Although it’s easy to type your name yourself instead of using field code to do it, there are circumstances when field code is more efficient. For example, when creating a Word template that many people will use, a field that automatically inserts the document author’s name will save each user from having to type her name in every document. You can use an AUTHOR field to place the author’s name in your template.

To type AUTHOR field code:

1. Place the insertion point where you’d like the author name to display.
2. Press [Ctrl][F9] ([command][F9] on the Mac) to insert curved field braces in your template.
3. Type AUTHOR inside the braces and press [F9] to view the author’s name. (On the Mac, instead of pressing [F9], [control]-click and select Update Field.)

Word pulls the author’s name from your computer’s Author text box on the Summary tab of the Properties dialog box, and the name listed there is pulled from the Name text box on the User Information tab of the Options dialog box. If you change the name on the User Information tab, subsequent documents will pull the new name into the Properties dialog box.

Adapt for Word 2007
In Word 2007, you can use the same shortcut key for inserting fields in your document. But to change your document’s properties, click on the Office button, hover over the Prepare menu item, and then click Properties from the resulting menu. A Document Properties banner displays beneath your ribbons. Here you can edit the document’s author, title, subject, and more. When you’re ready to close the Document Properties banner, just click on the x in the upper-right corner.

Filed under: Microsoft Office Tutor