Getting the Most Out of Technologies You Already Own

Drafting a document between multiple reviewers can get complicated and frustrating when the available tools aren't used properly ' or not at all. The most common tools for document collaboration in Microsoft Word are Track Changes and Comments. These features are often used incompletely or the proper use of them is misunderstood.

The document author's objective is to receive feedback and editing suggestions, and then to determine which changes to incorporate into the next draft of the document. Track Changes applies revision marks indicating insertions, deletions, or formatting changes that have been made, and identifies the reviewer who contributed them. Instead of relying on the reviewer to enable Track Changes or that Track Changes is not turned off, the author can force Track Changes on so that no other changes are concealed in the document without his or her knowledge.

Comments allow reviewers to annotate their suggestions and make notes. The author of each comment is identified. If the collaboration phase consists of multiple reviewers, Word's Routing Slips option can be used to control the order of the review process and also ensures that the author receives all suggestions consolidated into a single document.

The use of tracked changes and routing slips has been controversial in Word, but is gaining in acceptance and popularity. At one time, the use of tracked changes was forbidden in many law firms for fear that users would unknowingly share documents electronically that contained tracked changes. However, clients typically prefer, and may even require, the use of tracked changes while collaborating and drafting legal documents. To alleviate the metadata risks, Microsoft added a security feature in Word 2002 to prevent the accidental disclosure of tracked changes. Users are alerted to the presence of tracked changes upon printing, saving or e-mailing a document. Further, several third-party metadata management products can automatically scrub out (accept) tracked changes, remove comments and eliminate the metadata from routing slips.

Harness the Power of Track Changes

How does Track Changes improve the collaboration process? When enabled and enforced, Track Changes keeps track of every change to the document and automates the process of rejecting suggested changes or incorporating them. The Reviewing toolbar in Word 2002/2003, and the Review menu in Word 2007, are the control centers for working with Track Changes and Comments. (Display the Reviewing toolbar from View, then Toolbars.)

The Track Changes button on the Reviewing toolbar (second from the right end) toggles Track Changes on and off. When Track Changes is activated, the button is highlighted and 'TRK' is bold on the status bar at the bottom of the screen. The TRK indicator can be double-clicked to toggle Track Changes as well.

In Word 2007, Track Changes is activated from the Review tab on the Ribbon. The TRK indicator is not included on the status bar by default in the 2007 version. It can be added though by right-clicking the status bar to choose Track Changes. From there, click the TRK indicator to turn Track Changes on or off.

With Track Changes now on, inserted text is tracked with a different font and underline color for each reviewer. Depending on how the document is being displayed, deletions are either formatted in a font color and strikethrough within the body of the document, or displayed in balloon callouts. Color assignments can be the same for all reviewers or different for each. Varying colors are determined by Word but they are helpful in distinguishing one reviewer's markups from another's.

A vertical line appears in the left margin beside lines containing changes. Moved text is marked as a deletion at its source location and an insertion at its new location. Word 2007 now tracks moves separately from insertions and deletions. (The moved text must consist of at least one sentence.)

Normal View displays all the revision markups within the body of the document. In the Print, Web, and Reading Layout views, deletions, formatting changes and comments are, by default, displayed in balloon callouts in the right margin. This helps to preserve the layout of the document to some extent. The View menu provides the various document viewing options.

The presence of balloons can be modified to accommodate only comments and formatting changes, or eliminated completely. From the Reviewing toolbar, select Show, Balloons or Show, Options. The use of balloons can be set to 'Only for Comments/Formatting' or 'Never.'

From the Word 2007 Ribbon, choose Balloons from the Review menu and click 'Show all revisions inline.' The display of balloons and color of track changes is machine specific and is not saved with the document. Consequently, when the document is viewed on a different machine the color of tracked changes and appearance of balloons may be different.

Reviewing and Sharing With Ease

Sharing documents for collaboration using Track Changes should begin with password-protecting the document for Track Changes and Comments. This assures that all revisions are marked and Track Changes cannot be turned off. In Word 2002/2003, select Protect Document from the Tools menu. Under Editing Restrictions, allow only Tracked Changes to enforce the use of tracked changes during collaboration and allow for the insertion of comments. Include a password for complete protection against untracked edits. Automatically, TRK will be activated on the status bar.

In Word 2007, select Protect Document from the Review menu to enforce Tracked Changes.

When the revised document is returned for review, save a copy for historical purposes, then turn off document protection by selecting Unprotect Document from the Tools menu or the Review menu as appropriate for the Word version. While document protection is enabled, tracked changes cannot be removed.

If reviewers return their changes in separate documents, you can consolidate the revisions into a single document and then review them. Make a copy of the original document, then select Compare and Merge documents from the Tools menu. Select one of the revised documents and click the Merge button in the bottom right corner. Choose Tools, Compare and Merge again for the next document, and repeat until all documents have been merged.

