More often than not, I come across some pretty messed up documentation created in Microsoft Word by others with absolutely no knowledge of how to use a word processing program. (...and, by absolutely no knowledge, I mean that the user inevitably uses the space bar, or tab key to make multiple spaces or tabs to line up their text. Even worse, are those who consistantly use the 'Return' key to start a new line instead of allowing the program to wrap the text automatically.)
It's funny how creative some people can be when using Word to create a document. I've discovered some even adjusting the margins on the ruler in order to line up text throughout their document. So, I've got to wonder, how is it that such users fail to grasp the concept of setting tabs or spacing paragraphs without pressing the 'Return' key twice. I've had to clean up a multitude of such messy documentation to make it easier to update for future revisions. Although I am able to clean up most of these challenging pieces of work in a fairly short amount of time, I still get the occasional document that's better off being retyped, than being modified.
The following is an example of one type of poorly drafted document that I come across frequently. In this particular example, the user decided it was best to adjust and line up type via the space bar.
In this example, I've tried covering up as much indentifying information as possible, but retained the hidden marks that illustrate how this document was originally constructed. Cleaning up such work can be a daunting task, especially when a document is 45 or more pages in length!
What I find peculiar about drafting a document like this is that it takes so much longer to do than if the user had taken a little time to familiarize one's self with the simple 'basics' of the program. Simply typing in text without even thinking about using the return key until starting a new paragraph would speed up the process considerably.
