How to prevent breaking formatting in shared Word document

Question

At my school, we are asked to complete a team report. In order to be more efficient, I often create a shared Word document and give editing permissions to my teammates. This allows us to write our own part as well as keeping an eye on what others are writing so as no to contradict each other. I considered two other solutions but ultimately decided against it:

• Google Docs, because it would require creating a Google account and doesn't have as many advanced functions as Word (Think spellchecker and reference management softwares)
• Apple Pages, for the very same reasons plus that Windows users would be constrained to the online version. The upside is the basic templates are really beautiful and sure to give us all the points :)
• Everyone has an Office 365 license with allowed local installation through our tuition fees.

However, some teammates have a hard time figuring out how Word works and sometimes break formatting and locale, and do a lot of hand-formatting instead of using styles. We are using a variety of platforms and I can't assume everyone will be on Mac or Windows, whether they use installed Office 365 of the online version, which have different capabilities. Last I saw someone copy-pasting an Excel spreadsheet directly into Word, which broke the table of Contents.

Of course I can enable revision tracking, but it can quickly get overwhelming to accept or reject each one, both format and content.

The best way would be to lock formatting and locale while still allowing text edition.

But how can I do that?

Answer 1

There is a way to lock formatting in Word for Windows on the desktop, although I'm not sure how well it plays with all the other variations of Word (Mac, Online, Android, old versions, etc.). It also may be too intrusive and get backlash from your team, so try experimenting with it before rolling it out to everyone.

Open the document (I'd recommend a template instead, but that also may not play well with others) in Word. Click either Review > Protect > Restrict Editing or Developer > Restrict Editing. That opens the pane shown on the left side of this screenshot:

Check the box under "Formatting restrictions" and click the Settings link to open the dialog box on the right side.

Check/uncheck the styles that you want to allow. If you want only relatively few, click the Recommended Minimum button, or click the None button and then check those few. You may want to check the two "Block" options at the bottom of the dialog, but definitely leave the "Allow AutoFormat" one unchecked.

Users will have to become accustomed to using character styles such as Emphasis (for italic) and Strong (for bold) instead of direct formatting. Other adjustments may be needed, depending on what kinds of formatting are required.

When everything is set up, click OK in this dialog and click "Yes, Start Enforcing Protection" in the Restrict Editing pane. If you want to, you can apply a password that will be required for turning off the restriction. (Don't forget the password. It's a good idea to keep a copy of the document for yourself that has no password.)

Answer 2

However, some teammates have a hard time figuring out how Word works and sometimes break formatting and locale, and do a lot of hand-formatting instead of using styles. We are using a variety of platforms and I can't assume everyone will be on Mac or Windows, whether they use installed Office 365 of the online version, which have different capabilities. Last I saw someone copy-pasting an Excel spreadsheet directly into Word, which broke the table of Contents.

In addition to Jay's answer, an obvious solution would be for your teammates to be taught how to use Word properly. Schools are learning institutions, after all...

Answer 3

To add to what I said earlier, I don't see any way to prevent changes in Windows locale (which presumably affect number and date/time formats, and maybe such things as quotation marks). When you send the base document, remind everyone to set their locale to the same one, temporarily if necessary.

Answer 4

None of these functions appear to be available in Word for Mac, unfortunately…

Answer 5

Lol true is that computer illiteracy is a rampant issue here!

But with all the mandatory intensive courses, there's no time left to learn some Word skills…