really don't care whether or not Word has a 'tab feature'
(unless I'm forced to use such a thing against my will) but ...

... the equivalent of worksheet tabs in Excel is *not* document
tabs in Word. The Excel equivalent of a Document is a Work*Book*
and Excel does not have workbook tabs. It is just as awkward - or
just as easy, depending on your point of view - to work with
multiple workbooks in Excel as it is to work with multiple
documents in Word. In fact, if anything, I would say it is
probably easier to navigate a document in Word than it is to
navigate a workbook in Excel.


Exactly right. This is the nth-millionth time I have seen this
request in the last 5 years, and every single time people fail to
realize that the tabs in Excel represent different Worksheets
within a single workbook, and not different Workbooks within the
Excel application. I guess the only way that Word could work like
Excel is if Word had tabs to represent pages within the
document.... But that makes no sense! Hence, no tab!

You can't compare apples and oranges...

 

[Graham Mayor]

If you find two clicks too onerous attach a keyboard shortcut to the View >
WindowList command (ALT+W is available) and you don't need to touch the
mouse to select the Document from the list that pops up.

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

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

Thanks Graham. The side-arrow and the Switch command in QAT are about
the closest I can come to a "preference" for tabs so I guess I'll
live with it.

Note that if you have a whole bunch of apps opened concurrently, you
have to "look" for that Word item; and switching windows is
two-clicks, plus you have drag the cursor all the way to the right, &
then down to find your doc.

With tabs, they all right there.

Thank you again.

Click the arrow at the side of the Word item on the Windows taskbar
and you already have the documents listed. And if you add the Switch
Windows command to the Word 2007 QAT you can have all your open
documents presented at one click.

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

My web site www.gmayor.com

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

Thanks Bob. Alt+W is what I've been using and it's tiring especially
when you have lots of docs opened. Frankly, having clear "visual" of
your docs all lined up in tabs and just clicking on them is much
easier & faster.

Look at it this way. it is a suggestion. I think this feature should
be made available to those who prefers to run the application in
this fashion. Others can disable it and continue the other way.
Just as in IE7, tabs can be turned on and off; this option should
be made available in Word.

Best...

:

How about Alt+W & type the number assigned to the name of the doc
at the bottom of the Window menu? Or use the Windows Task Bar
buttons that represent the open files?

I truly don't see any advantage to cluttering up the [already
restricted] viewing area with a bunch of tabs that won't all fit in
the first place - and if they don't it would be even more trouble
to get to them regardless of what color they happened to be

Regards |:>)
Bob Jones
[MVP] Office:Mac



On 3/8/08 12:07 AM, in article
(e-mail address removed), "thefred"

yes, I understand. I know tabs in Excel are within "A" workbook.
I also note that my verbiage was incorrect.

I did truly mean, that Word should allow separate unrelated opened
docs shown/aligned in COLOR tabs *similar* to Excel's tabs in a
workbook.

It's an absolute friggin' IQ test, at mid night or later, after a
whole day of labor, to try and keep track of your control-tab &
copy/paste between 10+ docs with that or more apps opened and
running in the background!

Nightmare.

As in IE7, doc-tabs should be able to be turned off and on so some
users can continue to clunk along loading Word zillions of times
while others can operate in a stream-lined, efficient, and
simplified "one-incident" manner.

Thank you.

:

:

I don't normally let myself get involved in threads like this,
and really don't care whether or not Word has a 'tab feature'
(unless I'm forced to use such a thing against my will) but ...

... the equivalent of worksheet tabs in Excel is *not* document
tabs in Word. The Excel equivalent of a Document is a Work*Book*
and Excel does not have workbook tabs. It is just as awkward -
or just as easy, depending on your point of view - to work with
multiple workbooks in Excel as it is to work with multiple
documents in Word. In fact, if anything, I would say it is
probably easier to navigate a document in Word than it is to
navigate a workbook in Excel.


Exactly right. This is the nth-millionth time I have seen this
request in the last 5 years, and every single time people fail to
realize that the tabs in Excel represent different Worksheets
within a single workbook, and not different Workbooks within the
Excel application. I guess the only way that Word could work like
Excel is if Word had tabs to represent pages within the
document.... But that makes no sense! Hence, no tab!

You can't compare apples and oranges...