ConfettiEdits is a Windows desktop application that pares your master specifications down to project-specific specifications by asking yes/no questions. You tag removable content in Word once, build a set of questions around those tags, and from then on anyone on your team can answer the questions and get edited specifications in seconds.

Software Components

ConfettiEdits Desktop Application: The main program, where users answer questions and template authors build templates.

Word Add-In: A ConfettiEdits tab on the Microsoft Word ribbon. Template authors use it to tag the content in their master specifications that questions can remove.

Quick Overview of ConfettiEdits

One-time setup (template authors):

1. Tag your master specifications in Word. Wrap each piece of removable content in a tag using the Word Add-In.
   Example: In a masonry specification, tag the brick content “Brick” and the stone content “Stone.”
2. Export Tags from Word and Import CSV into a ConfettiEdits template. The program lists every tag and drafts a set of questions for you.
3. Refine the questions. Reword, reorder, and prune the drafted questions.
   Example: “Will this project use brick?” removes Brick content when answered No.
4. Save and share. Put the template and the tagged specifications in a network location your team can reach.

Typical use (everyone):

5. Answer questions for your project.
6. Run. Pick which specifications to process. ConfettiEdits writes edited copies to a new folder, with removed content shown as Word tracked deletions.
7. Review the deletions in Word and accept or reject them.

Example: Answer No to “Will this project use brick?” and the processed specification shows all Brick content as tracked deletions, while Stone content is untouched.

ConfettiEdits is a first-pass editing tool. Always review the output before issuing it.

ConfettiEdits Modes

ConfettiEdits has two modes, chosen from the File menu:

User Mode: The everyday mode. Users answer yes/no questions and run the program. ConfettiEdits opens in User Mode.

Developer Mode: For template authors. Creating and editing templates is only available here. The window shows two grids:

• The User Grid (top), which holds the questions
• The Developer Grid (bottom), which lists every tag in the template

Tagging Your Master Specifications

A tag is a Word content control wrapped around a piece of text. Each tag has a name, shown on the tab of its box when tags are visible. When a question removes a tag, everything inside that tag is removed.

Numbered and named tags

• Numbered tags (1, 2, 3…) suit small pieces of text, such as the choices in a [bracket]. Tag Brackets creates these for you.
• Named tags (such as “Exhaust Fans” or “Steam”) suit larger blocks, such as whole articles or paragraphs about one product.

Tags inside tags

Tags can sit inside other tags, and several tags can cover the same text. Text is removed if any tag around it is removed.

Example: Tag the inline fan paragraph “Inline,” then tag the whole fans article “Fans.” Answering No to the inline question removes only the inline paragraph. Answering No to the fans question removes the entire article, inline paragraph included.

A tag can sit fully inside another tag but cannot partly overlap one.

Local and global tags

Every tag is local to its own Word file by default, so “Inline” in your fan specification and “Inline” in your pump specification are separate tags. Check Global when you create a tag to make it reach every specification that has a global tag with the same name.

Example: Tag Ohio-specific requirements as a global “Ohio” tag in every specification. One question, “Is this project in Ohio?”, then reaches all of them.

Use one scope per name. A name that is global in one specification and local in another is almost always a mistake, and ConfettiEdits warns you about it when you save.

Word Add-In Ribbon Buttons

• Tag – Tags the highlighted text, or the word at your cursor. The name box is pre-filled with the next number: press Enter for a numbered tag, or type a name for a named tag. Check Global to make it a global tag. With your cursor inside an existing tag and nothing highlighted, Tag renames that tag everywhere in the file. Renaming to a name already in use merges the two.
• Remove Tag – Removes the tag around your cursor. With text highlighted, removes every tag inside or crossing the highlight. The text itself is kept.
• Tag Brackets – Wraps every [bracket] in the document in its own numbered tag, or only the brackets inside your highlight. Brackets already tagged are skipped, so running it twice is safe. The button shows how many brackets are still untagged.
• Copy Tag – Makes the tag at your cursor the current tag for Apply Tag.
• Recent Tags – Lists your last five tags. Pick one to make it the current tag for Apply Tag.
• Apply Tag – Applies the current tag. With text highlighted, it tags the highlight. With your cursor in a box of the current tag, each click grows that box: word, then sentence, then paragraph, then one more paragraph per click. Anywhere else, it tags the word at your cursor.
• Show Tags – Pressed, tag boxes and their colors are visible for editing. Unpressed, tags are hidden and text is black, so the document looks like a plain master specification. The tags are still there either way.
• Export Tags – Saves a CSV listing every tag in the document, for Import CSV in ConfettiEdits. It works with tags shown or hidden and does not change the document.
• Open ConfettiEdits – Launches ConfettiEdits and opens the tab for the document you’re working in.
• Help Guide – Opens this user guide.
• Suggest Improvement – Opens the contact/feedback page.

