Importing Word Document Without Track Changes

[Melissa C]

Hello, 

My Team wants to be able to import Word Document into Confluence - Without Track Changes.  When we attempt to import documents we noticed that the Track Changes are imported as part of the page. (The Track Changes that were deleted)

Background: My Team writes their documents in Word because they need Track Changes to review documents.  But they also want to be able to have documents available in Confluence. 

Does anyone know how to import the Word Document "Final" (without Track Changes)?

Thank you - Melissa

[AnnWorley]

Hi Melissa,

The tracked changes need to be removed in Word before the files are uploaded. Otherwise, you can turn track changes off before you upload but anyone can turn it back on and see the changes.

Please see: Turn off track changes

Thanks,

Ann

[Melissa C]

Ann, 

We have been using Track Changes for years and pretty much experts at it!

We cannot accept all the Track Changes because the Documents are distributed with the Track Changes on so that those reviewing the documents can see the changes made.

I tried turning off the track changes, saving the document and importing, this did not work. 

I also tried saving the document as Final and this also did not work. 

Any other suggestions?

We are using Word Document 2010

[AnnWorley]

The suggestions I found in Turn off track changes were:

To remove all comments at once, click a comment, and then on the Review tab, click the arrow below Delete, and click Delete All Comments in Document.

and:

Tip:  Before you share the final version of your document, it’s a good idea to run Document Inspector. This tool checks for tracked changes and comments, hidden text, personal names in properties, and other information you might not want to share widely. To run Document Inspector, click File > Info > Check for Issues > Inspect Document.

[Melissa C]

We aren't using Comments at all!

And as I mentioned earlier - WE must keep the Track Changes in the Word Document. 

Can this be submitted as a Bug to the developers?

[AnnWorley]

Sure I can create a bug, when I understand properly what the behavior is and if it seems like unexpected behavior.

I understood you wanted to remove track changes for uploaded files, but now I understand you want to preserve track changes.

What is it that Confluence is doing that is unexpected?

It sounds like the Document Inspector tool checks for tracked changes as well as comments so it seems like it would help if you do want to eliminate the tracked changes.

Are you reporting that you remove track changes and Confluence puts it back?

[AnnWorley]

Found the bug! Importing a Word document with "Track Changes" enabled and unaccepted edits will cause old content to be imported along with new content

I originally understood that you were attaching the Word docs, when I realized you were importing them, I tried it and saw that old deleted content appeared on the imported page. Can you let me know your Confluence version so I can updated the ticket? It has been closed for lack of interest but I think it may be more high profile if we confirm it is still happening. I tested in Cloud and on Confluence 6.x Server.

[Melissa C]

Thank Ann, 

The Document Inspector will not help because We have to KEEP the track changes.  The track changes are needed for those groups that review our documents. They would like to see what changed in a document that is why we keep the Track Changes.   This allow the users to either view the Word Document as Final - this can be done by changing the Display for Review option which allows users to view Final, Final: Show Markup etc. 

We would like to import the Documents into Confluence as Pages. When we use Confluence Import Word Document feature we expected that the document would be imported as Final (with Track Changes Accepted).  What we saw was an imported Word Document that included text that was deleted as text that was part of the document.  

If you need me to further explain what we believe is a bug we would be happy to document it as this is import to us, as the "Import Word Document" doesn't give users a warning on what they are importing or a choice.

[Melissa C]

Thanks Ann, 

I also found this bug prior to asking the question on there. 

That bug has timed out - How can I get it to reopen? or at the very least update Confluences Documentation to reflect this?

[Melissa C]

@AnnWorley

Any suggestions on how I can get this Bug Open?

[AnnWorley]

The official notice on the bug says to update it if you see the issue in a recent version so that the development team can revisit the severity and consider re-opening it:

If this issue is still impacting you on a recent version please feel free to comment with the affected version. Any further details you may be able to provide regarding reproduction or impact of this issue may help us better address this issue.

We do not generally document material that is covered in a bug, as the bug reports (which include any known workarounds) are considered sources of Knowledge Centered Support.