Getting Information About Fields

Many of the tips on how to get the most out of Word involve the use of fields. The proper and creative use of fields can increase your productivity with Word quite substantially. The problem is, there is not printed information provided with Word that tells you how to use the fields. (The Word documentation is worthless in this area.) The best way you can get information about fields is to use the on-line documentation in the following manner:

1. Choose Field from the Insert menu. Word displays the Field dialog box. (Click here to see a related figure.)
2. In the left column, choose a category of field in which you are interested. (In Word 2002 and Word 2003, you use the Categories drop-down list to select a category of field.)
3. In the right column, make sure you can see the field about which you want more information. (In Word 2002 and Word 2003 you use the Field Names list, which is at the left of the Field dialog box.)
4. Click on the question mark icon in the upper-right corner of the Field dialog box.
5. Click on the name of the field about which you want more information. Word displays detailed Help information about the field.

When you are through reviewing the help information on the field, you can close the Help window and continue with your use of Word.