Tag colors are for visibility only. They help you see where tags are while editing, but ConfettiEdits reads the tags, not the colors.

Turn Show Tags off before distributing your master specifications so they look like ordinary documents.

Templates

A template is a save file (.confetti) that holds your questions and the list of tags they control. Your team loads the template to answer questions.

Each group of specifications that needs its own questions gets its own template.

Example: A mechanical department might keep a Division 23 template, while an architectural department keeps one for its architectural specifications.

To create a new template:

1. Enter Developer Mode from the File menu
2. Choose Template > New
3. Use Template > Save As to store it in a network location your team can reach

Note: Template functions stay hidden until Developer Mode is turned on, so everyday users only see what they need.

Importing Tags

1. Tag your specification in Word.
2. Click Export Tags in the Word Add-In and save the CSV.
3. In ConfettiEdits, open your template in Developer Mode, select the tab for that specification, and choose Import CSV from the File menu.

Import CSV does two things:

• Developer Grid: Adds one row per tag, with the tag’s text filled in as its description.
• User Grid: Drafts a question for each tag, arranged as an outline that follows the tag nesting in Word. Each bracket becomes a header with its choices indented beneath it, and questions from the same specification article are grouped under a header for that article.

The drafted questions are a head start, not a finished questionnaire. Expect to reword, merge, and delete. Questions with children start collapsed and headers start expanded.

Adding tags later: Tag the new content in Word, export again, and import again. Tags already in the template are skipped, so only the new ones are added.

Developer Grid

The Developer Grid lists every tag on the tab. It fills itself from Import CSV, so you rarely need to edit it by hand.

• Tags – The tag’s name, as it appears in Word.
• Color – The tag’s display color from Word, as a quick visual check.
• Topic – A description of the tagged content. Import fills this with the tag’s text; edit it for clarity if you like.
• Global – Checked for global tags.

Keep one row per tag. If the same tag is described in more than one row, ConfettiEdits warns you when you save.

User Grid (While in Developer Mode)

The User Grid holds the yes/no questions your team answers. Write each question so a yes or no answer clearly decides whether its content stays.

The Included Topics column lists the tags a question removes. Enter tag names or numbers, separated by commas. Numbers and names can be mixed in the same cell — 1,4,Concrete is valid.

Imported questions only reach tags in their own specification, plus matching global tags. Questions you add by hand aren’t tied to a specification, so a name you type reaches that tag in every specification.

The Delete On toggle sets which answer removes the content. New rows default to “No,” so answering No removes it. Switch the toggle to “Yes” and answering Yes removes it instead. This lets you phrase a question whichever way reads best.

Example: “This project is in Ohio” with Delete On set to No, and “This project is outside Ohio” with Delete On set to Yes, both remove the Ohio content when the project isn’t in Ohio.

About This Question (?)

Click the ? button on any question to see where it comes from. The window shows two things side by side:

• Spec – The text of the specification the question comes from, opened to the question’s tag with that paragraph highlighted. Word does not need to be open. The text is read from the Source Documents Location.
• Template notes – Notes the template author wrote to help users answer. Notes support formatted text and images, and are edited in Developer Mode.

Adding and Managing Rows

Adding Rows: Select a row and click Add Row. The new row appears directly below your selection, so you can insert rows anywhere.

Deleting Rows: Highlight the row and press the Delete key.

Find Row: Copy some tagged text from Word with Show Tags on, and paste it into the Find Row box in the Developer Mode toolbar. ConfettiEdits selects the Developer Grid row with the matching tag color.

Bulk Edit: Adds the same text to every selected row in a column at once.

• Click a cell in the column you want to change, then select the rows
• Click Bulk Edit
• Enter the text and choose Prefix to add it to the front of each cell, Suffix to add it to the end, or Clear to empty the cells

Bulk Edit works on the Description and Included Topics columns of the User Grid, and the Tags and Topic columns of the Developer Grid. Header rows are skipped.

Structuring Questions

The User Grid is an outline, not a flat list. Four arrow buttons in the Developer Mode toolbar shape it: Move Up, Move Down, Outdent, and Indent.

Indent and Outdent

• Select one or more rows
• Click Indent (⇥) to push them one level deeper, or Outdent (⇤) to pull them back out
• Rows can be indented up to five levels deep
• While editing a Description cell, Tab indents the row and Shift+Tab outdents it

Parent questions remove their children

Indent a specific question beneath the broad question it depends on. When the broad question is answered so its content is removed, everything indented beneath it goes too, because that content sits inside the parent’s tag in Word. The child rows grey out to show this, and their answers no longer matter.

