Microsoft Word is a word processor, part of the Microsoft Office suite of computer applications. It is commonly used by technical writers, sometimes in combination with document design applications.
#21683
Using Watermarks to Personalize Your Documents
Have you ever wanted the word 'DRAFT' to appear as a light background on the pages of your printed documents? Microsoft refers to this use of words and images as 'watermarks.'
#24273
Using Word Macros as a Single Source Solution 
This paper, and my presentation, focus on the how I developed the idea of using Microsoft Word macros as a single source solution. They also discuss the benefits of these macros and their effectiveness.
McHugh, Brian C. STC Proceedings (1998). Articles>Word Processing>Single Sourcing>Microsoft Word
#27187
Occasionally a new user of Word is alarmed to discover that his previously pristine document is full of strange symbols – dots, arrows, paragraphs marks, and the like. For experienced users, the usual reaction of such a user seems almost comical because experienced users know how invaluable the display of nonprinting characters can be both in formatting and in troubleshooting documents.
Barnhill, Suzanne and Dave Rado. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#26123
Word performs many behind-the-scenes actions that some people hate and some people love. You already learned about AutoRecover, which saves files in the background every few minutes. Word offers three other big automated features: AutoCorrect, Smart Cut and Paste, and background spelling and grammar check.
Glenn, Walter. O'Reilly and Associates (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#27225
When to Use Parentheses to Enclose Subroutine and Function Arguments
The rules are confusing concerning the use of parentheses to enclose argument lists. I have even seen MS Knowledgebase articles that have got it wrong. The rules are as follows.
West, Jonathan. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Programming>Microsoft Word
#21792
When Word-XML Conversions Get Nasty
One of the first hurdles facing any major content or document management implementation is what to do with legacy documents. Chances are, many or most of those documents reside in Microsoft Word format, but enterprises often want to get them into a more open format, like XML. This is particularly the case for STM (Scientific, Technical, Medical) publishing, where you find complicated -- but highly structured -- information along with tantalizingly attractive re-use opportunities. But it is also true for everyday corporate documents as well.
Gross, Michael. CMSwatch (2004). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#31735
Who Says You Can't Use Microsoft Word To Do XML?
Although MS Word can generate XML, it should not be considered any kind of a robust XML authoring tool. Instead, its XML features are best for use with other Microsoft Office applications. However, because XML authoring is gaining in popularity, new XML authoring software tools and utilities are coming to market. In this article, Scott Abel looks at using MS Word for XML and takes a closer look at one alternative XML solution from a Microsoft partner that uses Word's familiar interface.
Abel, Scott. Writing Assistance (2006). Articles>Word Processing>XML>Microsoft Word
#27240
Why Do All the Page Numbers in my Word 2002 Document Display as 0?
Word 2002 will display 0 for all page numbers in headers or footers, and all page numbers in a Table of Contents, in the following circumstances.
Kelly, Shauna. Word MVP Site, The (2002). Articles>Word Processing>Document Design>Microsoft Word
#27235
Why Does the Appearance (or Layout) of My Document Change When I Open it on a Different Machine?
Because Word is a WYSIWYG application, it will always try to represent on screen the result you will get if you print on the printer that is selected as the default. Changing printer drivers will almost always change the layout at least slightly and sometimes radically. There are a number of ways to minimize the changes.
Barnhill, Suzanne. Word MVP Site, The (2002). Articles>Word Processing>Document Design>Microsoft Word
#27209
The complete explanation would be a book in itself. For now, it is enough to know that a Word document is a great big 'list' of objects. An object can be anything you can put in a Word document. Each of these objects has many, many 'properties' that determine how it appears and how it behaves.
McGhie, John. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#27222
Why Variables Should be Declared Properly
Almost all Microsoft Word variables should be dimensioned as whatever they are (Dim MyRange As Range, Dim MyString As String, etc.).
Rado, Dave. STC Proceedings (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Programming>Microsoft Word
#27708
Why Won't Microsoft Join Existing Standards Efforts? 
Microsoft has stated on numerous occasions that they believe in and support open standards. But from my experience, they do this not by joining existing open standards efforts, but instead by creating entirely new, parallel (and arguably redundant) 'open standards' efforts around their own technologies. And often it seems these new standards efforts are around new, untested, and immature technologies that began life as proprietary to Microsoft--introduced into the standards process when a pre-existing open standards effort already exists, and exists around proven and shipping technologies which were developed in the open with lots of input from a variety of expert stakeholders.
