In their broadest definition, Word fields are special codes that perform various tasks. Fields in Word 2011 for Mac are an essential part of mail merge, page numbering, and other tasks. Some fields are very simple; others are quite complex. Getting to know Word fields in Office 2011 for Mac is probably easiest if you start with a new, blank Word document in Print Layout view.
In the following steps, you’ll collect three tools and then put them onto a toolbar so that you can use them later. You can drag them to the Standard toolbar or any other toolbar.
Follow these steps to drag these commands onto any toolbar of your choice:
In Word, choose View→Toolbars→Customize Toolbars and Menus.
Select the Commands tab and make sure that the left pane shows All Commands.
Click in the right panel and then press the first letter of the command to bring you to that letter of the alphabet and save time.
Drag the ViewFieldCodes, InsertFieldChars, and UpdateFields commands to any toolbar.
Click OK to close the Customize Toolbars and Menus dialog.
To add a text input field to a document: In an open Word document, place the insertion point where you want to insert a text form field. Click the Text Box Field button on the Developer tab of the Ribbon. A gray box (the form field) appears in your document at the insertion cursor. Click the gray.
Where do Word fields hide on your computer? They quietly reside in a small, but powerful, dialog; choose Insert→Field. The Field dialog appears. Here you can insert a special code, dubbed a field code, into your Word document. The field code categories are listed on the left side of the dialog in the Categories list. The Field Names list on the right side of the dialog allows you to select a field code to insert into a document.
You can grab the Time Word field and put it into a blank document in order to pick it apart and see how it works. For this example, follow these steps:
Click the New button on Word’s Standard toolbar to open a new, blank Word document.
Choose Insert→Field.
In the Categories list, choose Date and Time.
In the Field Names list, choose Time.
The description in the dialog changes to The Current Time.
Click OK to close the Field dialog.
In a Word form in Office 2011 for Mac, a combo field is a pretty neat thing. Use a combo when you want the user to choose an entry from a list of choices. The Combo Box field is also referred to as aDrop-Down Form field. Follow these steps to create a combo box:
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Click in your document at the position to insert the form field.
On the Developer tab of the Ribbon, click the Combo Box button.
A small gray box appears.
Click the Form Fields Options button on the Developer tab of the Ribbon.
The Drop-Down Form Field Options dialog opens.
The top half of this dialog lets you build the list of choices that will appear when the Drop-Down button is clicked in your finished, protected form.
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Drop-Down Item: Type an item to appear in the drop-down list.
Add: Adds your typed Drop-Down item to the Items in Drop-Down List.
Remove: Removes a selected item from the Items in the Drop-Down List.
Items in Drop-Down List: These items appear in the drop-down list of choices that appears when the Drop-Down button is clicked in your finished, protected form.
Move: Select an item in Items in Drop-Down List. Click an arrow to move it up or down in the list.
Field Settings: Here are the field settings:
Bookmark:Give the drop-down list a name ending with a number. The numbers you assign should be sequential.
Calculate on Exit: If you use calculations, you can select this check box to cause Word to perform the calculations after the control is used.
Drop-down Enabled: When selected when the user clicks a button in the form field, a pop-up menu displays showing the items in the drop-down list.
Microsoft Word Form Fields Mac 2011 Review
When you’re done setting up the combo box and you select it within the form, it works like a regular pop-up menu.