Single Document With Multiple Users

Document With Multiple Users


Word does not allow multiple people to use the same Word document at the same time, since the edits by each individual could create havoc with the final document. Instead, Word provides several tools that you can use in a multi-user environment to make collaborating of a document just a bit easier.


The first such tool is referred to as Track Changes. This tool allows two different approaches to document editing, each with plusses and minuses. The first approach assumes a serial progression of the document. For instances, you have a single copy of the document, and it makes its way through each member of your team. With Track Changes turned on, each person's edits are noted and can be easily reviewed by the person ultimately responsible for the document. That person—the one with whom the document originally started and will eventually end—uses the Accept or Reject Changes feature to review each change and judge whether it should be accepted or not.


The other approach to using the Track Changes tool is to give each member of your team a copy of the document. They are free to make changes, and they don't have to do so with Track Changes turned on. Then, the person responsible for producing the final document gathers each of the modified documents and "merges" them using the Compare Documents feature. (Again, this feature is part of the overall Track Changes part of Word.) Compare Documents combines two documents, resulting in a document that shows the differences between the two original documents. Once the merging process is done, with each of the team members' documents, then the responsible person can again use the Accept or Reject Changes feature to review each change and determine its acceptability.