Monthly Archives: April 2014

How to format an ActiveX controls (checkbox, text box, options box, drop-down list, etc.)

 

Each ActiveX control element has a Properties sheet associated with it. This enables you to format the appearance, behavior, font, data, etc. of the ActiveX control elements.

How to open the Properties sheet

The properties sheet of an ActiveX control element can only be opened in Design Mode. Let us understand this with an example. Now, try to insert the Text Box ActiveX control into your document.

To insert a text box

On the Ribbon menu, under the tab Developer, within the group Controls, click the Legacy Tools icon. A drop-down list appears.

To switch to Design Mode

Select Text Box (ActiveX Control) element from the list. A text box is inserted at the cursor position. By default, the text box is in Design Mode. You can switch it on and off by clicking the Design Mode icon on the Ribbon.

In Design Mode, you can view the Properties icon (just beneath it) enabled. Click this icon to view the Properties sheet.

(Alternatively, in Design Mode, you can right-click the Text box and select option Properties.)

Properties Sheet

Once the Properties sheet is opened, you can see a list of properties of the Text box element under the tab Alphabetic. The same properties are also available under the tab Categorized, but grouped under various headings.

To change a property, click the adjacent cell. Similarly, you can modify all other properties listed.

In Design Mode, you can use the resize handles of the text box to adjust its size.

You can move the text box to the right or left in a line by placing the mouse cursor just in front of the text box and then pressing the TAB and “TAB+SHIFT” keys respectively.

 

How to add radio buttons (option buttons) in MS Word

 

Radio button can be used in a Form to capture user’s feedback. Following is a simple example that shows the usage of a radio button also known as Option button.

radion button example

  1. On the Word Ribbon, under the tab Developer, within the group Controls, click the Legacy Tools icon. A drop-down list appears.
  2. From the drop-down list, under the section ActiveX Controls, click the icon Option Button (ActiveX Control). Word creates something like the following.

radio button

  1. By default, the radio button appears in Design Mode. Click the Design Mode option available within group Controls to switch to normal mode, so that the radio button becomes clickable.
  2. To change the caption of the radio button,
  3. Click the radio button and then click Design Mode from the Controls group.
  4. Right-click the radio button and click option Properties from the right-click menu.
  5. On the Properties sheet, under the tab Alphabetic, look for the row with the heading Caption. On the adjacent cell of Caption, double-click to delete the default caption i.e. OptionButton 1 and enter a new caption. Alternatively, you can delete the default caption to retain only radio button. Later, you can resize the button by dragging the resize handles.

 

The next challenge is to group the radio buttons under different sections.

This is important for each group of buttons to behave independently. Otherwise, all the buttons in the document would behave as one group (by default) and only one feedback could be captured.

For example, in the above example form, each question contains two radio buttons (Yes/No) to capture feedback. Each pair of buttons must be grouped to capture feedback for individual question.

To group radio buttons

    1. Switch to design mode by selecting the radio button and then clicking the Design Mode option from within the group Controls.
    2. Once you are in Design Mode, right-click the radio button and select option Properties from the right-click menu. The Properties sheet appears.
    3. On the Properties sheet, under the tab Alphabetic, look for the row with the heading GroupName. Click the adjacent cell to enter a group name.
    4. Now you need to keep the same group name for the rest of the radio buttons, which you want to keep as one group. You are done.

Note: Before you share a document containing Radio button or any other controls, you should to protect your document to prevent editing of the document. To know how to protect a document, read the following articles:

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/how-to-insert-text-fields-check-boxes-drop-down-lists-etc-in-a-word-document-to-create-a-form/

 

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/how-to-create-or-add-checkboxes-checkbox-controls-to-your-word-document/

 

 

 

 

 

 

How to add checkboxes (checkbox controls) in a Word document to create a Form

 

You may need to add check boxes in your Word document mainly for two reasons:

1)     To create an electronic Form containing clickable checkboxes, which can be used to capture user feedback (like a survey); see the following example:

survey

 

2)     To create a printable checklist, containing a checkbox against each item in the document. See the following example:

checklist

 

Adding checkbox controls to create a electronic Form (Word 2007)

You can find the checkbox control on the Developer tab of the Ribbon menu.

Note: If you could not see the Developer tab on the Ribbon, you may need to enable it from Word Options. Read the following article to know how to enable it.

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/12/04/how-to-enable-the-developer-tab-in-word/

 

  1. On the Ribbon, under the tab Developer, within the group Controls, click the icon Legacy Tools. A drop-down list appears, which contains two sections: Legacy Forms and ActiveX Controls. See below.

legacy tool icon

Legacy tool drop down

 

ActiveX Control checkbox

  1. Both the sections have check box controls. If you choose to use the checkbox control available under ActiveX Controls section, click the Checkbox (ActiveX Control) icon. Word creates something like the following. Notice that the control is in Design Mode. Design Mode option is activated within the group Controls.

ActiveX Checkbox control

If you deactivate the design mode, the  checkbox becomes clickable and you can use it to create a Form.

i.    Right-click the checkbox control and select option Properties from the right-click menu.

ii.    On the Properties sheet, under the tab Alphabetic, against the row Caption, enter a caption for the checkbox. Alternatively, you can delete the default caption to retain only the checkbox. You can even insert a picture instead by clicking the row named Picture from the Properties sheet.