Hovering the mouse pointer over revision markings from tracked changes and comments will provide a screen tip indicating the author of the change, the date and time of the change, and the type of change made. The author name is based on the name specified under Tools, Options, User Information in Word 2002/2003. In 2007, select Word Options from the Office button. You should check this information before adding tracked changes or comments.

The Reviewing Toolbar provides tools for navigating, reviewing, accepting and rejecting changes. Use the Next and Previous arrows to review each revision and comment. If Balloons is off, the Reviewing pane will automatically open at the bottom of the screen when you reach a comment. The Reviewing pane will remain open until you close it. The last button on the Reviewing Toolbar toggles the Reviewing pane open or closed.

The Accept and Reject buttons on the Reviewing toolbar permanently remove tracked changes history and markings. My favorite tip on using the Reviewing Toolbar is to hold the Shift key while accepting and rejecting changes. This automatically advances to the next change.

In Word 2007, the Review menu groups options into Comments, Tracking, Changes, Compare and Protect. A nice feature in Word 2007 is the ability to navigate through tracked changes or comments separately.

In earlier versions of Word, the Display for Review and Show options on the Reviewing toolbar were the main source of trouble for the Track Changes feature. Both provide options for displaying various forms of the document with or without revision markings displayed. These options do not remove revision markings or history; they simply change the display of the document. Final Showing Markup is the default selection and keeps the revision markings and comments visible. Final displays the revisions without the markings or comments. Original showing markup displays deletions in the body of the document and insertions placed in balloon callouts or not at all if balloons are disabled.

When you open a document that contains tracked changes, the Reviewing toolbar is displayed and the document appears in the Final Showing Markup view to show that the document contains track changes.

Securely Track Changes

The best security measures for working with tracked changes and comments are to enable 'Make hidden markup visible” found under Tools, Options, Security and implement a thorough metadata scrubbing product. This ensures that when you receive a document from others, tracked changes are made visible and when sending documents to others, tracked changes are removed when appropriate.

The Show button seems to be an often-overlooked feature with Track Changes, particularly the Reviewers option. Use it to determine which reviewer's changes are visible. This might be used to print and then review different reviewer's renditions of the document.

If you're very familiar with the Reviewing toolbar, it'll require some patience to get used to the Ribbon's presentation. While the user interface is very clean and organized, options don't appear as noticeable as in earlier versions. Fortunately, the command names are similar between versions. For instance, the Show button on the Reviewing toolbar is replaced with the Show Markup section of the Review menu. All the Track Changes features are available in Word 2007, you just have to find them.

Drafting a document between multiple reviewers can get complicated and frustrating when the available tools aren't used properly ' or not at all. The most common tools for document collaboration in Microsoft Word are Track Changes and Comments. These features are often used incompletely or the proper use of them is misunderstood.

The document author's objective is to receive feedback and editing suggestions, and then to determine which changes to incorporate into the next draft of the document. Track Changes applies revision marks indicating insertions, deletions, or formatting changes that have been made, and identifies the reviewer who contributed them. Instead of relying on the reviewer to enable Track Changes or that Track Changes is not turned off, the author can force Track Changes on so that no other changes are concealed in the document without his or her knowledge.

Comments allow reviewers to annotate their suggestions and make notes. The author of each comment is identified. If the collaboration phase consists of multiple reviewers, Word's Routing Slips option can be used to control the order of the review process and also ensures that the author receives all suggestions consolidated into a single document.

The use of tracked changes and routing slips has been controversial in Word, but is gaining in acceptance and popularity. At one time, the use of tracked changes was forbidden in many law firms for fear that users would unknowingly share documents electronically that contained tracked changes. However, clients typically prefer, and may even require, the use of tracked changes while collaborating and drafting legal documents. To alleviate the metadata risks, Microsoft added a security feature in Word 2002 to prevent the accidental disclosure of tracked changes. Users are alerted to the presence of tracked changes upon printing, saving or e-mailing a document. Further, several third-party metadata management products can automatically scrub out (accept) tracked changes, remove comments and eliminate the metadata from routing slips.

Harness the Power of Track Changes

How does Track Changes improve the collaboration process? When enabled and enforced, Track Changes keeps track of every change to the document and automates the process of rejecting suggested changes or incorporating them. The Reviewing toolbar in Word 2002/2003, and the Review menu in Word 2007, are the control centers for working with Track Changes and Comments. (Display the Reviewing toolbar from View, then Toolbars.)

The Track Changes button on the Reviewing toolbar (second from the right end) toggles Track Changes on and off. When Track Changes is activated, the button is highlighted and 'TRK' is bold on the status bar at the bottom of the screen. The TRK indicator can be double-clicked to toggle Track Changes as well.

In Word 2007, Track Changes is activated from the Review tab on the Ribbon. The TRK indicator is not included on the status bar by default in the 2007 version. It can be added though by right-clicking the status bar to choose Track Changes. From there, click the TRK indicator to turn Track Changes on or off.

