How do I Manage a manual using Word?
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From: JamesDart on 16 Jun 2008 13:34 Greetings; I have read several of the posts here already, but I need more information. Here is the parameters of the document I am creating: It is a Process Manual, meaning it is a Large document designed to show users how to do specific procedures within the program we are using. For my document, I am using the following features: Auto Table of Contents Heading Styles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) Hyperlinks to outside documents Hyperlinks to same document Bookmarks (300 so far) Cross-References Insert Picture (mostly Screen shots copied into MSPaint and saved) "Dragged" images from Visio Figure Captions Field Codes in Header Field Codes in Footer Auto Table of Figures Sections Page numbers restart at the beginning of each Section Manual Design: Being this is my second manual, and I'm self taught, I know this is not a standard format, hence why i'm asking for help: Title Page ToC Introduction Part I Section Chapter 1 .... .... Part VI Section Chapter 23 Appendixes Glossary Screenshots So far, I have 214 pages and i'm only on Chapter "2" of 23. File size is already 10,048 kb. Here's one my Issues: Every time I insert a "copied" item, something that is being repeated that is hyperlinked and cannot be placed in the header or footer, Word seems to "Time Out", no cursor visible, no typing available, for about 15 to 30 seconds. If i scroll the screen up or down a few times, then attempt to type again, it seems to respond again. Is this where "Building blocks" or "Quick Parts" would be of better use? Thank you for any responses. Any suggestions would be wonderful on how to make this a quicker/effiecient process.
From: Robert M. Franz (RMF) on 6 Jul 2008 16:17 Hello James JamesDart wrote: [..] > It is a Process Manual, meaning it is a Large document designed to show > users how to do specific procedures within the program we are using. > > For my document, I am using the following features: > Auto Table of Contents > Heading Styles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) I would take a step back here: *6* heading levels for anything under the volume of, say, the Bible, is too much IMHO. > Hyperlinks to outside documents > Hyperlinks to same document > Bookmarks (300 so far) > Cross-References > Insert Picture (mostly Screen shots copied into MSPaint and saved) > "Dragged" images from Visio I would investigate a bit if exporting from Visio (WMF/EMF format?) might get better results in terms of file size and overhead for Word. > Figure Captions > Field Codes in Header > Field Codes in Footer Could you elaborate a bit here: PAGE and STYLEREF fields, and/or something more? > Auto Table of Figures > Sections > Page numbers restart at the beginning of each Section Again, this is something I would critically review: it's basically an outdated practice from the ages of printed manuals and delivered page-wise corrections. If you intend to do that (instead of, say, delivering PDF or HTML files), then Word might not be the best tool at hand for you because it's definitely not page-oriented in its setup. > Manual Design: > Being this is my second manual, and I'm self taught, I know this is not a > standard format, hence why i'm asking for help: > Title Page > ToC > Introduction > Part I Section > Chapter 1 > ... > ... > Part VI Section > Chapter 23 > Appendixes > Glossary > Screenshots > > So far, I have 214 pages and i'm only on Chapter "2" of 23. File size is > already 10,048 kb. I don't know the scope of your application. But by extrapolating, it looks like you'll be somewhere in the vicinity of 2500 pages in the end. That is a monster manual. Is it intended to be read? > Here's one my Issues: > > Every time I insert a "copied" item, something that is being repeated that > is hyperlinked and cannot be placed in the header or footer, Word seems to > "Time Out", no cursor visible, no typing available, for about 15 to 30 > seconds. If i scroll the screen up or down a few times, then attempt to type > again, it seems to respond again. > > Is this where "Building blocks" or "Quick Parts" would be of better use? Are you talking about an external object to be repeated here (picture, Visio object, etc.)? You could bookmark the first occurrence and insert a REF field, technically. In a very large document, saving all the pictures externally and linking them into the document will reduce the file size. Though frankly, you have the burden to make sure that the pictures are all stable relative to the document (in the same folder or subfolder, preferably), have to deal with relative vs. absolute links, and of course Word needs to bring all stuff together at run time, so I'm not sure this helps a lot in your situation. In any case, the machine you're working on should be state of the art and have lots and lots of RAM. HTH Robert -- /"\ ASCII Ribbon Campaign | MSFT | \ / | MVP | Scientific Reports X Against HTML | for | with Word? / \ in e-mail & news | Word | http://www.masteringword.eu/
