Microsoft

Creating User Forms

Amarillo College Revision Date: July 2, 2009

Table of Contents

ADDING THE DEVELOPER TAB ................................................................................................................................ 1 ADDING THE LEGACY TOOLS GALLERY ................................................................................................................... 1 ADD A TABLE ......................................................................................................................................................... 1 ADDING CONTROLS ............................................................................................................................................... 2 CURRENT DATE CONTROL................................................................................................................................................2 OPTION BUTTON CONTROL..............................................................................................................................................3 TEXT FORM CONTROL .....................................................................................................................................................4 CHECK BOX CONTROL .....................................................................................................................................................5 DROP-DOWN FORM CONTROL .........................................................................................................................................5 NUMBER FIELD ..............................................................................................................................................................7 CALCULATION CONTROL ..................................................................................................................................................8 A DATE FIELD................................................................................................................................................................9 CHANGING PROPERTIES ....................................................................................................................................... 10 PROTECTING THE FORM ...................................................................................................................................... 10 REMOVING PROTECTION FROM THE FORM ......................................................................................................... 12 EXPORT FORM DATA TO AN EXCEL WORKSHEET ................................................................................................. 13

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

ADDING THE DEVELOPER TAB

1. Click the MS Office Button and then at the bottom right of the window,

click the button. 2. Place a checkmark in the box titled, Show Developer tab in the Ribbon. 3.

ADDING THE LEGACY TOOLS GALLERY

Since all of the form controls in a form are added through one icon located on the Developer tab, it will be easy to access the gallery if you just add it to the Quick Access Toolbar.

1. On the Developer tab, right-click the Legacy Tools Add to Quick Access Toolbar.

icon and choose

ADD A TABLE
To have more control over where the form controls (fields) are placed in a form, many people create tables and then add the controls into the appropriate cells.

Page 1

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

ADDING CONTROLS
Current Date Control
The Current Date control will display the current date, no matter what day the form is opened. The user will not have to type in the date. 1. Place the cursor in the area on the form where the text fill-in box is to be displayed. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools ribbon. icon, located on the Controls

3. Click the Text Form Field icon. 4. Right-click the newly-added control and choose Properties. 5. Use the drop-down arrow in the Type field to choose Current Date. 6. 7. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 2

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Option Button Control

Option Buttons, a.k.a. Radio Buttons, are groups of options from which only one may be chosen. The user cannot select multiple option buttons. 1. Place the cursor on the form where the Option Button control is to be displayed. 2. Create the group of option buttons: a. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools Controls ribbon. icon, located on the

b. Click the Option Button (ActiveX Control) icon. c. Move the cursor to the spot where the next control is to be inserted. d. Repeat steps #2a-#2c for all the controls to be added to the group. Format the Option Button Controls 3. Right-click the first option button control and choose Properties. 4. Make the following changes: a. AutoSize = True b. Caption = whatever text that you want the user to see displayed next to the option button c. GroupName = type a simple name (cannot include spaces) for the collection of similar option buttons. For example, if the user had to choose his/her employee classification, the form may list 3 option buttons (classified, faculty, & administrator), but all three would have a group name such as EmpClass. 5. Left-click the second option button, and make similar changes to the first option button. 6. Repeat step 4 for each option button in the group. 7. Close the Properties window. 8. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 3

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Text Form Control

This type of control allows the user to add text. You can add default text, and can specify the amount of text that may be inserted into the field. 1. Place the cursor on the form where the Text Form control is to be displayed. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools ribbon. 3. Click the Text Form Field icon. icon, located on the Controls

4. Right-click the newly-added control and choose Properties. 5. As shown in the previous illustration, several properties can be set from the same window: a. The Default Text field contains wording that appears inside the control before the user starts typing. b. The Maximum Length field sets the limit of characters the user can place into the control. c. Make sure the Fill-in Enabled field is checked so that users can type inside the control. 6. 7. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 4

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Check Box Control

A Check Box control is different from an Option Button control, because it is possible for the user to add checkmarks to multiple check boxes, whereas he/she can only choose one option button in the group. 1. Place the cursor on the form where the Check Box control is to be inserted. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools ribbon. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. icon, located on the Controls

Click the Check Box (ActiveX Control) icon. Right-click the Check Box and choose Properties. Change the Caption to whatever text you want displayed next the Check Box. Close the Properties window. Repeat steps #1-#6 for each checkbox that is to be added. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Drop-Down Form Control

This type of control give the user a drop-down list of options to choose from. 1. Place the cursor on the form where the Drop-Down Form control is to be displayed. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools ribbon. icon, located on the Controls

3. Click the Drop-Down Form Field icon. 4. Right-click the newly-added control and choose Properties.

Page 5

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

NOTE: If you want the symbol & to appear in one of your choices, you have to type it twice. Otherwise, Word will ignore it.