Korn, Peter. Sun Microsystems (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Standards>Microsoft Word
#21440
Mit diesem Thema wurden schon ganze Bücher gefüllt. Machen wir's hier etwas bescheidener und konzentrieren wir uns auf einige ganz grundlegende Beobachtungen. Sofern nichts anderes dabei steht, stammen die Erfahrungen von Winword 97.
von Obert, Alexander. Techwriter.de (2003). (German) Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#31189
This tutorial is based on the PC version of Microsoft Word 2003, but the principles explained here should be similar for older versions of the program and for Macs.
Cramer, Dan. Ereunao (2007). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#26748
Word can be very frustrating. Take, for example, when it refuses to open a file that you have worked on only a few minutes earlier. You know you closed the file correctly. There were no error messages when you exited. So, why does this happen?
Klariti (2006). Articles>Software>Word Processing>Microsoft Word
#26747
Even if you do everything right, sooner or later one of your documents will become corrupt. Sometimes word will even open the file, but before you can do any work, it crashes! How can you retrieve the document?
Klariti (2006). Articles>Software>Word Processing>Microsoft Word
#27189
Word for Windows Commands, and Their Descriptions, Default Shortcuts and Menu Assignments
Word has a built-in command ListCommands, which produces a table of all the Word commands with their current key and menu assignments. However, it does not list the commands using their actual names; nor does it include descriptions of what the commands actually do.
Rado, Dave. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#31968
This guide to dealing with the trials and tribulations of Master documents is virtually guaranteed to save whatever fragments of sanity you may have left as you deal with Master documents.
Hudson, Steve. TECHWR-L (2008). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#19588
Word Tips and Tricks: Movies for Authors
These flash movies can be redistributed freely on your Web site or intranet, on condition that they are not altered or amended in any way. If you view them on this Web site, they will open in second window.
Cherryleaf (2003). Resources>Tutorials>Software>Microsoft Word
#26326
It's ironic that the process of exporting a document from Word to HTML would have the effect of breaking the web page in Internet Explorer only. It's also pretty darned annoying.
alt tags (2005). Articles>Web Design>Software>Microsoft Word
#27236
Numbering in Word is difficult to understand because Word attempts to hide 'complexity' from us. In many cases, it provides insufficient detail in the explanation of features. Regrettably, a simplistic explanation does not help understanding of a complex subject. It fills our heads with loose ends, which makes the problem worse!
McGhie, John. Word MVP Site, The (2002). Articles>Word Processing>Information Design>Microsoft Word
#27226
The most important thing you need to know when working with bookmarks in Word is that there are two 'types' of bookmarks: 'placeholder' bookmarks and 'enclosing' bookmarks.
Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Programming>Microsoft Word
#27193
When you delete a section break, or move an entire section to another part of the document, you get what seem to be very strange results. For instance, deleting a Continuous section break causes the preceding Next Page section break to convert to a Continuous one, or deleting a section break causes an important Header to disappear from the document, or causes the entire document to become landscape.
Rado, Dave. Word MVP Site, The (2005). Articles>Word Processing>Software>Microsoft Word
#31615
The XML train is finally pulling into the station. It brings an ocean change in the way we create, store, and manage information. In October of last year, Microsoft released Office 2003, which brings the promise of XML to the desktop. Previously, Word 2000 saved only the Properties of documents in an XML module in files converted to HTML. In this new edition, you can save or export all Office documents as XML documents. Using XML tags, we can now identify various elements of our documents for manipulation, storage, and retrieval as you would data in a data bank. It also enables us to more easily share information in those documents across other applications (including Web applications), networks, and operating systems.
DuBay, William H. Impact Information (2005). Articles>Document Design>XML>Microsoft Word
#29300
XML Paper Specification (XPS) of a Word 2003 Document
Microsoft breathed new life into legacy office documents by opening an XML window (Office Open XML) to its office products through its royalty-free XPS specification. XPS stands for XML Paper Specification that specifies cross-platform, open standard, document representation that can be used for generating, sharing, printing and archiving of paginated documents. Its virtues in Microsoft's own words are, "With XPS, documents print better, can be shared easier, be archived with confidence, and are more secure."
Krishnaswamy, Jayaram. ASPAlliance (2007). Articles>Document Design>XML>Microsoft Word
