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You are here: Books --> Effective onscreen editing --> Errata/additions in the May 2007 edition
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The January/February 2008 update is now available (free!) to registered purchasers. If you haven't received a download link by e-mail, please contact me to request one. In addition, the fully revised 2nd edition is available. If you want to upgrade, please contact me (include the date when you purchased your copy) to request details of how to obtain the new version at a significantly reduced price.
All errors and clarifications reported or requested by readers since the first (May 2007) edition was released have been presented on this page. Corrections and new information have now been incorporated into the final (January 2008) version of the book, which contains all of these corrections plus a few revisions to the text to improve its clarity. All future updates will appear on the January 2008 edition errata and additions page.
If you find an error or problem that isn't included in this list, please report the problem to me so I can fix it.
This page contains errata and additions for the following sections of the book:
Appendix II: Protecting yourself from injury while using the computer
Broken links: The "Index" and "About the author" headings are not linked to the correct pages. For now, you'll have to navigate manually to those pages.
Backups (page 29): Until you've developed a full-fledged backup strategy, here's a useful tip for protecting your valuable files: create an e-mail account with Google or any other online service that offers a large amount of storage space. (Most now offer at least 1 Gig of storage.) You can now e-mail yourself a copy of each file whenever you feel the need to create a backup, whether that's after a couple hours of work or at the end of the day.
Not sure what level of zoom works best? Try this trick: Open the View menu, and select Print or Layout mode. Next, open the menu again and select Zoom. In the Zoom dialog box, select Page Width. You can now drag the bottom right corner of the window to enlarge or shrink the window, and as you do, the type size will change. Stop when you reach a comfortable size. Open the View menu and select Zoom again to see what percentage you’ve chosen. You can now use that zoom level in any other view mode.
The Customize feature (page 99): You have two easy options to tame the Customize feature so that it won't appear and start destroying your menus and toolbars if you inadvertently hit the keyboard shortcut for this command (Control + Alt + Hyphen in Windows, Command + Option + Hyphen on the Mac): First, open the Tools menu, select Customize, then select some useful (or innocuous) function and assign this keyboard command to that function. Second, open the Insert menu and select Insert Symbol. In the palette of special characters that appears, you can select any character (such as an em dash: —) and assign this keyboard shortcut to that symbol. Word will display the command already assigned to this shortcut (here, ToolsCustomizeRemoveMenuShortcut) and give you a chance to change your mind. The advantage of binding the keystroke to another feature is that the feature itself remains available in the Tools menu. The biggest drawback is that if you regularly use someone else's computer, you may wrongly assume you don't have to worry about this keystroke anymore. Beware!
Recovering corrupted Word documents (pages 117–119): If you have a copy of Word 2003, or know someone who does, that version provides a useful tool for recovering corrupted Word documents: "Open and Repair". (This won't be available on the Macintosh until Word 2008 is released.) To use this function, close the problem document. Next, open the File menu, select Open, then select the problem file from the list of available files: don't double-click the file or click the "OK" button the way you might usually do. Instead, look for a small triangle to the right of the "OK" button that indicates the presence of a hidden menu: click this to reveal a set of choices, and from that list, choose "Open and Repair". You may still need to try some of the other tricks described on these pages of the book, but this will generally make the document sufficiently stable that the other tricks have a chance of working. Two other tricks may help: open the File menu, select Save As, and set the format to "rich text format" (RTF) or "Web page" (HTML). In more recent versions of Word, the latter format may have its own entry under the File menu. Next, close the file, reopen it, and save it again as a Word (.doc) file.
Recovering corrupted Word documents, take II: Sometimes Word doesn't handle graphics so well, particularly if the author has been especially creative in finding incorrect ways to insert them, and particularly if you're using one of the Macintosh versions (which have great difficulty with Windows .emf and .wmf file formats). One of the most common problems you'll see is "file bloat": the file size grows much larger than you'd expect, and often becomes unmanageably large. Deleting the graphics will solve the problem, but before you do this, make sure the author has copies of the graphics stored outside Word so they can reinsert the graphics after you have returned the manuscript.
Recently used files (page 127): In Macintosh OS X, the Apple menu may only show recent items, which are limited to programs by default. To add recently used documents such as word processor files under the Apple menu, open the Appearance preference panel, and under the heading "Number of recent items", select the desired number from the menu beside Documents. In Windows XP, modify the My Recent Documents setting if you don't see recent files under the Start menu: right-click the taskbar, choose Properties, click the Start Menu tab, and select Start Menu (not Classic Start Menu). Click Customize, then click Advanced. At the bottom of the dialog box, select Recent Documents.
Word's Work menu (page 128): For more information on Word's Work menu, check out the Microsoft MVPs article on this topic: "How do I use, and what is, the Work menu?" If this link breaks, type the full name of the article (including the quotation marks) into your favorite search engine. Apple's Safari browser won't open most pages on the MVPs site, but the Firefox browser displays the pages with no problems.