5. Add items to the drop-down list: a. In the Drop-down Item field, type the first entry and press ENTER . See the note above the previous illustration. b. Repeat step #5a for each item to be displayed in the list. 6. 7. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 6

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Number Field
A number field starts off as a text field, but one of its properties gets changed so that it becomes a number instead. 1. Place the cursor on the form where the Number control is to be displayed. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools ribbon. icon, located on the Controls

3. Click the Text Form Field icon. 4. Right-click the newly-added control and choose Properties. 5. Make the following changes: a. In the Type field, use the drop-down arrow to select Number. b. If a default number is to be displayed in the field before the user enters anything, type that number in the Default Text field. c. If the number that the user enters into the field should be formatted a particular way, such as currency, use the drop-down arrow in the Number Format field to select the desired format. d. If the number is going to be used in a calculation later, place the cursor in the Bookmark field, and type a short name (no spaces allowed) for the number field. e. If the user is to be able to type a number into the field, make sure that the Fill-In Enabled box is checked. f. Place a checkmark in the Calculate on Exit box. 6. 7. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 7

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Calculation Control
Like the Number field, a Calculation control field starts off as a text field, but one of its properties gets changed so that it becomes a Calculation instead. This type of control performs a mathematical calculation based on other Number fields. 1. Place the cursor on the form where the Calculation control is to be displayed. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Legacy Tools ribbon. icon, located on the Controls

3. Click the Text Form Field icon. 4. Right-click the newly-added control and choose Properties. 5. Make the following changes: a. In the Type field, use the drop-down arrow to select Calculation. b. In the Expression field, notice that there is an equal sign. Add the formula to be used in the calculation after the equal sign. For example, suppose we had two number fields with bookmarks, Inventory and Price respectively. If the calculation field is to multiply those two number fields together, the expression would be, =Inventory * Price. c. Place a checkmark in the Calculate on Exit box. 6. 7. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 8

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

A Date Field
1. Place the cursor in the form where the checkbox is to be inserted. 2. On the Developer tab, click the Date Picker 3. As shown below, it places a contol in the form. icon on the Controls ribbon.

4. Click the center of the control to select it and then click the on the Controls ribbon.

button

Do not check the Contents cannot be edited box!

5. Add a checkmark to the Content Control Cannot be Deleted checkbox. 6. Click the desired date format. 7. 8. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

Page 9

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Changing Properties
With the exception of the Date Picker control, right-clicking a control will bring up the menu from which Properties can be chosen. 1. Right-click a previously added field and choose properties. 2. In the resulting window, make any desired changes. 3. 4. Skip to the Protecting the Form section if no more controls are to be added.

PROTECTING THE FORM

Once controls have been added to a form and it has been finalized, the form has to be protected so that users can only add content to the controls and not change the form itself. 1. Use the directions listed previously in this manual to create a form and add the desired controls. 2. Click-and-drag the mouse over all of the controls that have been added to the form. This will select them. 3. As shown in the next illustration, on the Developer tab, click the Protect Document icon, located on the Protect ribbon. 4. Choose Restrict Formatting and Editing. This will open the task pane at the right side of the screen.

Page 10

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

5. As shown in the next illustration, place a checkmark in the box for Allow only this Type of Editing in the Document.

6. Use the drop-down arrow to choose Filling in Forms. 7. Under Start Enforcement, click the note below: button. See the

NOTE: If the is grayed out, click the icon, located on the Controls ribbon of the Developer tab.

8. If a password is desired to unlock the form, type the password in the two fields of the popup window and click .

NOTE: At this point, the only places that can be edited are the controls that have been added to the form. Everything else on the form is protected.

Page 11

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

REMOVING PROTECTION FROM THE FORM

1. Open the form. 2. On the Developer tab, click the icon, located on the Protect ribbon. 3. Click Restrict Formatting and Editing. 4. In the lower right corner of the screen, click the 5. Edit the form as needed. button.

Page 12

Microsoft Word 2007

Creating User Forms

Export Form Data to an Excel Worksheet

1. Use Word 2007 to open the form. 2. Click the Office Button icon, and then click the button. 3. At the left side of the window, click Advanced. 4. Scroll down and place a checkmark in the Save Form Data as a Delimited Text File box.

5. 6. Work through the protected field, adding data to fields as needed. 7. Click the Office Button icon, and then click Save Copy As. It will automatically save the form data as plain text. 8. Type a name for the new data file. 9. A File Conversion dialog box will appear, with a preview of your information from the form.

10. 11. Use Excel to open the file: a. Open Excel 2007. b. On the Data tab, click the From Text icon, located on the Get External Data ribbon. c. Specify where the text file was saved. d. Double-click the text file when it is located. e. Click the option button for Delimited. f. g. Add a checkmark to the Comma box. h. i.

Page 13