From: JamesDart on 7 Jul 2008 12:05 Robert; Thank you for responding, been struggling terribly. > JamesDart wrote: > [..] > > It is a Process Manual, meaning it is a Large document designed to show > > users how to do specific procedures within the program we are using. > > > > For my document, I am using the following features: > > Auto Table of Contents > > Heading Styles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) > > I would take a step back here: *6* heading levels for anything under the > volume of, say, the Bible, is too much IMHO. I did take a step back and reduced to "4" Heading levels, so that's good to know that i'm on the right track. > > > Hyperlinks to outside documents > > Hyperlinks to same document > > Bookmarks (300 so far) > > Cross-References > > Insert Picture (mostly Screen shots copied into MSPaint and saved) > > "Dragged" images from Visio > > I would investigate a bit if exporting from Visio (WMF/EMF format?) > might get better results in terms of file size and overhead for Word. <nods> I will do some investigating on this. Any ideas on where I can get this kind of information, or will it just be trial and error? <grins> Getting used to the Trial and Error, frustrating, but I do learn from my mistakes. > > > Figure Captions > > Field Codes in Header > > Field Codes in Footer > > Could you elaborate a bit here: PAGE and STYLEREF fields, and/or > something more? Header: For Sections 1-4, there is no Header. For Sections 4-32, I have 3 PAGE fields: "Chapter" (Heading 1), "Module" (Heading 2), and "Section" (Heading 3). I felt that the 4th Heading, which is the actual process/procedure/instructions jumbled the Header too much. For Sections 33-37, I have 2 PAGE fields, "Chapter" and "Section." I'm thinking that I can reduce it to just "Chapter" since these sections are all part of the Appendix Footer: Section 1's footer is a PAGE field with the "SAVEDATE" that I am using as a "Last Edited" reference. Sections 2-4 it the ToC, so there is a PAGE field for roman numeral page numbers. Sections 5-32, I have a PAGE field for the pagenumber, "Outline Circle 2" as well as two "pasted" logos, one on either side of the pagenumber. Essentially, one is my company's and the other is the Software company's. Sections 33-37 use the same "Outline Circle 2" PAGE field, but I changed the Format to reflect "A-1" for appendix A, "B-1" for appendix B, etc. > > > Auto Table of Figures > > Sections > > Page numbers restart at the beginning of each Section > > Again, this is something I would critically review: it's basically an > outdated practice from the ages of printed manuals and delivered > page-wise corrections. If you intend to do that (instead of, say, > delivering PDF or HTML files), then Word might not be the best tool at > hand for you because it's definitely not page-oriented in its setup. <gasp> oh, my. So, what is the recommendation? This "File" is intended to be used by employees through access in our network. The finished product (and subfiles) will be placed in the "Public" Folder so that any employee can access it. It is not intended or designed to be printed. Though, my supervisor threatens that it needs to be printable for folks to have it "handy." I disagree, but, then again, she's the boss. > > > Manual Design: > > Being this is my second manual, and I'm self taught, I know this is not a > > standard format, hence why i'm asking for help: > > Title Page > > ToC > > Introduction > > Part I Section > > Chapter 1 > > ... > > ... > > Part VI Section > > Chapter 23 > > Appendixes > > Glossary > > Screenshots > > > > So far, I have 214 pages and i'm only on Chapter "2" of 23. File size is > > already 10,048 kb. > > I don't know the scope of your application. But by extrapolating, it > looks like you'll be somewhere in the vicinity of 2500 pages in the end. > That is a monster manual. Is it intended to be read? <laughs> Yes, it is intended to be read. Maybe that's the wrong terminology. It is to used to "train" new employees as well as a "Reference" for established employees. As mentioned above, I have no intentions of ever printing this monster. Any shortcuts, tricks, and/or ideas to reduce the size would be greatly appreciated. Half way through Chapter 3, Only added 20 pages. Granted, I reformatted the original 214 pages to be less graphic intensive, added more white space. Question: I am not happy with the product, impressed with it, having fun with the different "eye candy" Word(c) provides, but as you mentioned, I think that it was the crux of my issue. Essentially, The following is a "brief" example: Header: Chapter: "Heading 1" Module: "Heading 2" Section: "Heading 3" Top right corner: three graphic pictures .25inx.25in, hyperlinked. 