Checkboxes in Word Document - Slow to Open

Question

Hi-

I have a word document with 50+ activex checkboxes.  It's very slow to open the file when you first open it, taking at least one minute.  Does anyone have any recommendations on how to speed up this load time?  I'd like to use Word for this document since it has such flexibility in editing, but this problem is making me think I should consider a PDF Form instead.

Thanks

Answer 1

The slowness comes from using ActiveX checkboxes instead of formfield checkboxes -- Word has to load each one of those controls from the OCX file, and that takes time.

If you don't want to use formfields (which involves protecting the document, which causes other problems), you could try the macro-driven approach at http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Add_Toggle_Objects.htm or a userform as in http://gregmaxey.mvps.org/Interactive_UserForm_Checkboxes.htm .

Answer 2

My suggestion for those who are trying to decide whether on not to use Microsoft Word for forms, especially forms which require controls like checkboxes, especially large number (more than 10): Forget Word and use something else like:

• InfoPath (both developer and form consumer need to pay for the license but it is part of Microsoft Office Pro)
• Adobe Acrobat
• SharePoint (not Foundation)
• others exit