One benefit of using Microsoft Word as your business's word-processing application is that you can create forms that are both protected and fillable. Adding the Developer tab to the ribbon enables you to use controls that allow users to mark check boxes, select dates, choose options from drop-down lists and more. When you have completed the form, you can add protection to it, which will prevent those filling the forms from making any changes to the base document. Show Step 1Add the Developer tab. Select the "File" tab, click "Options" and choose "Customize Ribbon." Select the "Developer" check box in the Customize the Ribbon list under Main Tabs and click "OK." Step 2Add content controls. Open a template or a new, blank document and select the "Developer" tab. Click on the document where you want to add a text box, check box or other control and click the type of control you want to add in the Controls group. Step 3Add properties to the control. Click on the content control and select "Properties" in the Controls group of the Developer tab to open the Content Control Properties dialog box. Customize the control and click "OK." Step 4Add instructional text if you want to provide instructions, tips or other information for the control. Click "Design Mode" in the Controls group on the Developer tab. Click on the content control and type your instructional text over the example text. Make sure "Contents Cannot Be Edited" is not selected in the controls properties, or users will not be able to type over the instructional text. Step 5Protect the document so it is not editable. Press "Ctrl-A" to select the entire document, or click "Select" in the Editing group of the Home tab and choose "Select All." Select the "Developer" tab and click "Restrict Editing" in the Protect group. Save the document before closing it. References Warnings
Writer Bio Tricia Goss' credits include Fitness Plus, Good News Tucson and Layover Magazine. She is certified in Microsoft application and served as the newsletter editor for OfficeUsers.org. She has also contributed to The Dollar Stretcher, Life Tips and Childcare Magazine. Image Credit Ryan McVay/Photodisc/Getty Images This article offers advanced Microsoft Word (2010-2013) techniques for creating a protected template with fillable fields (or "Content Controls" in Microsoft terminology) for data that cannot be completed by Clio's merge field tags. These techniques would be useful for creating protected trust receipts with Document Automation. Related article: Tutorial - Using Document Automation to Create a Trust Receipt If you are not familiar with Document Automation, please see the following support articles: Using Clio's Document
Automation Contents Showing the Developer
Tab Showing the Developer Tab The tools that you will need to add form controls to your template can be found in the Developer tab which is hidden by default. To show the Developer tab, click "File". Then click "Options". In the Word Options window,
Adding Form Controls On the "Developer" tab 1 , in the "Controls" group 2 are a number of available form control fields. Some useful form controls are: To add a form control to your template, click in the document where you want the control to go, then click on the icon for the control that you want to add. To change the default placeholder text on the control ("Click here to enter text" in the above example) click "Design Mode". Control Properties Each control has options that can be accessed by clicking "Properties" with the control you want to modify selected. For example, this is how you will add options to a Dropdown Selection Control or specify the date format displayed when using the Date Picker Control. Example #1 — Rich Text Content Control Properties
Example #2 — Combo/Dropdown Selection Control Properties
Example #3 — Date Picker Control Properties
Formatting Form Controls By default, the text that is input into a control will have the same formatting as the line that it was added to. To change the formatting of the text that is input into the control, highlight the control with "Design Mode" OFF and make formatting adjustments as you would to any other text. To change the wording or formatting of the control's placeholder text:
When formatting control placeholder text, keep in mind that the default styling of that placeholder may not make it easy to immediately identify as a form control. Adding a highlight or some distinctive styling to the placeholder will make it more visible in your document. When the end user types or selects content in the control, the placeholder formatting will disappear and the content will take the styling of that line in your document. Adding Editing Restrictions/Protection to Your Template Protecting your template can ensure that any user or Contact who may be completing your merged documents will only be able to modify information that is in the form controls that you add to your template. To restrict editing on your template:
Once uploaded to Clio, the protected template will create new protected Word documents while still pulling information from Clio. More information is available on Microsoft.com How do I create a fillable form in Word that is locked?Open the form that you want to lock or protect. Select Developer > Restrict Editing. After selecting restrictions, select Yes, Start Enforcing Protection.
How do I make a Word document with fillable fields?Create a Form. Place the text cursor where you want to insert the form field.. Click the Developer tab on the ribbon. ... . Click the Design Mode button in the controls group. ... . Click a Content Control buttons to insert the selected type of control. ... . When you're done, click the Design Mode button again to exit Design Mode.. Can you lock fields in Word?To lock a field, perform these steps: Select the field you want to lock. Update the field, if desired, by pressing Shift+F9. Press Ctrl+F11.
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