I wish I could get my hands on Visio but we can't afford it right now.

I need to make some flowcharts and am trying to do so in Word 2003.

I can add the shapes, no problem. But i can't add teh connectors for some reason.

These are the instructions it gives to add connectors between the shapes:

The problem I'm having is that it says that when you move the pointer over a shape, the connection sites show up as blue circles, but thse don't show up when i move the cursor over the shapes. nothing happens so the connector never attaches to the shape.

anyone use word to create flowcharts?

 

Hmmm...never actually created flowcharts off of MS Word, dude.


Mind you, I do recall my ex-Admin Assistant using Excel to create one in the past. Have you tried using Excel instead of Word...?

 

Try using your Lego skills.

 

they're at home.

 

didn't think to try it in excel (i wwant to make it in word though because I have other documentation i need to write up).

the blue circles show up just fine in excel!!! WTF!!!

and they lock to the shapes just fine too in Excel.


grrrrrr stupid Microcrap!

 

^ So...it's Excel FTW then...?

 

I need it to work in Word!!!

 

Well, stop being so stubborn.

 

Wait, I thought Sly had all the answers?!?!?
Instead of letting the idiots answer the questions.


See the other "big" thread.

 

Why not just do it in Excel and then copy and paste it into Word? Or better yet, insert it into Word as an object so you can easily make adjustments and have the Word file update.

 

 

I guess I could do that, but right now when i tried that, it did allow me to edit the object in word that I pasted from excel. But the ability to add new shapes and connectors is lost. So each time i make a change I'll have to reupdate the word file from the excel file. Bleh

still be nice if I could just do it in word.

 

You could always try the 'borrow' method. Or there are some free knockoffs that you can use (although I don't know the names).

 

I've tried the knockoffs in the past and although a couple of them were pretty good, the fact that word and excel have the feature built into them negates any justification for purchasing those.

Unless of course it was Visio, which can be pricey. I wish Visio was a core piece of software they installed here at my work. :ohwell:

 

I just tried it and it works for me. When you choose to add a connector and mouse over a shape, it shows the blue dots. Are you actually using the 'connectors' under 'auto shapes' or are you using the line and arrow (two buttons next to the 'auto shapes' button). You might be using the wrong thing...

 

Yup, using the "connectors" option under "autoshape."

so you got it to work in word?

what version are you using?

 

yes, word 2003. what happens when you move over the shape? nothing at all? you don't see it on either shape? even if i don't click and drag from blue dot to blue dot, and instead just like the middle of the shape, it still connects to both shapes and picks a blue dot to connect to.

 

when I move over the shape, nothing happens. The blue dots/circles dont' show up like they do for me in Excel and like they did for you in your installation of Word.

if I click in the center of a shape, it never locks to the shape, it just adds creates a connector on the page.

 

yup, definetly a bug in my installation here at work. I just tried it on my laptop and it worked fine. looks like I may just need to reinstall office.

 

are all the shapes inside the 'drawing area' box? if not, the shape will nto show you the dots/it will jsut add the connector on the page behind the shape.

 

Fixed the problem with a call to our tech support.

Found out that you have to draw the autoshapes in a Drawing canvas in order for the feature to work.

somehow there was an option in the "options" area that was disabled that didn't automatically add the drawing canvas to my document when you use the autoshapes feature.

so we enabled the "Automatically create drawing canvas when inserting autoshapes" option in the Tools->Options -> General tab menu item

created a flowchart and voila, worked like a charm.

i didn't even think that was the problem and I saw the canvas on my laptop pop up automatically but because it was an automated step it didn't dawn on me that would be the problem.

whew.

Thanks Adam for the help.