Word 2007 - Boilerplate paragraphs

One typical use for Microsoft Word is in offices where documents and letters are created by assembling a series of standard paragraphs from a range of alternatives.

In the past Microsoft Word included the AutoText and AutoCorrect features and, like many users, you may have adapted AutoCorrect to use in creating boilerplate documents.

Some other users tweaked the AutoText tool so they could use it to insert content, such as graphics and text.

The AutoText tool no longer appears in Word 2007 and it has been replaced by a Quick Parts Gallery which makes saving, organizing and assembling documents from stored paragraphs, aka Building Blocks, much easier to achieve.

Find the Quick Parts tool on the Insert tab and click the down pointing arrow to open the Quick Parts Gallery.

Here you have a number of options including Document Property which lets you insert some of the common document properties into your document by clicking on the one to insert.

The Field option lets you insert fields much as you could in earlier versions of Microsoft Word.

The Building Blocks Organizer is the newest feature and this is a repository of text blocks which you can add to your Word documents. These Building Blocks can be sorted by Name, Gallery or Category. Some of the Building Blocks come built-in to Microsoft Word and others are legacy AutoText entries from earlier installations of Microsoft Word.

You can insert a Building Block into a document by selecting the entry in the list and click Insert.

Image Autoentry - Word 2003

If there is an image that you typically use in a document such as your company logo you can create it so that it can be automatically inserted into your documents.

To start, first place the image into the document and size it and format it to suit your needs - this will include setting its Text Wrapping properties.

Now select the image and choose Insert > AutoText > New and type a descriptive word to describe the image such as logo. Click Ok.

In future, type the word logo and press F3 and the image will automatically appear in the document. This saves you from having to insert it and format it manually each time you need it. It's a big time saver.

Grouping AutoText entries in Word

Yesterday I explained how to use AutoText entries to speed up entering data. Today, I'll show you how to organize your AutoText entries into groups on the menu using Styles:

You create or add an entry to AutoText groups on the AutoText menu by saving an AutoText entry formatted using a style with the name you want to be added to the menu. For example, to add an AutoText entry to the Closing group, type the text, select it and format it with a style called closing (or create a style with that name). Then save the text as an AutoText entry.

When an AutoText entry is saved that is formatted with a style a new entry with that style name appears on the AutoText menu or the item is added to the submenu if it already exists. So, to enter something on the closing submenu, format it with a style that you have called Closing before creating it.