Understanding Discussions

Written by Allen Wyatt (last updated July 24, 2021)
This tip applies to Word 2000, 2002, and 2003


Word 2000 and later versions include a collaborative feature that allows you and others in your office to easily develop documents together, over the network. You do this using what Word calls the Discussions feature. This feature allows you and your colleagues to insert remarks into the same document and to participate in an active online discussion.

In order for the Discussions feature to work, everyone needs to be using a version of Word that supports the feature, and you need to be connected to a network on which a copy of the Microsoft Office Server Extensions is available. These are add-on programs for the Internet Information Server, which is also available from Microsoft. If you have doubts whether the extensions are available on your network, you should talk to your network administrator.

When you are using the Discussion feature, Word allows you and your co-workers to view the same document on-screen. Each of you can then make written remarks about the document. Others can immediately view the remarks, and they can respond. The responses are threaded, which simply means that you can easily follow the course of a discussion through several layers of comments.

There are two types of discussions you can have in relation to a document: inline or general. An inline discussion is one that relates to a specific portion of a document, such as a paragraph, table, or graphic. A general discussion is one that relates to the document as a whole.

WordTips is your source for cost-effective Microsoft Word training. (Microsoft Word is the most popular word processing software in the world.) This tip (765) applies to Microsoft Word 2000, 2002, and 2003.

Author Bio

Allen Wyatt

With more than 50 non-fiction books and numerous magazine articles to his credit, Allen Wyatt is an internationally recognized author. He is president of Sharon Parq Associates, a computer and publishing services company. ...

MORE FROM ALLEN

Setting Decimal Tabs in a Table Using the Keyboard

Most people use the mouse to set tab stops in the paragraphs in a table. If you prefer to not use the mouse, then you'll ...

Discover More

Pasting Multiple Worksheets into a Word Document

Two very common programs that are used together are Excel and Word. If you want to copy multiple worksheets from an Excel ...

Discover More

Changing Lots of Title Properties

Word maintains a collection of descriptive properties for each document you create. One of these properties is the Title ...

Discover More

Learning Made Easy! Quickly teach yourself how to format, publish, and share your content using Word 2013. With Step by Step, you set the pace, building and practicing the skills you need, just when you need them! Check out Microsoft Word 2013 Step by Step today!

More WordTips (menu)

Hiding Smart Tags

If you don't want to see Smart Tags displayed in your document, you can instruct Word to hide them. Here's how to make ...

Discover More

Creating a Quick Letter

Word provides a handy wizard that is helpful in creating basic letters quickly and easily. This tip discusses the Letter ...

Discover More

Filtering a Discussion

See exactly what you want to see during your Discussion.

Discover More
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

View most recent newsletter.

Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is five more than 3?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)


This Site

Got a version of Word that uses the menu interface (Word 97, Word 2000, Word 2002, or Word 2003)? This site is for you! If you use a later version of Word, visit our WordTips site focusing on the ribbon interface.

Videos
Subscribe

FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."

(Your e-mail address is not shared with anyone, ever.)

View the most recent newsletter.