Word Content Controls

This Microsoft Word Help & Microsoft Word Tips page serves to introduce Content Controls and list links to several more specific articles on Content Controls that are available on this website.

Content controls were introduced with the release of Word 2007 and have changed little with the subsequent release of Word 2010. I call them "Word's Diamonds in the Rough" because, despite their enormous potential, Microsoft has failed miserably in resolving long standing bugs and in providing enhancements to functionality to fully realize this potential.

Purpose and general description:

Table 1 below provides a general description of the ten types of content controls available in Word 2013. Some of these controls are not available or have less capability in earlier versions.

Content Controls
Type	General Description	Restrictions
Rich Text	A rich text control can contain custom formatted text or other items, such as tables, pictures, or other content controls.	Before Word 2013, rich text controls cannot be bound to an XML data node.
Plain Text	A plain text content control is limited to plain text in a single or multiple paragraphs. It cannot contain other items, such as tables, pictures, or other content controls.	All or nothing formatting. For example, if you italicize one word of a sentence that is in a plain text control, all the text inside the control is italicized.
Picture	Fills the content control with a single image.	Prohibits users from inserting any other Word objects or any text.
Combo Box	Contains a drop-down selection of list entries that users can select and text box that user can edit directly.	All or nothing formatting. Input limited to a single paragraph of text.
Drop-Down List	A drop-down list displays a drop-down list of list entries that users can select. Unlike a combo box, the drop-down list does not let users enter a custom input.	All or nothing formatting.
Date Picker	Contains a calendar control. Limits text to a single paragraph.	Like plain text, limits text to a single paragraph that cannot contain any formatting.
Check Box	A check box provides a UI that represents a binary state: selected or cleared. Available only in Word 2010/2013.	Content is displayed in a rich text control when opened in Word 2007.
Building Block Gallery	A building block gallery enables users to select from a list of document building blocks to insert into a document. A document building block is a piece of content that has been created to be used multiple times, such as a common cover page, a formatted table, or a header.	Cannot be bound to an XML data node.
Group	A group control defines a protected region of a document that users cannot edit or delete. A group control can contain any document items, such as text, tables, graphics, and other content controls.	Cannot be bound to an XML data node.
Repeating Section	Repeating section controls can contain text or other controls and allow you to insert as many sections as needed.	Word 2013 only.

Table 1

Note: The Check Box content control is new in Word 2010 and was not available in Word 2007. For a work around, see my: Content Control Custom Checkboxes and Interactive Toggle Objects.

Features

Content controls provide a way for you to design documents and templates that have these features:

A user interface (UI) that has controlled input like a form.
Restrictions that prevent users from editing protected areas of the document or template.
Data mapping. Binding content to an XML data source.

User Interface

Content controls provide a UI that is optimized for both user input and print. When you add a content control to a document, the control is identified by a border, a title tab, and temporary (placeholder) text that provides a simple prompt or detailed instructions to the user. The border and the title tab of the control do not appear in printed versions of the document.

For example, if you want the user to enter a date (e.g., Contract Date) in a section of your document, you can add a date picker content control to the document. When a user clicks the control, the standard date picker UI appears.

Using the content control properties dialog, you can set the properties of the control (e.g., title and tag), the type of calendar that is displayed, and specify the date format.

Open design mode (Developer tab>Controls>Design Mode) to set the desired placeholder text.

After the user chooses a date and moves from the control to another area of the document, the UI of the control is hidden and only the content is displayed/printed.

User Restrictions

Restricting areas of the document lets you prevent users from changing or deleting the content in that area of the document. There are several ways you can restrict areas of a document by using content controls.

If the area you want to restrict is inside a content control, you can use "Locking" properties of the content control to prevent users from deleting the control and/or editing the content of the control

Bonus Tip: Paired content controls can be used to provide labels and input for a simple form. Apply both locking properties to the label control.