Noncontiguous text (page 136): Word X and 2004 on the Macintosh and Word XP and 2003 can select noncontiguous text. To do so, select the first block of text as usual, then for the second and subsequent blocks, hold down the Command key (Macintosh) or the Control key (Windows) before you use the mouse to make additional selections. When you finish selecting the noncontiguous text, you can format the selected text or do anything else you want to it (e.g., copy the text, paste text from the Clipboard to replace it). If noncontiguous text remains highlighted when Track Changes is enabled, simply click anywhere outside the highlighted text to deselect it, then continue working.
Special characters (pages 210–213): In Word, you can search for (but not replace) Unicode characters by typing ^u followed by the number assigned to a given character. For example, you can find the Greek letter alpha (α ) using the search text ^u945 (where the 945 represents the Unicode decimal value of this letter). You can find the complete official list of these codes for most known languages at the Unicode Organization's Web site, but unfortunately, the codes are provided in hexadecimal format, which Word won't recognize. To convert them into decimal format, search the Web using the keywords "hexadecimal to decimal conversion utility" (without the quotes). For example, try EasyCalculation.com's Hexadecimal to decimal converter.
As an alternative to the standard grammar checker built into your word processor, you might want to investigate the Boeing Simplified English Checker. It has the same limitations as other grammer checkers (i.e., it applies rules mechanically rather than by truly understanding sentences), but does offer some useful tricks, such as identification of missing articles and problems with participles. On the negative side, it's designed to work with the AECMA Simplified English standard, which is more rigorous and restrictive than most forms of writing, so you'll still have to use this tool for what it does well, and ignore the parts where it doesn't work so well.
Autocorrect files (pages 306 and 334): Word for Windows stores its autocorrect entries in ACL files (i.e., files with the filename extension .acl). Information on how to work with these files can be found on Microsoft's "How to move autocorrect entries between computers" page. The Word MVPs site also provides information on how you can export autocorrect files for use on another computer. On the Macintosh, ACL files are stored in your Preferences folder, and have names such as "MS Office ACL [language]", where [language] indicates which language the autocorrect entries apply to. To back up these files or move them to a different computer, simply copy them and move them to the desired location.
More automation tips: For a source of many insights into how to force computers to make your life a bit easier, check out the tips and tricks at the "lifehacker" Web site: <http://www.lifehacker.com>.
Ways to become more efficient: One of the best ways to steadly increase your productivity is to spend a few minutes each day learning a new trick that will make your editorial life easier. For some thoughts on how this might be done, see my article on increasing your editing efficiency.
Chapter order: A reviewer noted that in practice, the order of chapters 12 through 14 was a bit screwy. True enough. In the revised version, Chapter 12 will remain the same, but chapters 13 and 14 will be switched so that the two editing chapters will be together and the Internet research chapter will follow them. The various cross-references to these chapters will also be corrected.
More than just light editing in Acrobat: I've added a note on recent developments with Acrobat that may allow its use for more significant editing. See the addition to Chapter 16 for details.
This chapter will become Chapter 14 in the revised version of the book.
Purdue University's online writing lab offers a great list of online resources for grammar, including basic grammar lessons and summaries of the APA and MLA style guides.
Checking bibliographic details and the content of a text (pages 423–425): There are many alternatives to hiking down to the library when you need to check out a book's publication information or even verify a quotation inside the book. (As with all such searches, be careful to ensure that you're checking the correct version of the text!) These include:
More than just light editing in Acrobat: At a recent conference, I learned that version 8 of Acrobat Professional may have finally become a useful tool for heavy substantive editing. If you install this software and let it add a "create PDF" toolbar button in Word, Adobe claims you can then export files to PDF, edit them using Acrobat's editing tools, and review those edits to Word using revision tracking. If this works as advertised, it eliminates my biggest objection to editing in Acrobat: the difficulty of incorporating your edits in the file used to create the PDF without having to retype each correction. I doubt that I'll have time to test this before I release the revised edition of the book, but if you've already got Acrobat 8, why not test whether this will work for you?
Take frequent breaks: Remember to occasionally take breaks, even when you're facing a tight deadline, so your body's own self-repair mechanisms have time to work. If you need help remembering, consider using software to remind you. Any alarm program will do, but special-purpose software may work better. Colleagues have recommended Ergocise for Windows or Stretchware for both the Macintosh and Windows.
Keeping warm: Cold fingers and cold finger muscles are more vulnerable to injury, and also lead to slower circulation of the blood in your hands, slowing the removal of fatigue poisons and the delivery of oxygen. Thus, keeping your hands warm is a good way to protect your fingers. I've read good things about Handeze gloves in a couple places, so it's worth giving them a try. If you're not prepared to spend the money, try a pair of light cotton gloves with the fingertips removed; though less effective, they might be good enough for you. If you try such gloves, make sure they're not so tight they cut off circulation. No sense trading one problem for another! If you want a custom-made solution, try "wristies": these are like turtleneck sweaters for your forearms. They don't provide some of the special features of Handeze gloves, but provide good warmth to keep your arms and fingers flexible.
Multiple monitors: Although there are definite advantages to having two monitors hooked up to your computer, you may be able to achieve similar results by purchasing one of the new breed of wide-screen LCD monitors. These are available in 20- to 22-inch models for less than US$400 (sometimes much less) and this size of monitor is enough to display two documents side by side at a reasonable size.
