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.
Create Custom Apps with VBA! Discover how to extend the capabilities of Office 2013 (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Access) with VBA programming, using it for writing macros, automating Office applications, and creating custom applications. Check out Mastering VBA for Office 2013 today!
Does your document have all sorts of different colored underlines on it? Tracking down what most of them are can be easy, ...
Discover MoreThere are times you may have to work offline. Here is how to print out your discussion.
Discover MoreWord allows you to link external information into your documents. If you no longer need to maintain the active link, you ...
Discover MoreFREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)
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.
FREE SERVICE: Get tips like this every week in WordTips, a free productivity newsletter. Enter your address and click "Subscribe."
Copyright © 2019 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.
Comments