How to Configure the Properties of Your MS Word Document
When you create a new document, it is important to set the correct MS Word properties. If you don’t do this, your document may not be formatted correctly.
There are two ways to set the properties of your MS Word document:
1) Right-click on the title bar and select “Properties”.
2) Click on “File” in the menu bar and select “Properties”.
In either case, a dialog box will open that includes five main tabs: General, Layout, Window, Security, and Sharing.
I recommend you check out both the BASIC and ADVANCED Word document properties before releasing it for general use to make sure that they are exactly what you had in mind.
Select Office Button > Prepare to display the following dialog box:
Click PROPERTIES to display the BASIC properties ribbon:
(Click to enlarge the image)
Enter the following values: Author, Title, Subject, Keywords (great for SEO), Category, Status, and Comments.
To go one level deeper and do a more thorough job, select Document Properties > Advanced Properties from the drop-down list to display the Advanced Document Properties tabs:
Click and inspect the information on all these different tabs to make sure they are all okay.
One interesting tab is the CUSTOM tab at the end which provides an opportunity to record a number of specialized META DATA with your document:
Select a category from the NAME list. Select a TYPE. Enter a VALUE and then click the ADD button to list the property in the PROPERTIES list down below. Then click ADD to save it.
To remove a property, select it in the PROPERTIES list and then click DELETE.
The TYPE field offers the following data types:
Explore the CUSTOM tab to learn all the amazing kind of meta data you can enter and store with your MS Word technical document including (just to name a few) Checked By, Client, Data Completed, Forward To, Language, Office, Project, Publisher, Reference, Source, Telephone Number, (the rather outdated) Typist, etc.