Example: “The project has fans” sits above questions about each fan type. Answer No and the whole fans article is removed, and the fan type questions grey out.

Collapsing and Expanding

Any row with indented rows beneath it shows a chevron (▾) to the left of its Description. Click it to collapse or expand the rows beneath.

• Collapsing is visual only. Collapsed questions are still applied when you click Run.
• Answering a collapsed question so its content stays opens it one level, so its children are ready to answer.
• Collapse state is saved with the template, so you can distribute a long template with its sections folded shut.

Move Up and Move Down

Move Up (↑) and Move Down (↓) shift a selected row one position per click. The row keeps its notes, Included Topics, and Delete On setting. A row with indented children moves together with them as a block.

Move and Indent are separate: Move changes a row’s neighbors, and Indent changes its depth.

Adding Text

Inside a cell, press Enter to start a new line within the cell. Press Shift+Enter to move to the next row.

Adding Headers

A header is a row that labels a group of questions instead of asking one. Click Add Header to create one. Headers have no yes/no buttons and no Included Topics — they ask nothing and remove nothing.

Indent questions beneath a header to group them, and use the header’s chevron to collapse the whole group. Headers can be nested under other headers.

Header or question as the parent?

• Use a header when the label is context only, such as a section name or the sentence around a bracket.
• Use a question when answering the label itself should remove content, such as “The project has windows” above questions about glass types.

Adding Tabs

Tabs divide a template into sections, usually one tab per specification.

• To create a tab, click the (+) icon at the end of the tab bar
• To rename or delete a tab, right-click it
• To reorder tabs, right-click a tab and choose Move Left or Move Right. Tab order is saved with the template.

Clicking Run applies the questions on every tab in one pass. Questions left unanswered leave their content unchanged.

Organizing Information – Tips

• Templates hold everything for a set of specifications. Example: Division 22 Template, Division 23 Template.
• Tabs divide a template, usually one per specification. Example: 23 34 00 – HVAC Fans.
• Headers label a group of questions without asking anything.
• Indentation nests questions beneath their parent, and a parent question removes its children.
• Tags mark the content itself. Nest tags in Word the same way you want questions nested.

Use only what you need. A simple specification might need a flat list of questions, while a complex one uses tabs, headers, and nesting together.

Saving the Template

Choose Template > Save from the File menu. Answers and folder locations are not saved to the template, since those belong to each user.

ConfettiEdits checks the template when you save. If it finds problems it lists them and asks whether to save anyway. Common issues:

• A question has a description but nothing in Included Topics
• A number in Included Topics is not a positive whole number
• The same tag is described in more than one Developer Grid row
• A tag name is global in one specification but local in another

Keep backups of your template and your tagged specifications.

User Mode

ConfettiEdits loads your last-used template when it opens. To load a different one, choose Open Template (Read Only) from the File menu.

Set two folders using the folder icons:

• Source Documents Location – The tagged specifications for your project. Copy just the specifications your project needs into a project folder and point here.
• Processed Documents Location – Where the edited copies go.

Answer only the questions that apply to your project. Unanswered questions leave their content unchanged. Click the ? button on a question to read the specification text it controls. Long templates may arrive with sections collapsed; click a chevron (▾) to open one.

Running

1. Click Run.
2. Choose which specifications to process. All are checked by default, and your last choice for the folder is remembered while the program stays open.
3. ConfettiEdits creates a new ConfettiEdits_Processed_ folder, stamped with the date and time, in your Processed Documents Location. Your original files are never overwritten.

Reviewing the output

Removed content appears as Word tracked deletions by the author “ConfettiEdits.” Open each document, review the deletions, and accept or reject them using Word’s Review tab.

Running again

You can run the same specifications as many times as you like with different answers. You can also run a processed document again: ConfettiEdits first rejects its own earlier deletions, then applies your new answers. Your own tracked changes are left alone, but any ConfettiEdits deletions you already accepted are gone for good.

Remove Encoding

Choose Remove Encoding from the File menu to create copies of your documents with every ConfettiEdits tag removed and the text returned to Word’s automatic color. Content controls that belong to your own firm’s templates are left alone.

Set your Source Documents Location and Processed Documents Location first. A template is not required.

Use it to send a specification outside your organization, archive a copy for the project record, or send a document to a print service. Your original files are never overwritten.

Note: Copies made with Remove Encoding have no tags, so ConfettiEdits can no longer process them. Keep your tagged master specifications.