If the area you want to restrict is not inside a content control, or if you want to restrict an area that contains content controls and other types of content, you can put the whole area in a "group" content control. Unlike other content controls, a group control provides no UI that is visible to the user. Its only purpose is to define an area of the document that users cannot edit.
Alternatively, if the area you want to restrict is not inside a content control, or if you want to restrict an area that contains content controls and other types of content, you can put the whole area in a "rich text" content control and set the locking properties of the rich text content control.

Notes:
1. If you create a "group" or "rich text" content control that contains other embedded content controls, the embedded content controls are not automatically restricted. You must use the "Lock Contents" property of each embedded control to prevent users from editing their contents. For more on grouping controls see my: Content Control Grouping and Navigation

2. Locked and grouped content controls create un-editable regions in the document. Doing so can have undesirable effects. For example if you have grouped or locked controls in a document along with other fields, then if you want to update the document fields, you can't used CTRL+a (select all) the F9, because "all" can no longer be selected.

Data Mapping

The real power of content controls lies in their ability to be mapped (or bound) to a custom XML data store embedded in the Word 2007/2010 OfficeOpenXML format document file. Through this binding:

Any changes in the data store data is automatically repeated in all content controls mapped to that data.
Any changes to a mapped content control automatically updates the data store and all other content controls mapped to that data store data.

Note: For more information on mapped content controls see: Repeating Data, Mapped Content Controls and Mayor & Maxey CC/V/B and DP Tools Add-In.

Content Controls vs. Legacy Form Fields

Content controls offer opportunities and several advantages to document designers over legacy form fields. Unfortunately they still have some very significant shortcomings.

Advantages

Content control drop-down lists are not limited to 25 list entries as are their form field drop-down list counterpart.
Content controls function in documents both with and without document protection. Your document does not require protection with the editing restriction "Filling in forms" for content controls to function. This enables you to preserve and use many Word features that are disabled in protected documents (e.g., spell checking).

Disadvantages

Placeholder text in drop-down list and combo box content controls to provide a user prompt is needlessly/annoyingly included in the list entries.
Placeholder text in uncompleted content controls is printed with complete entries resulting in an unsightly printed document. See: Content Controls - Do Not Print PHT

Content controls are difficult to work with in VBA. Short sightedness on the part of Microsoft has resulted in the omission of seemingly basic methods and properties that "should" be available. The illustration below shows code for determining (returning) the index (or list entry number) of a user selected item in a legacy form field drop-down list and a content control drop-down list. Hopefully Microsoft will correct these omissions in a service pack or the next Office version release.

Microsoft provided six new document events associated with controls. Unfortunately there is no "Change" event and users will not see the programmatic results of data changes in content controls that effect other areas of the document until one of the other events (i.e., ContentControlOnExit) is executed. This problem is exacerbated by another shortcoming described below.

When the focus is in the last content control of a document and the user presses the tab key the focus remains in the last control. The focus is not moved either out of the control or back to the first content control. With the focus remaining in the last control and unless the document user is mindful of this shortcoming, programmatic changes to the document defined in the ContentControlOnExit event procedure for that control will not occur.

Note: For more on navigating in documents containing content controls see my: Content Control Grouping and Navigation.

There is no content control counter part for the type "calculation" text form field. For methods to overcome this shortcoming see my: Content Controls in Math Applications.

Bugs

The most significant and inexcusable shortcoming is a long standing, unresolved bug in the Word2007 ContentControlOnExit event. The bug manifests whenever the active ribbon tab is the Home tab and you enter a content control. This action causes the ContentControl OnExit event to fire prematurely. Therefore the OnExit event will always fire twice (once when the user enters the control and again when the user exits the control). If the event contains code this can result in an endless loop execution of the code and noticeable screen "flickering" as the code loops.

Note: The root source of this bug is the built-in "Cut" command located in the Clipboard group of the Home tab. If you have code in the ContentControlOnExitEvent, you will see the code is executed each time the mouse is hovered over the Cut command. There are at least two brute force workarounds for this bug. One is to ensure some other tab (e.g., the "Developer" tab) is the the ribbon active tab whenever you enter a content control. The other is to replace the built-in Cut command with a custom Cut command. The code/RibbonXML needed to employ these strategies is too long to post here. A demonstration of the bug (for Word 2007 users) and the workaround is in included in my: Validate Content Control Entries.

