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Microsoft Office and Word

Exclude "ize" spelling variations
Exclude American spelt words.
Use the preferred Australian English spelling.

11 July 2009

Version 4.0 of the Exclude files for use with Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Word 2003 are now available. This edition of the Exclude file includes over 2,400 words which are either incorrect or secondary spelling variations.

Microsoft Office 2007 Exclude Dictionary.

Works with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access and Outlook.

The Exclude dictionary file for Office 2007 results in over 2,400 words such as organize, summarize, and mom, being highlighted as incorrect spelling. Whilst designed primarily for Australian users, those in other countries such as the UK, NZ etc, may also find the file of great assistance. An Exclude file for use with Word 2003 is also included.

Those using Microsoft Word generally have problems with Australian English for the following reasons.

1. Many people believe words with "ize" such as "organize", are the American spelling.
2. The settings on the computer are not set up correctly.
3. When pasting from other applications, US English may be used.

This page provides solutions to these issues.

1. Words spelt using "ize"

One of the problems frequently mentioned by users of Microsoft Word is the American spelling of words. No matter what the user does, they cannot exclude what they consider to be American spelt words.

The problem is many people prefer not to use the words with "ize" (and variations), but prefer to use "ise", such as "summarise" and "organise". It should be noted both versions are generally accepted in Australia.

It is not possible without assistance from Microsoft to produce a replacement dictionary for Microsoft Word, but an acceptable solution to the problem is to use the standard feature Microsoft provides called an Exclude file. The Exclude file feature in Microsoft software allows users to create a list of words and have those words marked as incorrect spelling. To save you time I've created an Exclude file with over 2,400 words.

The Exclude file when used with Microsoft Office 2007, results in the "ize" spelling variations being highlighted as incorrect across all Office applications. A number of American words included in the Microsoft dictionary are also highlighted as incorrect. In Office 2003 the Exclude file only works with Microsoft Word 2003 and OutLook 2003.

The following is from a post I found on an online forum. If you or your children have ever been in this situation, this is what the Microsoft Word Exclude Dictionary file will help to avoid.

Once I had an assignment due and our lecturers are very strict about only using Australian spellchecks. Despite changing the language setting on every facet of my computer it just wouldn't stop turning "s" into "z" and abandoning letters...

I sat at my computer, alone, in the dead of night and cried and cried and cried....

The lecturers in this case were imposing a restricted style on this student which caused considerable grief. My Microsoft Word Exclude Dictionary file will assist students to comply with this style requirement and much more.

The Exclude files have been tested for use under Windows XP with Microsoft Word 2003, and also Vista and Office 2007.

Copyright of the Exclude file

The Exclude file is copyright with all rights reserved. No redistribution is permitted. The Exclude file is not to be used for any other purpose. The Exclude file you receive is only licensed to you personally for your use and is not to be used by anyone else. If you have a second computer you can install the Exclude file on that computer as long as you are the sole user on both computers. A second licence is required if there is more than one person using the computer.

Companies wishing to use the Exclude computer on more than one computer should contact me to arrange for purchasing a licence for each computer.

Purchase

The price of the Exclude file is $9.95.



NOTE: At this time the Exclude file is only available for purchase within Australia.

Purchase instructions

Click on Buy Now button to purchase the Exclude file.
On receipt of your purchase details you will be sent a zip file via email. The zip file contains both versions of the Exclude file, plus instructions on installing the Exclude file.
Please note: Due to the low cost of the Exclude file it is not possible to include free support. Should you require assistance with the Exclude file, paid support is available.

2. Incorrect settings on the computer.

I have noticed that by default many of the computers I have set up have needed to have the regional settings changed for Australia. Without changing these settings correctly, Microsoft Word will not use Australian English as the default and will continue to seem to change the default language back to English (US).

If the following is the problem you are experiencing then MyAnswers solution 1475 will provide the answer.

Microsoft Word 2003 has the language set as English (US). No matter how many times I change the default to be English (Australia) it does not stick.

3. US English used when pasting from other applications

If you copy and paste from another application into MS Word, the language of the pasted text in some cases becomes US English. For example, if you copy and paste from a website, the text may be associated with US English.

You can generally get around this problem by using the option "Keep Text Only" when pasting into your application if you application provides this feature.

If the text has already been inserted, highlight the text and change the language to Australian English.

A trick that I use is to copy text into Notepad which removes all formatting and then copy this text into the application. Using Notepad is a great way to clean up text.

Copyright

We are not associated to Microsoft in any way. The terms Microsoft, Microsoft Word, Excel and Access we believe may be registered with Microsoft Corporation.

The Exclude file provided is copyright to Online Connections and permission is not provided to distribute the file to others.

We hope you find the Exclude file useful.

A JustLocal™ friend.