Text form field menu

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By Doug Lowe with Ryan C. Williams from "Word 2010 All-in-One For Dummies"

If you want users to put their name and address into a form you created with Word 2010, you have to provide a text field where they can type in the information you want. To create a text field in a form, follow these steps:

1. Position the insertion point on the template where you want the text field to appear.

2. In the Controls group of the Developer tab, click Legacy Tools and then click the Text Form Field button.

A text form field is inserted. Type some sort of text into the template next to the field to tell the user what to type in the field.

Warning

There's a similar control in the Controls group, but it doesn't do the same thing. Be sure to use the control in the Legacy Controls drop-down menu.

3. Double-click the text field to summon the Text Form Field Options dialog box to provide a default value for the text field. Type a default value for the field in the Default Text box and then click OK.

A default value is the information that appears in the field if the user doesn't type in anything.

Double-click the text field to summon the Text Form Field Options dialog box .

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You can also set the field type, choosing from:

  • Regular Text: This field consists of ordinary text, such as a name or an address. The user can type anything in the field.
  • * Number: The user must type a number in the field.
  • Date: The user must type a date in the field. The date must be in the month/day/year format (for example, 05/31/11 or 6-24-11) or may include the month spelled out (as in March 28, 2011).
  • Current Date: Word automatically inserts the current date into the field. The user can’t type anything in the field.
  • Current Time: Word automatically inserts the current time into the field. The user can't type anything in the field.
  • Calculation: The field contains a formula field (=) to calculate a result value, usually based on the value of one or more number fields. The user cannot type anything in this field.

If you deselect the Fill-In Enabled check box in the Text Form Field Options dialog box, Word displays the text field, but the user can’t modify it. Use this field only if you plan to do some fancy macro programming, in which a macro enables or disables the field at will. This kind of macro programming requires programming knowledge that is way beyond the realm of reasonable.