The Plain Text control property labeled "Allow carriage returns (multiple paragraphs)" is incorrect and misleading. When you set this property, you are permitted to add additional lines (line breaks) by simply pressing the enter key. However these are simply additional lines in a single paragraph and not multiple paragraphs. A bug manifests if you insert a building block containing true multiple paragraphs. These will appear as paragraphs but if you save and reopen the document you may receive an error message that the file cannot be opened because it contains unreadable content.

Comingling Content Controls and Legacy Form Fields

Most advanced and expert Word users recommend not mixing CCs and FFs in the same document. I generally support that view, but I won't go so far as to say don't!

In documents with a simple layout they can coexists quite well, and I can think of a few situations where I would consider using one or more CCs and one or more FFs in a single document. However, comingling CCs and FFs in the same document will present anomalies. If you have a compelling reason to comingle then do so, but first arm yourself with knowledge of the consequences to the document and the document user.

I've prepared a white paper (Word macro-enabled document) that covers this topic in more detail, explains the consequences and some possible methods for overcoming them: Comingling CCs and FFs.

Addition Resources

The following links provide additional tips on using content controls found on this website:

Content Control Tools: A massive project that combines and consolidates useful content control tools from some of my earlier projects plus lots of useful new features!
Content Control Grouping and Navigation: Tips for grouping controls and navigating between controls.
Content Control ADCAP (Advanced Capability) Dropdown List: Tips for adding advanced capabilities to content control dropdown lists and combo boxes.
Linked Content Control Drop-Down List: Tips for setting the value of a dependent (secondary) content control based on a selection made in a primary content control drop-down list.
Repeating Data, Mapped Content Controls and Mayor & Maxey CC/V/B and DP Tools Add-In: Tips and utilities for using mapped content controls.
Content Control Custom Checkboxes: A VBA template Add-In that provides a Content Control Checkbox utility for Word 2007. These checkboxes can perform independently or be set in groups where only one checkbox can be checked at a time.
Modify Content Control Placeholder Text: Tips and techniques for modifying Content Control Placeholder text and a template Add-In that you can download to speed up the process of reviewing or setting your Content Control properties.
Validate Content Control Entries: Within the limits of the content control OnExit event you can validate and ensure content controls are properly completed.
Content Control Validation using an attached Schema: Validate content control data using an attached schema.
Content Control Help Text: Methods for displaying content control custom user Help Text.
Content Controls in Math Applications: Tips and examples for using content controls as variables and to display results of mathematical operations.
Extract Form Field/Content Control Data: Tips and examples for processing a batch folder of documents containing content controls. Content control data can be extracted and recorded in an Access database or Word document.
Insert Content with Content Controls: Tips and examples for inserting content in your document using the Document_ContentControlOnExit event.
Content Control Custom Events: A VBA method to create and monitor content control custom events (OnChange, OnEnter, OnExit). Now change to content control text can be evaluated and processed in real time eliminating the need to first exit the control.
Content Controls - Do Not Print Placeholder Text: Three VBA methods to prevent printing the visible placeholder text in uncompleted content controls.
Content Control Enhancements - Word 2013: A summary of content control enhancements introduced with Word 2013.
Add, Map and Employ Repeating Section Content Controls in Word 2013: Provides steps and a demonstration for adding, mapping and employing repeating section content controls in Word 2013 documents.
Extract Content Control Data From Forms. A Word template add-in with all the tools you need to extract form data to a variety of storage file types.
Create Forms with Content Controls. This tips page summarizes the methods, advantages and disadvantages of using content controls in restricted content online, protected, fill-in and electronic "e" type forms.
ADCAP Content Control Check Boxes. This tips page shows how you can leverage the custom Document_ConentControlOnChange event to produce mutually exclusive option buttons in a document.
Content Control Pronoun Sets. Provides a template add-in you can use to create and manage content control pronoun sets in a template or document.

That's it! I hope you have found this tips page useful and informative.

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Content Controls(A Microsoft Word Help & Tip page by Gregory K. Maxey)