Hiding Word Form Field Text without hiding content control

[teachesms]

Need help on this one.

How do I remove the text from a date content control in a word form without removing the content control visibility. The reasoning I have to do this is because if no one uses the content control then "Click to Enter a Date" is actually printed out when the document prints. I thought changing the style of the place holder text to always hidden would help, but all that does is hide the content control as well, so no one would know it was there unless they click carefully where it is supposed to be. Then it appears. That is not going to work. I'd like the content control visible when a user TABS to the field, yet be empty if they don't use it at print time.

See photo of field issue attached.

[Rudi]

I'm not sure if this is the "correct" way to do it, but if you activate the controls design mode, you can replace the "Enter the date..." words with spaces. Please note that leaving it blank does not work, and I'd recommend adding enough spaces to ensure the control is wide enough.

SC003.jpg

[HansV]

Greg Maxey describes three different solutions in great detail in Content Controls – Don't Print Placeholder Text. They all require VBA code.

[teachesms]

Rudi
That does work...but tell me, why would the TAB key move a user from a date content control straight to another date content control instead of to the legacy text field beside it. Is there a way to insist on a tab order in the document, or do the newer content controls take precedence?

[teachesms]

Hans,
Yes, I read those three. A bit over the top. I'd just as soon use legacy controls and have the user type in the date and time then go through those 3 options. I'm too rusty to tackle them.

[Rudi]

Hi Nannette,

Mixing the controls seems to complicate things a lot! I have little experience in using these content controls (and prefer to stick to the legacy controls exclusively). All I can do is point you to a few posts by Word MVP's that deal with this TAB issue through controls and hope you can pick up some advice around it.

See Jay's method here
See the Word MVP site (dealing with this topic) here. (PS: I'm not sure for which version of Word this is for)?
See Greg Maxey's advice here, including a macro 3/4 way down that might do the trick.

[teachesms]

Rudi,

Thank you Rudi. Personally I love the calendar control for those not good at typing, but believe I'm just going to use ALL legacy fields. The user will just have to type in the date and time and then I don't have to worry about where they tab next...it automatically goes to the next field. All things considered it still beats the plain table they are using now with no protection and field style and character limits. Why does Microsoft with all their new versions not fix this stuff? UGH!!!

[Charles Kenyon]

Be aware that legacy form fields in legacy documents can be problems in Word 2013 and later. Also, I agree that you should not mix legacy form fields and content controls.

Graham Mayor has an Add-In (free) that can convert legacy form fields to content controls if you would want to use it. You can find it here: http://www.gmayor.com/ExtractDataFromForms.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

See http://www.msofficeforums.com/word/3181 ... 013-a.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for an example of legacy fields not working well.

[macropod]

The user will just have to type in the date and time and then I don't have to worry about where they tab next...it automatically goes to the next field

Provided you don't mix content controls & formfields, tabbing should work fine for content controls all except the Rich Text content control (which accepts tabs as input).