Research Hacks #27: VBA to mark up a Word document for reading

In the past I have posted macros to highlight all the quotations and all the punctuation in a Microsoft Word document. Here is some VBA that performs these two tasks, and also adds line numbers and page numbers to a document. I regularly use it before I read student work or articles to review, and I find it helps me read more efficiently. It also makes it easier to quickly see the length of sentences and whether quotations are being over- or under-used. The code is a bit messy, but it works fine.

To read all the research hacks posted to date, please click here.

To use this script, open a new Microsoft Word document and press Alt+F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor. Then, go to Insert > Module and paste the above code into the module.

Save the code, and return to the Word document. To run the script, press Alt+F8, select PrepareForReading, and click the Run button.

Sub PrepareForReading()
' AllQuotationsOrange Macro
'First do a find and replace to make sure quotes are all smartquotes
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
With Selection.Find
.Text = "'"
.Replacement.Text = "'"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchKashida = False
.MatchDiacritics = False
.MatchAlefHamza = False
.MatchControl = False
.MatchByte = False
.CorrectHangulEndings = False
.HanjaPhoneticHangul = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchFuzzy = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll
With Selection.Find
.Text = """"
.Replacement.Text = """"
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = False
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchKashida = False
.MatchDiacritics = False
.MatchAlefHamza = False
.MatchControl = False
.MatchByte = False
.CorrectHangulEndings = False
.HanjaPhoneticHangul = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchFuzzy = False
End With

Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = -654245889
With Selection.Find
.Text = ChrW(8220) & "*" & ChrW(8221)
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = -654245889
With Selection.Find
.Text = "‘*’"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindAsk
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = -654245889
With Selection.Find
.Text = "«*»"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindAsk
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchWildcards = True
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'set the colour
Options.DefaultHighlightColorIndex = wdYellow

'set the highlight option in the search box
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Highlight = True

'do the search and replace
With Selection.Find
.Text = "."
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'set the colour
Options.DefaultHighlightColorIndex = wdPink

'set the colour
Options.DefaultHighlightColorIndex = wdYellow

'set the highlight option in the search box
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Highlight = True

'do the search and replace
With Selection.Find
.Text = "?"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'set the colour
Options.DefaultHighlightColorIndex = wdPink

'set the colour
Options.DefaultHighlightColorIndex = wdYellow

'set the highlight option in the search box
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Highlight = True

'do the search and replace
With Selection.Find
.Text = "!"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'light purple
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = wdColorRed
With Selection.Find
.Text = ","
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'light purple
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = wdColorRed
With Selection.Find
.Text = ";"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'light purple
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = wdColorRed
With Selection.Find
.Text = ":"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'light purple
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = wdColorRed
With Selection.Find
.Text = "("
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

'light purple
Selection.Find.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.ClearFormatting
Selection.Find.Replacement.Font.Color = wdColorRed
With Selection.Find
.Text = ")"
.Replacement.Text = ""
.Forward = True
.Wrap = wdFindContinue
.Format = True
.MatchCase = False
.MatchWholeWord = False
.MatchWildcards = False
.MatchSoundsLike = False
.MatchAllWordForms = False
End With
Selection.Find.Execute Replace:=wdReplaceAll

' LineAndPageNumbers Macro

With Selection.PageSetup
With .LineNumbering
.Active = True
.StartingNumber = 1
.CountBy = 1
.RestartMode = wdRestartContinuous
.DistanceFromText = wdAutoPosition
End With
.Orientation = wdOrientPortrait
.TopMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.54)
.BottomMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.54)
.LeftMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.54)
.RightMargin = CentimetersToPoints(2.54)
.Gutter = CentimetersToPoints(0)
.HeaderDistance = CentimetersToPoints(1.25)
.FooterDistance = CentimetersToPoints(1.25)
.PageWidth = CentimetersToPoints(21)
.PageHeight = CentimetersToPoints(29.7)
.FirstPageTray = wdPrinterDefaultBin
.OtherPagesTray = wdPrinterDefaultBin
.SectionStart = wdSectionNewPage
.OddAndEvenPagesHeaderFooter = False
.DifferentFirstPageHeaderFooter = False
.VerticalAlignment = wdAlignVerticalTop
.SuppressEndnotes = False
.MirrorMargins = False
.TwoPagesOnOne = False
.BookFoldPrinting = False
.BookFoldRevPrinting = False
.BookFoldPrintingSheets = 1
.GutterPos = wdGutterPosLeft
.SectionDirection = wdSectionDirectionLtr
.LayoutMode = wdLayoutModeDefault
End With

If ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial <> wdPaneNone Then
ActiveWindow.Panes(2).Close
End If
If ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdNormalView Or ActiveWindow. _
ActivePane.View.Type = wdOutlineView Then
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdPrintView
End If
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.SeekView = wdSeekCurrentPageHeader
If ActiveWindow.View.SplitSpecial <> wdPaneNone Then
ActiveWindow.Panes(2).Close
End If
If ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdNormalView Or ActiveWindow. _
ActivePane.View.Type = wdOutlineView Then
ActiveWindow.ActivePane.View.Type = wdPrintView
End If
Set myPgNum = ActiveDocument.Sections(1) _
.Headers(wdHeaderFooterPrimary) _
.PageNumbers.Add(PageNumberAlignment:= _
wdAlignPageNumberCenter, FirstPage:=True)
End Sub