1sr one is to the ToC, 2nd is to the Section Heading, 3rd is to the Appendix Heading 1 - "3 Inpatient Admissions" Heading 2 - "Intake" Heading 3 - "Admissions - Daily Pre-Admission" - a little paragraph about the purpose and intent of the section, why it has to be done, etc. Heading 4 - "Pre-Admission Checklist" - and then there's a HUGE table that follows. I found that using a table made it extremely easy to manipulate, as far as height and length, as well as "filling" table fields with colors for emphasis. Footer: Company Logo, Page number, Software Logo Finally, the question: does using extensive, HUGE tables cause problems? > > > Here's one my Issues: > > > > Every time I insert a "copied" item, something that is being repeated that > > is hyperlinked and cannot be placed in the header or footer, Word seems to > > "Time Out", no cursor visible, no typing available, for about 15 to 30 > > seconds. If i scroll the screen up or down a few times, then attempt to type > > again, it seems to respond again. > > > > Is this where "Building blocks" or "Quick Parts" would be of better use? > > Are you talking about an external object to be repeated here (picture, > Visio object, etc.)? You could bookmark the first occurrence and insert > a REF field, technically. Yes, and Wow, didn't even think about that. Awesome, will impliment that today. > > In a very large document, saving all the pictures externally and linking > them into the document will reduce the file size. Though frankly, you > have the burden to make sure that the pictures are all stable relative > to the document (in the same folder or subfolder, preferably), have to > deal with relative vs. absolute links, and of course Word needs to bring > all stuff together at run time, so I'm not sure this helps a lot in your > situation. Oh, okay. I started to do that initially, but found that in order to "link" to the picture, I had to create a "save" for every single one. After #15 (of 57 currently) I gave up on that idea and just put the pictures (aka Screen shots) at the end of the document, linked to the appropriate heading. Problem was, I would have to create a bookmark for the readers spot, insert the picture to the "Screen shot Appendix", add a WORD(c) caption to the picture, create a "BACK" hyperlink to the bookmark, then hyperlink the bookmark to the picture Caption. VERY time consuming, and, as you mentioned before, takes a lot of memory. This document I am creating also has documents within documents, meaning, for processes, prcedures, and/or instructions that will be referred to more often than others, I created an external document (some are up to 10 pages) that was hyperlinked from the main document. This does save space, but at the same time, when the link is clicked on, it "opens" the document and if the User doesn't "close" it, well, let's just say there's going to be a lot of open documents. > > In any case, the machine you're working on should be state of the art > and have lots and lots of RAM. > Alas, though the system I am working on is better than the majority of systems being used at our agency, it is far from "State of the Art." Hence why I'm trying to find any and all means to reduce the intensity of the document w/o losing the integrity as well. I like what I have created, but I worry that I am putting an awful lot of work into something that may end up too cumbersome or worse yet, unused. Thank you Robert for responding. I will take what responses you have listed and put them into action. I also am anxiously waiting for a respone this as well. Again, thank you. James Dart Special Projects Manager Sundown M Ranch
From: Mike Shuls Mike on 8 Jul 2008 14:48 James, I'm making a manual very similar to yours only much smaller. I'm a summer intern with a copius job that takes a while to learn the ins and outs of, so I'm making a manual for the next intern and any other future interns during my free time. I'm using most of what you're using, 3 levels of headers, a autoTOC and bookmarks (probably an autoindex as well which ill bookmark so that they are links...) I was just wondering if you knew any way to add in an object that will scroll as the user scrolls with a link back to the TOC, or if there's a good alternative besides keeping the document map open to easily return to the table of contents... Thanks, and good luck on your possible 2500 page beast. -Shuls "JamesDart" wrote: > Robert; > > Thank you for responding, been struggling terribly. > > > JamesDart wrote: > > [..] > > > It is a Process Manual, meaning it is a Large document designed to show > > > users how to do specific procedures within the program we are using. > > > > > > For my document, I am using the following features: > > > Auto Table of Contents > > > Heading Styles (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6) > > > > I would take a step back here: *6* heading levels for anything under the > > volume of, say, the Bible, is too much IMHO. > > I did take a step back and reduced to "4" Heading levels, so that's good to > know that i'm on the right track. > > > > > Hyperlinks to outside documents > > > Hyperlinks to same document > > > Bookmarks (300 so far) > > > Cross-References > > > Insert Picture (mostly Screen shots copied into MSPaint and saved) > > > "Dragged" images from Visio > > > > I would investigate a bit if exporting from Visio (WMF/EMF format?) > > might get better results in terms of file size and overhead for Word. > > <nods> I will do some investigating on this. Any ideas on where I can get > this kind of information, or will it just be trial and error? <grins> > Getting used to the Trial and Error, frustrating, but I do learn from my > mistakes. > > > > > Figure Captions > > > Field Codes in Header > > > Field Codes in Footer > > > > Could you elaborate a bit here: PAGE and STYLEREF fields, and/or > > something more? > > Header: For Sections 1-4, there is no Header. For Sections 4-32, I have 3 > PAGE fields: "Chapter" (Heading 1), "Module" (Heading 2), and "Section" > (Heading 3). I felt that the 4th Heading, which is the actual > process/procedure/instructions jumbled the Header too much. For Sections > 33-37, I have 2 PAGE fields, "Chapter" and "Section." I'm thinking that I > can reduce it to just "Chapter" since these sections are all part of the > Appendix > > Footer: Section 1's footer is a PAGE field with the "SAVEDATE" that I am > using as a "Last Edited" reference. Sections 2-4 it the ToC, so there is a > PAGE field for roman numeral page numbers. Sections 5-32, I have a PAGE > field for the pagenumber, "Outline Circle 2" as well as two "pasted" logos, > one on either side of the pagenumber. Essentially, one is my company's and > the other is the Software company's. Sections 33-37 use the same "Outline > Circle 2" PAGE field, but I changed the Format to reflect "A-1" for appendix > A, "B-1" for appendix B, etc. > > > > > Auto Table of Figures > > > Sections > > > Page numbers restart at the beginning of each Section > > > > Again, this is something I would critically review: it's basically an > > outdated practice from the ages of printed manuals and delivered > > page-wise corrections. If you intend to do that (instead of, say, > > delivering PDF or HTML files), then Word might not be the best tool at > > hand for you because it's definitely not page-oriented in its setup. > > <gasp> oh, my. So, what is the recommendation? This "File" is intended to > be used by employees through access in our network. The finished product > (and subfiles) will be placed in the "Public" Folder so that any employee can > access it. It is not intended or designed to be printed. Though, my > supervisor threatens that it needs to be printable for folks to have it > "handy." I disagree, but, then again, she's the boss. > > > > > Manual Design: > > > Being this is my second manual, and I'm self taught, I know this is not a > > > standard format, hence why i'm asking for help: > > > Title Page > > > ToC > > > Introduction > > > Part I Section > > > Chapter 1 > > > ... > > > ... > > > Part VI Section > > > Chapter 23 > > > Appendixes > > > Glossary > > > Screenshots > > > > > > So far, I have 214 pages and i'm only on Chapter "2" of 23. File size is > > > already 10,048 kb. > > > > I don't know the scope of your application. But by extrapolating, it > > looks like you'll be somewhere in the vicinity of 2500 pages in the end. > > That is a monster manual. Is it intended to be read? > > <laughs> Yes, it is intended to be read. Maybe that's the wrong > terminology. It is to used to "train" new employees as well as a "Reference" > for established employees. As mentioned above, I have no intentions of ever > printing this monster. Any shortcuts, tricks, and/or ideas to reduce the > size would be greatly appreciated. Half way through Chapter 3, Only added 20 > pages. Granted, I reformatted the original 214 pages to be less graphic > intensive, added more white space. > > Question: I am not happy with the product, impressed with it, having fun > with the different "eye candy" Word(c) provides, but as you mentioned, I > think that it was the crux of my issue. Essentially, The following is a > "brief" example: > Header: Chapter: "Heading 1" Module: "Heading 2" Section: "Heading 3" > Top right corner: three graphic pictures .25inx.25in, hyperlinked. 1sr one > is to the ToC, 2nd is to the Section Heading, 3rd is to the Appendix > Heading 1 - "3 Inpatient Admissions" > Heading 2 - "Intake" > Heading 3 - "Admissions - Daily Pre-Admission" > - a little paragraph about the purpose and intent of the section, why it has > to be done, etc. > Heading 4 - "Pre-Admission Checklist" > - and then there's a HUGE table that follows. I found that using a table > made it extremely easy to manipulate, as far as height and length, as well as > "filling" table fields with colors for emphasis. > Footer: Company Logo, Page number, Software Logo > > Finally, the question: does using extensive, HUGE tables cause problems? > > > > > Here's one my Issues: > > > > > > Every time I insert a "copied" item, something that is being repeated that > > > is hyperlinked and cannot be placed in the header or footer, Word seems to > > > "Time Out", no cursor visible, no typing available, for about 15 to 30 > > > seconds. If i scroll the screen up or down a few times, then attempt to type > > > again, it seems to respond again. > > > > > > Is this where "Building blocks" or "Quick Parts" would be of better use? > > > > Are you talking about an external object to be repeated here (picture, > > Visio object, etc.)