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EricaSholycow
Inspiring
April 4, 2024
Question

EndNote plug-in for Word compatibility with Indesign

  • April 4, 2024
  • 2 replies
  • 1049 views
A project has come across my desk where the EndNote plug-in for Word has been used. When importing the file into Indesign the endnotes are all in-tact but they are not dynamic and they don't have hyperlinks between the entries. ls there anyway to keep that dynamic link or is EndNote functionality just not compatible with Indesign? TIA
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2 replies

James Gifford—NitroPress
James Gifford—NitroPress
Legend
April 4, 2024

There are a number of add-ins that speed creation and organization of end notes, for academic users. My experience with them is that while they streamline the keyboard-to-page/PDF organization and formatting, usually for journal manuscripts or simple book pages, they are less than friendly to any kind of format export or import by any other app, including ID.

 

Unless you can export the Word doc with the end notes in native app format, the odds of a successful ID import are slim. I would try saving the doc as RTF and see what an ID import makes of it.

    E
    EricaSholycowAuthor
    Inspiring
    April 9, 2024

    I have a RTF of the document and it imports in the same way as the .docx document, in that the Endnotes are all static.

    James Gifford—NitroPress
    James Gifford—NitroPress
    Legend
    April 9, 2024

    So there are no markers/links in the Word document itself? The reference numbers in the text, and the notes themselves, are just "dead" text? Obviously, that's not an InDesign issue (just to be clear) — ID has no magic way to reconnect such elements.

     

    The lack will have to be corrected in either the Word doc or after import into ID. Unless the Word original is needed for other work flows, I'd suggest it's better to do all the fixup in InDesign, which will bypass the many faults and glitches that importing end notes can bring. The only process I can see is :

    • Create a first end note so the End Note section exists. Do it at the point of the first actual end note, then cut and paste the text from the first note into it. Obviously, delete any dead-text number in the text.
    • Repeat, inserting a new note at the point of each original, paste over the original content, and clean up.

     

    Can't think of any other approach.

     

    This is another common fault of the super-duper note-management tools for Word: as a final step, the doc can be "simplified" and "stabilized" by removing all the active linking etc. Fine, if the only goal is print. But...

     

    Thought: is there any chance of getting a live version from the original author or source?

      Robert at ID-Tasker
      Robert at ID-Tasker
      Legend
      April 4, 2024

      What "EndNote plug-in" are you talking about?

       

      WORD can handle Endnotes on its own:

       

      Can you share your WORD and INDD documents?

      Doesn't have to be in full - part of it will be sufficient.

      And you can share it on priv if you prefer - click my name and you'll have MESSAGE button.

       

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