Inserting & Adding Fields to Footers in Word - Part 1

Headers and footers provide a quick way of displaying the same information in the same format on every page of a document. While headers and footers are used to display different types of information, they function they same so this post only covers the use of footers.  This is part one of two on inserting, modifying, and using fields in footers.  Some examples of the information footers are commonly used for are:

• Author
• Publish date
• Page numbers
• File source paths
• File save dates
• Last saved by information

First things first, to access the footer:

• Double click close to the bottom of the page which will open the header and footer sections OR click on the "Insert" tab, click on "Footer" and select Edit from the drop down menu.
• To exit the footer section simply double click anywhere in the middle of the document and it will become the active part of the document again.

Once the footer is the active part of the document, the header and footer tools menu will open.  

Inserting document information

The header and footer tools menu provides access to adding many types of information in the footer.  From this menu it is easy to add common information and insert fields.  Each of the examples below is accomplished using the header and footer tools menu. 

Adding the author field - Click on the "Document Info" drop down and select "Author" from the items in the drop down list.

Once the Author field is added it appears in the footer.

Adding the publish date - Click on the "Document Info" drop down, hover over "Document Properties" and select "Publish date" in the side pop out.

Once the field is added the current date is displayed.  To change the date, click the drop down arrow to select a publish date from the calendar or simply type a publish date.

Adding page numbers - Click on the "Page Number" drop down, hover over the "Bottom of Page" menu and select the preferred page number style.

With the page number added it now appears in the footer.

These are a few examples of the helpful information that can easily be added to a footer.  Each of these examples used fields, but any information can also be typed directly into a footer.  Businesses commonly add their addresses to footers while individuals might add their email address or website to a resume.  Part two of this post will explain how to add:

• File source paths - useful for anyone with large numbers of files or complicated folder structures
• File save dates - helpful when looking for a specific version of a file
• Last saved by information - shows the name of the last person who saved the file

Until next week - good luck!

Click to access Inserting & Adding Fields Part 2

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