Microsoft Word form - Preserving "lines" to type on instead of underscoring and underlining

We've got a form that somebody created in Microsoft Word 2007. As an example, it would look something like this:

Name: ________________________________

Where the "line" is created by somebody typing in underscores.

Now when somebody goes to type in their name, it ends up looking something like:

Name: __________Matt__________________________________

and maybe even wraps to the next line. So the logical thing for a user to do would be to underline their name and delete some of the underscores.

But that is obviously a pain. Is there a way to create "lines" that a user can just type on that don't change the length of the line and keep the underlining/underscoring under what they've typed?

I can change the form - I just don't know how.

Solution 1:

There are two possible ways to do this:

1. Use a 1x1 table and remove the borders except the bottom border. This will allow people to type in the empty table without shifting text around. The limitation is that the 1x1 table must be on its own line.

2. The preferred option is to use the Developer ribbon (enable Word Options - Popular - Enable Developer...). Then under the controls, insert a text box. You can then edit the font of the text box to add and underline. You can find more information about this method on Microsoft's web site here.

Solution 2:

There actually is a way to create a line that can be typed over without the line moving, and without using table cells or fields. It is done with underlining and tab characters. Underlining is a built in method for placing lines under words. The problem is that you can't underline a space. There must be something in the space or you can't turn underlining on. This is where tabs comes in. Place three tab characters in the ruler: a left tab where you want the line to start, a center tab at what will be the middle of the line, and a left tab where you want the line to end. Now click in the location of the first tab and hit the tab key twice. This inserts two hidden tab characters (small arrows) into the blank space where the line is to go. Once they are inserted, you can highlight the space by dragging over it with the mouse.

Now click the underline icon and the space will be underlined. To add text, click in the MIDDLE of the line (the location of the middle tab character) and start to type. Your words will float right over top of the line, and remain centered within the line space. If you need multiple such lines and want to be able to tab from one to the other, click in the MIDDLE of each line and insert a text field. Once the document is protected, you can tab from line to line and the lines will remain the same size no matter the size of the words. (The exception being if the words are longer than the space in which case the line will grow to match.)

Solution 3:

This can be done by setting a reverse L shaped tab with the leader set as an underline.

With the ruler turned on showing the tab marks do the following:

1. Set the tab (reverse L shaped) at the end of the page where you want the underline to end.
2. Double click the tab to open the Tabs dialogue window.
3. Be sure that you have the correct Tab stop position selected.
4. Change the alignment to "Right"
5. Set the Leader to 4 ___
6. Click OK

Press the Tab key and you have a line on which you can type!

You want more lines- just enter and tab and you have more lines.