MSWord autoformatting question

[Tansy_Gold]

I have just yesterday switched from Word/Office 2003 to Word/Office 2007.

Anyone know how to permanently turn off "smart quotes," superscript ordinals, etc.? I know how to go into proofing, autoformat, etc., but it seems I have to do it for each and every document? This would be a pain, but then anything MS is a pain. . . . .


Tansy Gold

[RoyGBiv]

1. Shouldn't ...

There's two places you have to turn this off, which is what I also seem to forget when I move to a different workstation and have to set up Word and Outlook *again*.

Under Proofing > AutoCorrect, un-check the items you don't want change both in the AutoFormat and the AutoFormat As You Type tabs.

That should change it permanently ... unless you change workstations.

That's the legit answer I have.

My real answer is to take every copy of Office 2007 in existence and create an enormous bonfire. Hate, hate, HATE "the ribbon."

[Tansy_Gold]

2. My sentiments exactly, but it didn't work. Well, sort of didn't. . . .

I hate anything MS, and Word 2007 certainly does deserve a special place in the hell for bad word processing programs. What you said about "the ribbon" -- yeah. :puke:

It appears that the problem I'm encountering is NOT in my workstation (my house) or in my MSW 2007, but rather in the templates sent to me by the companies I work for. In that event, it's THEIR problem and not mine, and I'm not going to revise their templates even though they want no smart quotes, no hyperlinks, no superscript ordinals. If that's so, then they oughta take 'em outta their freakin' templates.


But thanks muchly for your assistance. You confirmed for me that I'd done it right and therefore IT AIN'T MY FAULT if the end product ain't right. :evilgrin:


Tansy Gold, who did NOT make the switch to MSW 2007 voluntarily

[RoyGBiv]

3. Blah ... other people's templates ...

I had an Excel file two days ago someone sent me with a similar problem. They wanted to know why the shading wasn't printing. They'd called IT, changed workstations, changed printers, etc.

What they'd done was set "print black and white" on a "template" document somewhere and were just copying that document and making changes to it for different purposes.

Anyway ... glad you figured it out.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. This is so rich I have to share it with someone who will

appreciate it.

The client got their documents with smart quotes not removed, with superscripted ordinals in place. They called me to complain. The conversation went something like this, sort of --

Client: Why do these documents have smart quotes and superscripts? We don't want them.

Tansy: I changed my MSW but it doesn't work on your templates. Your templates switch it back. I have no control over your templates.

Client: Why didn't you call and ask us?

Tansy: Because you never sent any instructions to call and ask you if something wasn't the way you wanted it. YOU sent the templates.

Client: But don't the instructions say we don't want smart quotes and superscripts?

Tansy: No the instructions (I checked) do not say that. They say to set MSWord not to use them. I did that. Your template changed them back. I have no instructions to call you if the template doesn't conform.

Client: Couldn't you figure that out?

Tansy: I'm not a mindreader. You change your templates all the time, so I figured this was just another of your changes.

Client: But this never happened before. Did you change something on yor computer?

Tansy: (being honest with her client) Yes. I changed from Word 2003 to Word 2007 yesterday. Why?

Client: (getting hysterical) But you have to tell us when you do that!

Tansy: Why?

Client: (getting more hysterical) Because we have you set up on our system for Word 2003! You have to tell us when these things change!

Tansy: (remaining calm and trying not to laugh) There's nothing in the instructions that says that. If you had wanted me to notify you, I would have. But you didn't put that in the instructions.

Client: (getting even more hysterical) But you're supposed to know that!

Tansy: And how, pray tell, am I supposed to know that I need to inform you when I make a change on my computer? You didn't tell me that. Your two pages of "updated template configuration instructions," which I told you six weeks ago were inadequate, say nothing about notifying you if/when I change something on my end.

Client: (beyond hysterical now and almost crying) Okay. Okay. I'm gonna have to call the IT guy and see what he can do. Oh, Gawd, and it's Friday. . . . .






Tansy Gold, who is well aware she works for the clueless. . . ..

[RoyGBiv]

5. Lordy, that's good stuff ...

I encounter people who are in the position of your client who are utterly incapable of communicating or seeing beyond their immediate second of existence so often, I'm starting to think "stupid" is something that should be front and center on a list of resume skills. I think they must view computers as some sort of magical devices that just have to be tapped the right way for instantaneous results ... unless, of course, it is *their* work and *their* supervisor expecting the miracle.

I got a pile of paper handed to me 15 minutes before I closed my office yesterday containing work that will require about an hour of raw data input time and then another few hours (depending on availability) of coordination with two other departments. Naturally, the people in those departments are going home in 15 minutes too, and the people that actually have to sign off on it probably went home at noon. The work involved will affect about 50 high school students, and all of those students (and their parents) are going to be *extremely* unhappy come Monday morning.

There was simply nothing I could do about it unless (and I told the woman this) she wanted me to call the college president at home and ask him to get all these people up on Saturday and have them come in and paid overtime and then explain to him exactly why I was asking this and who was responsible for me asking it. Oddly enough, she didn't want me to do that.

I somehow managed a stop-gap by finding the one IT guy who actually has a clue and by some miracle hadn't gone home yet that will keep the students from being directly affected through Monday.

Here's the punch line. The person who gave me this problem had been sitting on it since Tuesday ... morning. It was all actually ready to go last Monday afternoon.

I asked her why she waited so long, not even trying to hide my irritation, and she claimed ignorance. "I didn't know it would take so long."

"Oh really!? You didn't know it would take more than 15 minutes to do three pages of data entry on 50 students, then contact the budget department and have a PO generated for all 50 of those students, then have all 50 of those POs approved by the budgeting authority, then have all that information run through the registrar's office and placed into their system? Never occurred to you 15 minutes might not be enough time?"

I actually sent her away crying and thinking she's going to have to start at point A and call each and every student's parent Monday morning, and I don't care. Let her suffer over the weekend.

Anyway ... just thought I'd share back. Needed to vent. :)

[katandmoon]

6. Unbelievable. And I don't mean the client.