Learn VersionPoint Open the test version

Lesson 36 minutesThe review copy, in Word

What your reviewer gets (Word)

Open the review copy the way Riley Planner will, and know what to tell a reviewer before they start.

Why it matters

Your reviewers never see VersionPoint. If you can tell them what to expect in Word, they send back a file that comes in cleanly, and you spend less time chasing edits.

Watch

How the copy travels

In your office, the review copy goes to the reviewer as an attachment to your own email, and the reviewer sends the same file back the same way. VersionPoint never emails anyone. All it needs is the file that comes back.

In this course there's no one to email, so the reviewer's desk plays the reviewer. You give it the copy you downloaded, it makes Riley Planner's edits and margin notes on it the way Word would, and you download Riley's returned file. Everything happens in your browser.

Practice files

The copy, opened in Word

The review copy, Lake Shuttle news release - for Riley Planner - round 1.docx, open in Word for the web with the Review tab showing. The mode button at the top right says Reviewing, and the Tracking menu is open with Track Changes set to For Everyone. The release reads as drafted, with no comments in the margin, no tracked changes in the text, and nothing extra at the ends of the paragraphs. The status bar says 155 words.
The review copy in Word for the web: Track Changes on (For Everyone), and nothing from earlier rounds.

Track Changes is on, but the reviewer can switch it off. That's fine: when the file comes back, VersionPoint compares it with the copy word by word, so every edit is listed, tracked or not, and credited to the reviewer. If you tick Lock Track Changes on in Send for review, Word keeps tracking on and the reviewer can't switch it off. Lock it only for a reviewer on desktop Word: Word in a web browser, such as from Outlook on the web, can't edit a locked copy.

Screenshot to come. Word's File, Info page for the review copy. Under Properties, there is no author name and no Last Modified By name.
No names in the file's properties: the copy doesn't say who drafted it.

The copy mark

Each copy carries its own ID, VersionPoint's copy mark, in two places. That's how VersionPoint knows which round a returned file belongs to.

Screenshot to come. Word's Properties window for the review copy, on its Custom tab. One property is listed, named VersionPoint, with a string of letters and numbers as its value.
In the file's properties: a property named VersionPoint that ties this file to round 1.

Because the hidden marks travel with the text, a reviewer who saves the copy as a new file, or pastes the text into one, usually still sends back a file VersionPoint can match to this copy, with no warning. Only a file whose text was retyped, or cleaned of invisible characters, loses both (lesson 4).

What the reviewer does

Try it

  1. Open the review copy you kept in lesson 2, Lake Shuttle news release - for Riley Planner - round 1.docx, in Word.
  2. Choose the Review tab. Track Changes is on. Leave it on.
  3. Look through the margin and the text. There are no comments and no tracked changes, and the hidden marks don't show.
  4. Choose File, then Info. Under Properties, there's no author and no Last Modified By name.
  5. Close the copy without saving it. Leave it as VersionPoint made it.
  6. Open the reviewer's desk from the practice files above. Leave Reviewer on Work it out from the file name.
  7. Choose Choose the copy you downloaded, then choose the review copy. The desk says Riley Planner sent it back and lists what Riley did.
  8. Choose Download the returned file. It has the same name as the copy, so your browser may add a number to it. The newest file is Riley's.
  9. Open Riley's returned file in Word. Riley's edits are tracked in Riley's name, except September 27, which Riley fixed with Track Changes switched off. There are three comments in the margin and Drew Grants's reply on the grant name. Close it without saving, and keep it for lesson 4.

Check your work

The reviewer's desk after the copy was chosen. Callout 1 marks Reviewer, set to Work it out from the file name. Callout 2 marks the box Choose the copy you downloaded, or drop it here. Callout 3 marks the green result: Riley Planner sent it back (Riverton Transit Authority, for lesson 4). What they did, with six items: every 30 minutes changed to every 20 minutes with Track Changes; September 28 changed to September 27 with Track Changes off; up to 48 riders changed to up to 40 riders with a note; and room for two bicycles deleted with a note; The grant pays for the shuttle through [insert year]. added; a note on Clean Commute Grant with a reply from Drew Grants. Callout 4 marks the Download the returned file button.
After step 7: the reviewer's desk has played Riley Planner.
  1. Reviewer: leave it on Work it out from the file name. The desk reads for Riley Planner in the name.
  2. Choose the copy you downloaded, or drop the file on the box.
  3. Riley Planner sent it back, with a list of what Riley did. One edit was made with Track Changes off; lesson 4 shows how VersionPoint still finds it.
  4. Download the returned file saves Riley's file under the same name as the copy.
Riley Planner's returned file open in Word for the web, on the Review tab with All Markup. Track Changes is set to Off, because Riley switched it off. The text shows Riley's tracked changes in red: 30 changed to 20, 48 changed to 40, and and room for two bicycles struck through, plus the added sentence The grant pays for the shuttle through [insert year]. September 27 shows as plain text with no tracking. The margin shows Riley's three comments, on up to 48 riders, the bicycles and Clean Commute Grant, and Drew Grants's reply under the grant comment: The full name is the Clean Commute Grant Program.
After step 9: Riley's returned file in Word. Added text is underlined and removed text is struck through.

Watch out for

A reviewer switches Track Changes off. VersionPoint still finds every edit by comparing the file with the copy, and marks those edits Made without Track Changes. Riley's file does this on purpose (lesson 4).
A reviewer pastes the text into a new file. The hidden marks usually come along, so VersionPoint matches it to the copy with no warning. Their edits weren't tracked in the new file, so they all come in marked Made without Track Changes.
A locked copy for a reviewer on Word in a web browser. They can't edit it. Leave Lock Track Changes on unticked unless the reviewer uses desktop Word.
A reviewer sends back last round's copy. VersionPoint turns it away and says whose copy it is, so nothing old slips in.
Don't edit or save the copy yourself before it goes out. Send it as VersionPoint made it. If you need a change of your own, that's Edit it yourself (lesson 7).

Quick check

Pick an answer to see why it is or isn't right. Nothing is scored or sent anywhere.

Question 1

Riley asks how to turn Track Changes off to clean up a messy paragraph. What do you say?

Question 2

Before forwarding the copy to their legal office, a reviewer asks if anything is hidden in it. What do you tell them?

Question 3

Your subject matter expert asks how to send their edits back. What do you tell them?