Word Hacks [Electronic resources]

Hack 76 Use Custom Shortcut Menus to Make Frequent Selections

Use an AUTOTEXTLIST field to create a drop-down list you can right-click at any spot in a document.

If you regularly choose from a list of words, such as the names of staff members, you can use an AUTOTEXTLIST field to insert a drop-down list into your document, as shown in Figure 8-10.

The following example shows you how to create the list shown in Figure 8-10.

First, create a new, blank document. You'll need a new paragraph style for grouping your entries. Select FormatStyles and Formatting (or FormatStyle, depending on your version of Word), click the New Style button, and make a new style named Staff, as shown in Figure 8-11. To make this list available in all your documents, check the "Add to template" box.

Next, create three blank paragraphs in your document (you should also select ToolsOptions, click the View tab, and check the "Paragraph marks" box). Select all three paragraphs and apply the Staff style.

Now put one name in each paragraph. Select the first name (but not the paragraph mark just after the name) and press Alt-F3 to create a new AutoText entry for the selected text, as shown in Figure 8-12. Click the OK button and repeat for the other names in the list.

Now delete the names from the document. Select a blank paragraph and apply the Normal style. Next, select InsertField, select AutoTextList from the list of fields, and click the Field Codes button. In the "Field codes" box in the Field dialog, enter the following text, as shown in Figure 8-13 (Word inserts the first word for you):

AUTOTEXTLIST "Right-click to choose" \s "Staff"

Notice that "Staff" is the name of the custom paragraph style you created. Click the OK button to insert the field in your document.

Select the field (but not any paragraph mark that might come right after it) and press Alt-F3 again to create a new AutoText entry. Enter staff as the name of the entry and click the OK button. Now whenever you want the list in a document, type the word staff, and Word will prompt you with an offer to insert the AutoText entry. After inserting the AutoText entry, you can right-click the entry to choose a name, as shown in Figure 8-10.