With Track Changes now on, inserted text is tracked with a different font and underline color for each reviewer. Depending on how the document is being displayed, deletions are either formatted in a font color and strikethrough within the body of the document, or displayed in balloon callouts. Color assignments can be the same for all reviewers or different for each. Varying colors are determined by Word but they are helpful in distinguishing one reviewer's markups from another's.

A vertical line appears in the left margin beside lines containing changes. Moved text is marked as a deletion at its source location and an insertion at its new location. Word 2007 now tracks moves separately from insertions and deletions. (The moved text must consist of at least one sentence.)

Normal View displays all the revision markups within the body of the document. In the Print, Web, and Reading Layout views, deletions, formatting changes and comments are, by default, displayed in balloon callouts in the right margin. This helps to preserve the layout of the document to some extent. The View menu provides the various document viewing options.

The presence of balloons can be modified to accommodate only comments and formatting changes, or eliminated completely. From the Reviewing toolbar, select Show, Balloons or Show, Options. The use of balloons can be set to 'Only for Comments/Formatting' or 'Never.'

From the Word 2007 Ribbon, choose Balloons from the Review menu and click 'Show all revisions inline.' The display of balloons and color of track changes is machine specific and is not saved with the document. Consequently, when the document is viewed on a different machine the color of tracked changes and appearance of balloons may be different.

Reviewing and Sharing With Ease

Sharing documents for collaboration using Track Changes should begin with password-protecting the document for Track Changes and Comments. This assures that all revisions are marked and Track Changes cannot be turned off. In Word 2002/2003, select Protect Document from the Tools menu. Under Editing Restrictions, allow only Tracked Changes to enforce the use of tracked changes during collaboration and allow for the insertion of comments. Include a password for complete protection against untracked edits. Automatically, TRK will be activated on the status bar.

In Word 2007, select Protect Document from the Review menu to enforce Tracked Changes.

When the revised document is returned for review, save a copy for historical purposes, then turn off document protection by selecting Unprotect Document from the Tools menu or the Review menu as appropriate for the Word version. While document protection is enabled, tracked changes cannot be removed.

If reviewers return their changes in separate documents, you can consolidate the revisions into a single document and then review them. Make a copy of the original document, then select Compare and Merge documents from the Tools menu. Select one of the revised documents and click the Merge button in the bottom right corner. Choose Tools, Compare and Merge again for the next document, and repeat until all documents have been merged.

Hovering the mouse pointer over revision markings from tracked changes and comments will provide a screen tip indicating the author of the change, the date and time of the change, and the type of change made. The author name is based on the name specified under Tools, Options, User Information in Word 2002/2003. In 2007, select Word Options from the Office button. You should check this information before adding tracked changes or comments.

The Reviewing Toolbar provides tools for navigating, reviewing, accepting and rejecting changes. Use the Next and Previous arrows to review each revision and comment. If Balloons is off, the Reviewing pane will automatically open at the bottom of the screen when you reach a comment. The Reviewing pane will remain open until you close it. The last button on the Reviewing Toolbar toggles the Reviewing pane open or closed.

The Accept and Reject buttons on the Reviewing toolbar permanently remove tracked changes history and markings. My favorite tip on using the Reviewing Toolbar is to hold the Shift key while accepting and rejecting changes. This automatically advances to the next change.

In Word 2007, the Review menu groups options into Comments, Tracking, Changes, Compare and Protect. A nice feature in Word 2007 is the ability to navigate through tracked changes or comments separately.

In earlier versions of Word, the Display for Review and Show options on the Reviewing toolbar were the main source of trouble for the Track Changes feature. Both provide options for displaying various forms of the document with or without revision markings displayed. These options do not remove revision markings or history; they simply change the display of the document. Final Showing Markup is the default selection and keeps the revision markings and comments visible. Final displays the revisions without the markings or comments. Original showing markup displays deletions in the body of the document and insertions placed in balloon callouts or not at all if balloons are disabled.

When you open a document that contains tracked changes, the Reviewing toolbar is displayed and the document appears in the Final Showing Markup view to show that the document contains track changes.

Securely Track Changes

The best security measures for working with tracked changes and comments are to enable 'Make hidden markup visible” found under Tools, Options, Security and implement a thorough metadata scrubbing product. This ensures that when you receive a document from others, tracked changes are made visible and when sending documents to others, tracked changes are removed when appropriate.

The Show button seems to be an often-overlooked feature with Track Changes, particularly the Reviewers option. Use it to determine which reviewer's changes are visible. This might be used to print and then review different reviewer's renditions of the document.

If you're very familiar with the Reviewing toolbar, it'll require some patience to get used to the Ribbon's presentation. While the user interface is very clean and organized, options don't appear as noticeable as in earlier versions. Fortunately, the command names are similar between versions. For instance, the Show button on the Reviewing toolbar is replaced with the Show Markup section of the Review menu. All the Track Changes features are available in Word 2007, you just have to find them.