Painful pointing devices: I suggested that if a given device such as a mouse is causing you pain, you should try replacing it with a different device. In fact, it's not inevitably an either/or decision: in some cases, it may actually make more sense to add a new device rather than discarding the old one, and periodically alternate between them—or use each device only for those tasks it does best or least painfully. Since the problem with RSI is the "repetitive" part, reducing repetition is part of the solution, and changing devices every few hours or every day can be enough of a change that it accomplishes the same thing as eliminating repetition. Graphics tablets are an interesting alternative because holding the plastic stylus is very different from holding any other type of pointing device.
Programmable devices: I neglected to mention that many pointing devices (and particularly graphics tablets) come with software that lets you program their buttons to perform certain activities. If you have a device with buttons that you're not using, spend a few moments playing with its software to see whether you can bind some useful shortcuts to the device's unused buttons. If you're really ambitious, check out the X-keys programmable keypad and other automation tools. The manufacturer, P.I. Engineering, provides a range of devices with 16 to several dozen user-configurable buttons that you can use to replace any number of painful keyboard shortcuts with a single button, and even a set of foot pedals you can use to replace key modifiers such as the Control key. Combine this with software such as the MacroExpress automation software for Windows and the QuickKeys automation software for the Macintosh or Windows and there's no end to the keystrokes you could eliminate.
Voice recognition: I didn't go into voice recognition software in any depth because I don't use it, and I try to avoid recommending potentially expensive solutions I haven't tried myself. But the software is certainly available, and with a bit of patience training yourself and your software, it can be a great help—particularly if it's built into the current version of your computer's operating system. If you have this software already, I encourage you to give it a try. (You may have a copy of such software and not even know it. For example, my version of Word 2003 came bundled with speech-recognition software. Does yours?) A few readers have reported considerable success using this class of software.
Benefits of balloons: Though I was quite negative about the use of comment balloons in newer versions of Word, it's important to emphasize that like all other software decisions, the choice is personal, not a matter of absolute right and wrong: if you like this feature, then by all means use it! Here are some significant advantages of using the balloons:
The display of line endings and other formatting is not altered by the presence of comment markers such as [GH1], so you can more easily see where line breaks occur. This can be particularly helpful in tables, where the markers can screw up text wrap and alignment within cells of the table.
Balloons can also remain constantly visible, so there's no need to open a separate window just to see the comment text or before you can copy and paste text. If you like working with a split window view (see pages 95 to 96), you don't have to close the second pane just so you can see the comments. (In older versions, opening the comments pane would make the second pane disappear.)
Some folks report greater stability, though this may simply be a function of the version updates, not the feature. I've never had problems with comments, but if you have, this will be important. On the negative side, I've received several comments about dramatically increased frequency of crashes when using balloons with Word 2004 on the Macintosh, so if you're using that version, do so with caution.
Some folks also like the ability to print the document with the comments beside the text, which is certainly more efficient than having them all appear at the end—no flipping pages!
Invisible edits: If you have tracked your edits using revision tracking, and they're not visible to the author, there are various possible causes for this problem. First and foremost, make sure that you've chosen one of the "... showing markup" options, and explain to the author how they can do this. But you may find it easier to do the following instead: open the Options (Preferences) dialog box, select the Security tab, and select "Make hidden markup visible when opening or saving". This should work across all versions of Word to ensure that the tracked changes will be visible until you specifically turn off this option.
Preferences and Options: A small clarification: "Preferences" is the Macintosh version of the "Options" dialog box for Windows versions of Word.
Upgrading to Word 2007 or Word 2008: If you're thinking of upgrading to Word 2007 (and eventually, Word 2008 if you're a Mac user), have a look at Microsoft's interactive "Word 2003 to Word 2007 command reference guide". Probably the most useful feature will be the guide to where all your old favorite features have been moved, but the demos should also help bring you up to speed. Word 2008 for the Macintosh has been scheduled for release during the first quarter of 2008. If you purchase a copy of Office 2004 now, Microsoft will give you a copy of Office 2008 for only US$10 plus taxes. I'm not a fan of Office 2004, but if you shop around, you can save a significant amount of money by buying Office 2004 instead and then upgrading to 2008.
Hilary Powers has written the perfect "little sister" to Effective Onscreen Editing, "Making Word Work for You: An Editor's Guide to the Tool of the Trade". Read it if you want to get up to speed quickly while you're working your way through my longer book.
Templates: Providing authors with a template can solve a world of problems, since the template does much of the formatting for them and thus, leaves fewer opportunities for them to mess up that part of the work. For some insights into how this might be done, see my article on dynamic style guides. Need a template to start you off? Try the ever-reliable Jack Lyon's free Author Tools Template at the Editorium Web site.
Checking references: The ReferenceChecker software (at http://www.goodcitations.com/) may be useful to some editors. Software for checking references will never replace an editor until it can actually parse the references, but an automated version can at least spot and help you fix the more obvious errors.
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