? You could bookmark the first occurrence and insert > > a REF field, technically. > > Yes, and Wow, didn't even think about that. Awesome, will impliment that > today. > > > > In a very large document, saving all the pictures externally and linking > > them into the document will reduce the file size. Though frankly, you > > have the burden to make sure that the pictures are all stable relative > > to the document (in the same folder or subfolder, preferably), have to > > deal with relative vs. absolute links, and of course Word needs to bring > > all stuff together at run time, so I'm not sure this helps a lot in your > > situation. > > Oh, okay. I started to do that initially, but found that in order to "link" > to the picture, I had to create a "save" for every single one. After #15 (of > 57 currently) I gave up on that idea and just put the pictures (aka Screen > shots) at the end of the document, linked to the appropriate heading. > Problem was, I would have to create a bookmark for the readers spot, insert > the picture to the "Screen shot Appendix", add a WORD(c) caption to the > picture, create a "BACK" hyperlink to the bookmark, then hyperlink the > bookmark to the picture Caption. VERY time consuming, and, as you mentioned > before, takes a lot of memory. > > This document I am creating also has documents within documents, meaning, > for processes, prcedures, and/or instructions that will be referred to more > often than others, I created an external document (some are up to 10 pages) > that was hyperlinked from the main document. This does save space, but at > the same time, when the link is clicked on, it "opens" the document and if > the User doesn't "close" it, well, let's just say there's going to be a lot > of open documents. > > > > In any case, the machine you're working on should be state of the art > > and have lots and lots of RAM. > > > Alas, though the system I am working on is better than the majority of > systems being used at our agency, it is far from "State of the Art." Hence > why I'm trying to find any and all means to reduce the intensity of the > document w/o losing the integrity as well. I like what I have created, but I > worry that I am putting an awful lot of work into something that may end up > too cumbersome or worse yet, unused. > > Thank you Robert for responding. I will take what responses you have listed > and put them into action. I also am anxiously waiting for a respone this as > well. > > Again, thank you. > > James Dart > Special Projects Manager > Sundown M Ranch >
From: JamesDart on 8 Jul 2008 15:12
"Mike Shuls" wrote: > James, > I'm making a manual very similar to yours only much smaller. I'm a summer > intern with a copius job that takes a while to learn the ins and outs of, so > I'm making a manual for the next intern and any other future interns during > my free time. > > I'm using most of what you're using, 3 levels of headers, a autoTOC and > bookmarks (probably an autoindex as well which ill bookmark so that they are > links...) > > I was just wondering if you knew any way to add in an object that will > scroll as the user scrolls with a link back to the TOC, or if there's a good > alternative besides keeping the document map open to easily return to the > table of contents... > > Thanks, and good luck on your possible 2500 page beast. > > -Shuls > Hiyas Shuls I'm pretty sure that having a "scrolling object" will create more problems than solve. What i did, since i have this beast, and frankly, having a document map open, while is a wonderful function, not everyone understands it, is just added an icon to represent the Table of Contents on each page that is hyperlinked. My solution was the following: (Part 1) At the beginning of the document (or just above my Table of Contents) I typed in very teeny tiny letters "Table" Highlighted "Table", went into font format and made the text "hidden" While still highlighted I also gave it a refcode called "Table" as a bookmark (Part 2) Then I added my Auto Table of Contents. (Part 3) In my "Introduction" I have a page script describing all the little icons and symbols on any given page. In here, I created a Visio Object (you can use paint or even import a picture/clipart) to represent the Table of Contents. I highlighted this object and named it "AutoTable" as a Bookmark (Part 4) Then, I go to the first spot in the manual, all I have to do is select the spot where i want it (Upper right-hand corner), go to the Insert Tab, Click on Quick Parts, Click on Fields, Click on Ref, select "Autotable" bookmark, click on OK... ....and Viola! the picture is now where I want it to be. (Part 5) Finally, I highlight the new tableicon and hyperlink it to the "table" bookmark. Setup takes a few minutes, then it's just copied/pasted onto each page. Rather nifty. Got the Idea from Robert (see below) "Are you talking about an external object to be repeated here (picture, Visio object, etc.)? You could bookmark the first occurrence and insert a REF field, technically." Anyhow, if there's an easier way to do it, i'm open to suggestions. Being self-taught here, i'm probably working too hard. But, I've read, in it's entirety, "Step by Step; Office Word 2007" and progressing through "2007 Microsoft Office System." Fantastic resources, but limited on the In's and Out's. That's why i'm posting here. James Dart Special Projects Manager Sundown M Ranch "Reality isn't Relevant, Perception is Everything" |