Note: The ActiveX Control checkbox provides extended features as compared to the Legacy checkbox.

iii.    You may find it difficult to format ActiveX checkbox controls if you are not in Design Mode. Switch to design mode by clicking the control. Now, place mouse cursor in front of the control and then use the TAB key to move it horizontally, SHIFT+TAB to move it in the opposite direction, press ENTER key to move it a step down, and press the Backspace key to bring it a level up.

Note: You can easily delete, resize, etc. in Design Mode.

 

Legacy check box

  1. If you choose to use a legacy checkbox, click the check box icon under the section Legacy Forms from the Legacy Tools drop-down list. Word creates a shaded square box, which is unchecked by default. Double-click the box to open the Check Box Form Field Options window. Here, you can control the checkbox size, default value, etc.

Note: Interestingly, the legacy check boxes cannot be used readily until you apply protection to your document. By default, Word adds a shaded checkbox. If you wish you can remove the shading by simply clicking the Form Field Shading icon available under the Legacy Tools list. See below image.

 

Apply protection to your document

i.    To apply protection to your document, under the tab Developer, within the group Protect, click Protect Document. From the drop-down menu, click option Restrict Formatting and Editing.

ii.    On the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane, under the section Editing Restriction, enable option “Allow only this type of editing in the document” and then select the option “Filling in forms” from the list box.

iii.    Now, under the section Start Enforcement, click the button Yes, Start Enforcing Protection. The Start Enforcing Protection dialog box appears, where  you need to set a password to protect your document.

Once protection is  enforced, you can select/deselect the check box. Remember that you cannot edit a protected document. Therefore, apply protection only after you are done with formatting the document. You can unprotect a document by clicking the Stop Protection button available at the bottom of the Restrict Formatting and Editing pane.

 

Creating a printable check list

It is easy to add checkboxes to a document to create a printable checklist document. There are many ways you can create check boxes in a word document.

Method 1: On the Word Ribbon menu, under the tab Developer, within the group Controls, click the Legacy Tools icon. From drop-down list, under the section Legacy Forms, click the Check Box Form Field icon. Word inserts a shaded check box. Click the Form Field Shading icon to  remove shading around the checkbox. Now, you can copy and paste the same to create multiple checkboxes in your document.

Method 2: On the Word Ribbon menu, under the tab Insert, within the group Illustrations, click icon Shapes. From the drop-down list, click the shape Rectangle. Change its dimensions  to make it a perfect square. Copy and paste the same to create multiple checkboxes.

Method 3: On the Word Ribbon menu, under the tab Insert, within the group Symbols, click icon Symbol. From bottom of the drop-down list, select option More Symbols. From the Symbols window, select a square shape and then click Insert. Word inserts a square at the cursor position.

 

 

How to add a text field in Word

How to add a Legacy Text field in Word?

Step 1:

On the Word Ribbon, under tab Developer, click icon Legacy Tools (or press ALT+ L, N). A drop-down menu appears.

Step 2:

From the drop-down menu, under section Legacy Form, click the Text Form Field icon (or press ALT+L, N, E). Word creates a shaded text field at the cursor position.

Step3:

You can change the properties of the text field in the design mode. To switch to design mode, click the Design Mode icon (or press ALT+L, DM).

Step 4:

Double-click the text field in the document. Word displays the Words Form Field Options dialog box, where you can select the text field Type (regular text, number, date, current date, etc.), maximum length of the field, etc. Then click OK.

Step 5:

Protect the document: To be able enter data in the legacy text field, you need to protect the Word document. To protect a document, follow the steps stated below:

  1. Under the Developer tab, click icon Protect Document under the group Protect. A drop-down menu appears.
  2. Select option Restrict Formatting and Editing from drop-down. A pane appears on the right hand side.
  3. On the pane under the heading Editing Restrictions, select the checkbox (Allow only this type of editing in the document) and select option Filling in Forms from the drop-down list below.
  4. Click button Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.
  5. Set a password. You are ready to use the text field.

Note: Please note that the button Yes, Start Enforcing Protection will not be activated unless you disable the Design Mode option.

 

How to add an ActiveX control Text field in Word?

Step 1:

On the Word Ribbon, under tab Developer, click icon Legacy Tools (or press ALT+ L, N). A drop-down menu appears.

Step 2:

From drop-down menu, under section ActiveX Controls, click the Text Box (ActiveX Control) icon (or press ALT+L, N, T). Word creates a text box field at the cursor position. By default, the text box is opened in the design mode.

Step 4:

To change the properties of the text box, select the text box and then click Properties (ALT+L, L). The Properties sheet appears. Here, you can edit properties such as MaxLength, Caption, Font, etc.

To be able to enter data in the text box, you have to disable the Design Mode (ALT+L, DM)

Protect the document:

Finally, you need to protect the document before you publish the document to capture information using the text box fields. To protect the document:

  1. Under the Developer tab, click icon Protect Document under the group Protect. A drop-down menu appears.
  2. Select option Restrict Formatting and Editing from drop-down. A pane appears on the right hand side.
  3. On the pane under the heading Editing Restrictions, select the checkbox (Allow only this type of editing in the document) and select option Filling in Forms from the drop-down list below.
  4. Click button Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.

Note: Please note that the button Yes, Start Enforcing Protection would not be activated unless you disable the Design Mode (or press ALT+L, DM)

 

 Also see:

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2013/06/25/how-to-insert-text-fields-check-boxes-drop-down-lists-etc-in-a-word-document-to-create-a-form/

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/how-to-create-or-add-checkboxes-checkbox-controls-to-your-word-document/

https://wordknowhow.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/how-to-create-radio-buttons-option-buttons-in-ms-word/