MaggyIt

If you’ve noticed a gap in your inbox, I have a good reason. I’ve been immersed in revamping the Word Macros A to Z course for its fifth anniversary. It has been completely redone—and is now seven weeks. Registration is open through March 4. This month’s macro is one you’ll hopefully never need but will be glad to have: MaggyIt helps you repair a Word document that has become corrupted.

Sometimes a Word document will start acting strangely, such as formatting that keeps reverting after you fix it, pages that constantly repaginate, or unusual characters appearing in the text. These are signs that the document may be corrupted.

One well-known first step for fixing this problem is the Maggie technique, named after tech writer and editor Margaret Secara, who popularized it in editor forums. Sadly, Maggie passed away in 2019, but her fix lives on. When editors help colleagues troubleshoot problematic Word documents, “Did you Maggie it?” is one of the first suggestions you’ll see.

The final paragraph mark in a document (which is usually invisible) stores a lot of information about the document’s structure and formatting. Sometimes that information can become corrupted, and when it does, it can cause problems. The Maggie technique involves copying all of the text except that last paragraph mark and pasting it into a new document, leaving the potential source of corruption behind.

For a short document, these steps are easy enough to do manually. But for a long one, it can be laborious work, not to mention that selecting all the text minus the last paragraph mark can put undue strain on your mouse hand. MaggyIt does the work for you.

Run MaggyIt, and the macro automatically selects all the text in your document—except the final paragraph mark—copies it, and pastes it into a new document. You can then save the new document and continue editing. The macro retains the formatting. However, it’s a good idea to review the new document before discarding the original.

Tip: Adding MaggyIt to a Custom Ribbon

Because you’ll only need MaggyIt occasionally, you may want to run it from a custom macro ribbon rather than a keyboard shortcut. Word allows you to create custom ribbon tabs, where you can add macros and other Word commands you regularly use, giving you a convenient place to run them with a single click. It’s a good spot for macros you use less frequently and don’t want to tie up a keyboard shortcut with.

• wordmacrotools.com/macros/M/MaggyIt

To mark the fifth anniversary of Word Macros A to Z, I’ve revamped and expanded the course. It now covers more macros than ever, with 13 updated and expanded video tutorials and seven bonus lessons for those who want to engage more deeply. Hands-on exercises using real-world editing examples will give you practical experience with each macro. You’ll leave the course a confident macro user.

If you’ve been intimidated by macros or have tried to get started before without success, you’re not alone. I’ve helped hundreds of editors get over that threshold. The course is designed to get you using macros in your work from the first week. It covers Paul Beverley’s library of preprogrammed macros and works for both PC and Mac users. I’ll be supporting you throughout the course, answering your questions and helping you troubleshoot in both the discussion forum and the live Q&A session with Paul Beverley himself.

“I enjoyed being able to work through the course at my own pace while still having regular access to the instructor. I was learning valuable things each week that I could employ at work right away.” —Past participant

Register here. Members of EFA, CIEP, IPEd, PEG, and Editors Canada are eligible for discounted rates through their respective organizations. Use coupon code JY-ZbdSA0dQt8 for an additional $10 off (valid on any EFA Education Program order over $150).

Have a question or want to suggest a macro for a future newsletter, or just want to say hi? Reply to this email.

Happy macroing,
Jennifer

ps: Have you backed up your macros and keyboard shortcuts recently?