Tracking changes (Word 2k, XP Pro)

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Recently made changes to a document. Compared it to the original it came up with all the changes that had been made in the last year.

Not really what I wanted as these documents are on our intranet and tracking changes has been my way of informing users of the latest changes.

Can anyone help?

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Word cannot possibly know anything about changes made prior to the “original” you are using in your comparison. Unless the original also contains tracked changes (e.g., hidden from view by not showing revision marks on screen). If this is the problem, save the “original” as a new doc, accept the revisions, and then compare again, and you should see only the differences between your latest version and the “original.”

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Hi Jeff,

One of my staff is currently using Office 2002 at her residence.

One of my collegues sent the user with WORD 20002 a document written and revised with WORD 2000/

Now this person with WORD 2002 cannot see the revision changes which is using preset colors. She is talking about some balloon in the revision changes with an underline. When she tried opening the word 2000 doc from a site with a WORD 2000 the revision changes show up. Has there been some new options to look out for , for WORD 2002 to use the revision changes ,made in word 2000.

Ur help is appreciated. I am not sure what they are talking off as I do not have Word 2002. Appreciate any pointers that lead to being able to use the document.

Usha Meister

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I don’t have XP either, but I have read a LOT about the tracked changes features, and there have been several posts here on the Board.

First, to change from balloon-style revision markings to old-fashioned inline styles, it might be possible to change them in the Tools, Options, Track Changes dialog. If not, display the Reviewing toolbar and look for the settings on one of the buttons. (See WD2002: Markup Balloons Are Cut Off at the Bottom of the Page (Q286887), describing how to use the Reviewing toolbar to specify which types of “markup” to show in balloons.)

Second, I think I read that you really don’t have much control over the colors, but I haven’t searched for the discussion on that.

Third, there is a “hack” to show deletions as strikethrough, if desired. See Post #148341, which points to a section of Woody’s newsletter.

These articles might help, too:

WD2002: Explanation of Preview Settings for Tracked Changes (Q293325)

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Hi Jeff,

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. The PRINT LAYOUT mode certainly showed me the balloons. I wonder why they make it so difficult for users to use their software. Certain Features that were working have been removed and some new ones introduced, not necessarily good ones , but they seem more a pain to get used to , than anything else.

I have a small query for you, if you can help me. Lets say I am the receiver of a document. Should I be working in the “final markup mode” or the “original markup mode” and if the document goes back and forth many times are all the
original changes merged into one document with the “final” document just showing the last changes??

I suspect the answer shd be YES logically speaking. But I am not too sure. Any help would be greatly appreciated.!!!

Usha

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Since I still use Word 2000, I’m not 100% certain of the translation of those modes. However, I would always use one that shows the markup in progress, and not one that hides it. Otherwise, it’s hard to understanding what’s happening.

When two people exchange documents, the markup should not change. Someone has to manually accept/reject changes in order to clean it out and make the “final” really “final.” Otherwise, you get the Alcatel problem. (Toggle your various tracked changes views on the attached press release!)

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The attachment would have been really hilarious if it did not expose something which any of us could well have already done.

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Just Curious: what should the attachment show? I’m just seeing normal text – no track changes/comments/deletions/additions whatsoever.

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Select Tools/Track Changes/Highlight Changes… and check the box to display changes on-screen (don’t know the exact wording in English).

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Now that I have Office XP I can see the deletions and the balloons in the attachment! Very scary.

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Is this Alcatel document an authentic document/situation? Are the phone numbers, etc., fictitious? How credible is it? I’d like to use it as an example available to users in a law firm, and I’ll probably get creamed if I say it’s authentic and it’s not! A fellow IT member is already questioning it. Thanks.

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The document is authentic. I read this on a link from Lockergnome.com about a year ago that talked about the serious gaping security holes that cable and DSL providers were leaving for their (perhaps unsophisticated) users. Many folks don’t know what a cookie is, let alone a firewall. The Alcatel Speed Touch modem was selected as the villain by a bunch of users who were hacked and it got some media play. Alcatel had to issue a response. It’s still funny.

…and Track Changes is evil. Use a static document comparison tool like DeltaView instead.

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I don’t remember what site I got it from, but I’m fairly certain it is the real thing.

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