If you're like me, you love Microsoft Word's note feature--in particular, being able to insert or delete a footnote or endnote and have all of the subsequent notes renumber automatically. Have you ever wondered, though, how to create a note reference number that refers to a note that already exists?<\/p>\n
For example, let's say the following text is a Word document with notes (I've indicated note reference numbers with carets, like this^1):<\/p>\n
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,^1 consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy^2 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^3<\/p>\n
1 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.<\/p>\n
2 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.<\/p>\n
3 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.<\/p>\n
We have a reference number for note 1 after \"amet,\" but let's say we want to refer to note 1 again, this time after \"elit,\" like this:<\/p>\n
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,^1 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^1 sed diam nonummy^2 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^3<\/p>\n
1 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.<\/p>\n
2 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.<\/p>\n
3 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.<\/p>\n
Is that even possible in Word? Yes, it is, and it's called cross-referencing a note. The procedure is basically the same for footnotes or endnotes, although here I'll use footnotes for the example. Here's how to do it:<\/p>\n
1. Open a document that has footnotes.<\/p>\n
2. Put your cursor in your text where you want to cross-reference an existing note.<\/p>\n
3. Click the \"Insert\" menu.<\/p>\n
4. Click \"Cross-reference.\"<\/p>\n
5. Click the \"Reference type\" drop-down list.<\/p>\n
6. Click \"Footnote\" in the list.<\/p>\n
7. Click the \"Insert reference to:\" list.<\/p>\n
8. Click \"Footnote number (formatted)\"--probably the last item in the list.<\/p>\n
9. In the \"For which footnote:\" list, click the number of the footnote you want to cross-reference.<\/p>\n
10. Click the \"Insert\" button.<\/p>\n
These instructions sound more complicated than the procedure actually is--it's fairly easy. Be careful, though. If you insert a new note before your original note, the cross-referenced note won't change automatically. For example, here's our document with the cross-referenced note 1:<\/p>\n
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet,^1 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^1 sed diam nonummy^2 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^3<\/p>\n
1 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.<\/p>\n
2 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.<\/p>\n
3 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.<\/p>\n
Now, if we insert a new note after \"ipsum,\" our original note 1 reference number will change to \"2,\" but our cross-referenced note number after \"elit\" will remain as \"1\":<\/p>\n
Lorem ipsum^1 dolor sit amet,^2 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^1 sed diam nonummy^3 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^4<\/p>\n
1 Accumsan et iusto odio dignissim.<\/p>\n
2 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.<\/p>\n
3 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.<\/p>\n
4 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.<\/p>\n
Why? Because the cross-referenced note number is what Microsoft calls a \"field,\" and fields don't update automatically. To update the field (the cross-referenced note number), select it and press the F9 key. The document will then look like this, with the number after \"elit\" updated to a \"2\":<\/p>\n
Lorem ipsum^1 dolor sit amet,^2 consectetuer adipiscing elit,^2 sed diam nonummy^3 nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.^4<\/p>\n
1 Accumsan et iusto odio dignissim.<\/p>\n
2 Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam.<\/p>\n
3 Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate.<\/p>\n
4 Delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi.<\/p>\n
If you want to update all of the fields in your document (if you've got lots of cross-referenced note numbers, for example), select all (Edit > Select All) and then press F9. You can also set fields to update when you print by clicking Tools > Options > Print and putting a checkmark in the box labeled \"Update fields.\"<\/p>\n
Incidentally, these cross-referenced notes work beautifully with the \"Notes to Text\" feature of our NoteStripper program and, after being stripped, with our QuarkConverter program. You can learn more about these programs here:<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.editorium.com<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
_________________________________________<\/p>\n
READERS WRITE<\/p>\n
If you're creating custom VBA projects, you'll appreciate the following information from Wordmeister Steve Hudson, who wrote:<\/p>\n
The \"Disk Full on template save\" error and \"Network Lag on Document Open\" error AND \"Setting Digital Certificate\" error.<\/p>\n
Hah. Three problems in one. To cut to the chase, it's caused by a missing reference which can be located via the VBE (ALT+F11) > Tools > References dialog. Get rid of that reference by clearing the checkmark. If you had anything using that reference you need to relink it to its new destination.<\/p>\n
A simple way to cause this is to not provide the original document template. This causes a missing reference to that template to appear in this list. It will try and hunt it down across your paths in the Tools > Options > File Locations dialog, thus causing shocking lag when some of these locations are network addresses.<\/p>\n
It also causes problems when the VBA project is forced to recompile. The compile process fails as it cannot resolve the reference. VBA projects are forced to recompile when given a new digital signature or a new object is added.<\/p>\n
Thanks to Steve for this important tip.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
_________________________________________<\/p>\n
RESOURCES<\/p>\n
The Word-PC list and archives are, in my opinion, some of the finest Microsoft Word resources available anywhere. You can join the list or search the archives here:<\/p>\n