# Supporting Authors with .docx Import

**URL:** <https://pressbooks.community/t/supporting-authors-with-docx-import/2442>\
**Category:** Administering Pressbooks Networks\
**Created:** [June 27, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://pressbooks.community/t/supporting-authors-with-docx-import/2442 "2023-06-27T18:32:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ers6](https://pressbooks.community/user_avatar/pressbooks.community/ers6/32/1542_2.png) [@ers6](https://pressbooks.community/u/ers6)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 6:32pm UTC](https://pressbooks.community/t/supporting-authors-with-docx-import/2442/1 "2023-06-27T18:32:47Z")

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Hi all! I’m a new network manager, and I was wondering what (if any) support/tips/tricks you offer authors in importing microsoft word documents to pressbooks. Many of the authors I will be working with are most comfortable writing in microsoft word and have varying technical abilities/comfort using other text editors. Furthermore, we won’t have access to student employees to assist in typesetting, and I won’t have much time to devote to it myself.

I am especially interested in hearing about strategies for converting microsoft word files (footnotes, indices, etc. included) into pressbooks/wordpress XML. Is this something anyone has messed with?

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**Author:** ![ThomasWeideman](https://pressbooks.community/user_avatar/pressbooks.community/thomasweideman/32/1238_2.png) [@ThomasWeideman](https://pressbooks.community/u/ThomasWeideman)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 7:53pm UTC](https://pressbooks.community/t/supporting-authors-with-docx-import/2442/2 "2023-06-27T19:53:09Z")

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Hi @ers6 and welcome! I haven’t heard of any strategies for converting Word files to XML for import but would be curious to hear. Importing Word docs into Pressbooks is discussed in [this guide chapter](https://guide.pressbooks.com/chapter/bring-your-content-into-pressbooks/). I appreciate the appeal of working in a familiar editor, but I should note that aiming to preserve formatting from an imported Word doc tends to involve after-the-fact typesetting work within Pressbooks.

The [Visual Editor](https://guide.pressbooks.com/chapter/edit-content-with-the-visual-text-editors/) in Pressbooks has more in common with Word than the Text Editor; for reducing time spent typesetting, working directly in this editor might be worth considering as an alternative to the import approach.

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**Author:** ![ers6](https://pressbooks.community/user_avatar/pressbooks.community/ers6/32/1542_2.png) [@ers6](https://pressbooks.community/u/ers6)\
**Post date:** [June 27, 2023, 8:35pm UTC](https://pressbooks.community/t/supporting-authors-with-docx-import/2442/3 "2023-06-27T20:35:27Z")

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haha whoops–my bad! I meant that the visual editor might be difficult to learn for some folks. I may be working with an emeritus faculty member on a book, so I’m trying to limit the amount of technical skills necessary on their part (if they’re not tech-savvy! who knows, maybe they draft in HTML haha)