The ability to type just a few characters and have word proposed a complete thought for you it's quite remarkable. This is what Microsoft's Quick Parts/Auto-Text routine is all about. (Throughout this section, we will be more frequently using the more generic term 'Quick Parts' to describe the tool under discussion. AutoText is a gallery within Quick Parts.)

 The problem with Quick Parts is the interface Microsoft has chosen to display, add and edit Quick Part term is horrible.

 Inserting original text is fairly straightforward, if you know what you are doing. The problem arises when you want to edit that text and save it back out. You have to know the exact name of the template, the name of the building block, and the precise category in which it was originally stored. Guess one element wrong and your text edits will be saved, but who knows where? You may have multiple copies of what you intend to be a single item because you slightly mis-named the item or assigned it to a different gallery or category. Of course, you accidentally can save an identically named document in two (or more) different folders and confront a similar problem. But it is fairly easy to see and correct your mistake when you are working with documents and folders. Not so when you are working with QuickParts.

 (This is why we have bragged so much about using Pathagoras <Alt-G>  function and DropDown Lists. You save text that you want as a document and then recall that document using <Alt-G>. If you need to edit the target, just open a document, edit it to your heart's content. When you save it, it is always back to the precise place from which your called it. With Quick Parts, its easy to recall the text, but there a lot of guesswork when it comes to saving it back.) 

 But we knew that Quick Parts, especially AutoText, has a lot of untapped potential. So we set out to address its shortcomings.

 The following  pages discuss how to add and edit AutoText in a more intuitive and accurate fashion. By way of summary, you can mark up you Quick Parts using bookmarks or using a table and when you need to edit and resave them, the same tools are used. (You of course can still add Quick Parts one at a time. Indeed, incidental Quick Parts probably should be added this way. When you need to add terms in bulk, and to edit existing Quick Parts, you should serious consider Pathagoras as the got-to tool.)

 

Quick Parts Tools

 To access Pathagoras' Quick Parts tools, click the Pathagoras Features button (bottom half).
Click 'Wizards and Assistants' and then 'Quick Parts, Content Controls, etc.'

(If you anticipate using Quick Parts with some frequency, you should consider elevating  
the Quick Parts element to your Quick Access Toolbar.)