Word 2010-Word 365 

1. From Word, click File, Options, Display.

2. Under Always show these formatting marks on the screen, check  Show all formatting marks, deselect the other options.

Why Do I Need This?

 Show/Hide helps you fix formatting issues. It's one of the tools Word provides to help you to see to see what's going on in your document. 

"But I hate looking at all those weird marks." 

So do we. But the ability to see formatting marks are essential for fixing your document. When you're done troubleshooting, click Show Hide again. Show/Hide is a "toggle";  the same button turns the feature on and off.

For even more power, see *Enhanced* Show/Hide.

Show/Hide ¶ (Ctrl+*)

Show paragraph marks and other hidden formatting symbols. 

This is especially useful for advanced formatting tasks

Source: Show/Hide tooltip

The MakeWordBehave ribbon includes a button called "Enhanced Show/Hide" which toggles additional features not handled by the native Word Show/Hide feature, including:

• Field Shading;

• Field Display;

• Table Gridlines; 

• Hidden Text; 

• Bookmarks

• Content Controls (optional)

Why Do I Need This?

Sometimes troubleshooting involves Word features, not just  formatting.

• Is the table of contents typed or automatic?

• Does the document contain cross-references?

• How were the paragraph numbers inserted?

  • ListParagraphs?

  • ListNums? 

  • SEQ fields?

  • Manual?

• Why doesn't the document number in the footer change when I "save as new document"? (For users of document management systems.)

 Word delivers much of its automation through the use of "Field codes. " You can turn on an option in Word so that field shading is visible all the time.  (File, Options, Advanced, Show Document Content, Field Shading: Never, Always When Selected.)

 Field shading can be distracting, so we made it a toggle: one click turns field shading on or off. Table of contents, file names, cross-references, paragraph numbering -- all these features use fields. If the date is always current when you open a document, most of the time, it will be because of a field code (or "content control).

How can you fix what you can't see?

In this video, I show you some of the things you could be missing when you work on a document created by another user.

This is a HUGE gotcha and the best setting depends on the skill set of the litigation team. I recommend leaving this setting unchecked. This allows end users to control when certain types of fields are updated, in most cases.

Below is a short list of the problems with field codes law office admins need to know about. 

Warm, Hot & Cold  Fields

Warm fields update when previewed, printed, after using Ctrl+A,  F9 (select all, update field keystroke). Of note for legal personnel are these fields :

• Filename

• Table of Contents

• Table of Authorities (native Word ToA, not Best Authority or similar apps) 

• SEQ fields (used with discovery numbering)

• Cross-reference

Of all the fields in Word, issues with the above fields generate the greatest number of calls to the Help Desk  (in my experience).  Reason: The was field updated before the user was ready. Most of the time, the field update occurred when the user prints or previews the document.

Hot fields update automatically; examples:

• Page Number Field (always displays the current page number)

• Date field (always displays the current date)

Using the Date field has also been very problematic. A user called because she was printing discovery documents., all were at least 10 years old.  Some documents were printing with the current date. Turns out the author used the Date code. This is why I usually recommend typing the date. Today's convenience could be tomorrow's nightmare. For more information, see the video above, What Lies Beneath.

Cold fields have not caused a problem.

For Super Users, & Super Users in Training

Fantastic treatments of this topic can be found here by Lene Fredborg (a Word goddess if there ever was one):

https://www.thedoctools.com/word-macros-tips/word-tips/updating-fields-in-word-how-it-works/ 

https://wordribbon.tips.net/T013475_Updating_Fields_Automatically.html 

Filename Field Gotcha & the Workaround

If you use a Filename field as a document ID, you usually want to update this field so you can locate the document later. However, if you are printing discovery documents the filename field will update on print, displaying the document's current location.  The workaround: Lock the field code before printing.

In this video, I show you the proofing options that have worked in our environment.

In this video, I show you some of the things you could be missing when you work on a document created by another user.

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