Fields

Tips, Tricks, and Answers

The following articles are available for the 'Fields' topic. Click the article's title (shown in bold) to see the associated article.

Adding a Document Title
One of the properties that Word can maintain for your document is a title. This tip explains how to set that title and then use it within your document.

Adding the User's Address to a Document
When you install Word you can indicate your address, and then the program keeps track of that information. This can come in handy, as you can later insert that address information in your document.

Inserting a Character Count
Word always knows how many characters are contained within a document. This information can be dynamically inserted in your document, if you desire.

Inserting a Dynamic Word Count in Your Document
Need to know how many words are in your document? You can use the NumWords field to add that statistic, dynamically, to anyplace you want in your document.

Inserting the Template Name Dynamically in a Document
Document templates are an integral part of Word, whether the user realizes it or not. You can use one of Word's fields to dynamically add the name of the current template anywhere within the text of the document.

Inserting Your Initials in a Document
Believe it or not, Word keeps track of your initials. If you want to insert those into a document, you can do so using a field. Why? Because when someone else opens the same document on their system, it will reflect their initials instead of yours.

Printing Field Codes
Field codes allow dynamic information to be included in documents and can be a great boon. At some point you may want to print a copy of your document with field codes displayed. Here's how to do it.

Quick Access Tool for Field Codes
Fields can be used to add all sorts of dynamic data to your documents. Viewing the field codes, at times, is desirable. Here's a way to add a handy clickable tool that will both display and hide those field codes.

The Date Your Document was Last Printed
One of the dynamic pieces of information you can place in a document is the date it was last printed out. It's easy to do using a special field.

The Document Revision Number
Each time you save your document, Word increments a revision counter. You can insert the value of that counter into your document through the use of a field.

The Size of Your Document
Word obviously keeps track of how large a document file is. You can insert that information into a document by using a special field.

Understanding Field Shading
If you use fields in your documents, you may want to highlight them in some way so that you can find them easier. Word includes a setting that allows you to specify exactly how you want your fields shaded.

Understanding the INFO Field
The INFO field allows you to include all sorts of information in your document. Here's a quick overview of the field and what it can do for you.

Updating Fields and Links when Opening or Closing
Do you want Word to update both fields and links when you open or close your document? Part of this (the links) are easy to do; the other part (fields) requires the use of a macro or two.

Using the EditTime Field
Word keeps track of the cumulative time that you have a document open. This is considered the editing time for the document, and can be inserted dynamically in your text by using a field.

Using the NumPages Field
One of the pieces of information maintained by Word is the number of pages in a document. You can use the NumPages field to insert this information into the document itself.

Using Word and Character Counts in Your Document
Using fields you can easily insert both the word and character counts for a document into the document itself. As those counts change (during editing), Word automatically updates what is displayed by the fields. Here's how to put them to work.