Known Issues and Workarounds in MS365 Document Collaboration

The new Microsoft 365 Document Collaboration feature in eScribe has been thoroughly tested, but like any software, a few known issues or bugs exist. Below is a list of issues that some users might encounter while working on documents in the browser editor, along with any available workarounds or recommendations. We will update this list as issues are resolved or new ones are discovered. The aim is to be transparent about current limitations that are being addressed and to help you navigate around them in the meantime.

Multi-level Lists Formatting in Outputs
- Issue: When using multi-level bullet or numbered lists (lists with sub-points, like an outline) in a document, the indentation or ordering may not appear correctly in certain outputs or compiled documents. For example, a second-level bullet might not indent or a numbered list might reset unexpectedly in the final PDF or agenda package, even if it looked fine in the editor.
- Symptoms: In the final published agenda or minutes (or when viewing the document in PDF form), bullet hierarchy can be incorrect – e.g., all bullets aligned at the same level, or numbering like 1, 1, 2 instead of 1, 1.1, 1.2, etc. In one case, a user noted that multi-level bulleted lists did not extract properly into a generated package (they looked fine in the document editor and view mode, but the way they were pulled into another context was off).
- Workaround/Solution: Until this is fully fixed, we recommend keeping list structures simple. If possible, avoid deep nesting of bullets or numbering in content that will be extracted to agenda or minutes. If you do need multi-level lists, double-check the final output (for instance, after generating a PDF, look at how the list appears). You might need to manually adjust the formatting in the final Word document before publishing a package (as a temporary measure). Another tip is to use different styles for sub-points (like using an indented paragraph style) rather than Word’s automatic multi-level list, although that may not be practical in all cases. Our development team is aware of this issue and has an active ticket to correct the list rendering in outputs, so this should improve in a future update.
“Bookmark” Icon Visible in Editor
- Issue: A small bookmark icon sometimes appears in the document while editing in the browser, even though you didn’t insert one. This icon looks like a little gray flag or shield in the text. It is not something you would normally see in Word Desktop under print layout view.
- Cause: This usually indicates that there is a hidden Bookmark in the document (perhaps left over from a template or inserted by Word at some point) that has no visible content. Word Online tends to show a placeholder icon for such bookmarks. On Word Desktop, unless you toggle bookmarks to visible, you wouldn’t see anything in the text.
- Impact: It doesn’t affect printing or final output (the icon won’t appear on a PDF or when others view the document in normal mode), but it can be confusing to editors who see an unknown icon in their text.
- Solution: You can safely remove the stray bookmark. In the online editor, you might not have a direct interface to delete bookmarks, so the easiest method is:
  1. Open the document in Word Desktop (you can download the doc from eScribe, or if the bookmark icon isn’t critical you can just ignore it – it’s harmless). If you open in Desktop Word, go to the Insert tab > Bookmark. You’ll see a list of bookmarks in the document. There’s likely one that is causing the icon.
  2. Delete the bookmark from that list. Save the document and upload it back to eScribe if you had downloaded it.
    Once the bookmark is removed, the icon will no longer appear in the online editor. If you prefer not to deal with it through download: note that it’s purely visual, and you can leave it alone; it won’t show up to end readers or in final outputs. It’s essentially an artifact of how the editor displays hidden bookmarks.
Pasting Text Brings Unwanted Formatting
- Issue: When you paste text copied from another source (like a Word document, a webpage, or an email) into the eScribe browser editor, the text may retain all of its original formatting (font, size, colors, etc.), which can clash with your document’s style. For instance, copying a line from another Word document might bring along a different font or background highlight into your eScribe doc. This can require extra effort to fix formatting after pasting.
- Cause: Web browsers by default try to preserve formatting on paste. In the MS365 online editor, if you paste normally (Ctrl+V or right-click > Paste), it will include the source formatting. There is an option to paste as plain text, but it’s not obvious to all users. Some browsers (like Chrome) may prompt for clipboard permission to allow the web app more control over paste behavior. Initially, guidance was to allow clipboard access for Word Online so it could offer a “keep text only” paste, but in practice that method can be inconsistent.
- Solution: Use keyboard shortcuts to paste without formatting:
  - On Windows, press Ctrl + Shift + V to paste. (This is a common “paste as plain text” shortcut in many web apps, including Chrome browsers.)
  - On Mac, press Cmd + Shift + V to do the same.
    This will drop the text without its original formatting, inserting it to match the destination style. After pasting, you may need to tweak spacing or apply your document’s styles (like making it a bullet list or heading, if that’s what it should be), but at least you won’t have to hunt down odd font changes.
Empty Fields Showing as Blank Lines or Artifacts
- Issue: If certain content control fields are left empty (not filled in) in a document, they might appear as blank lines, empty list items, or other artifacts in some views or outputs. For example, an empty motion field in a minutes document could show up as an empty bullet or the word “Motion” with nothing after it in a generated minutes view.
- Details: This is partly an artifact of how eScribe compiles documents with placeholders. In the comparison done during testing, an empty content control field in the document led to an “empty” entry in the agenda or minutes tab within eScribe. Similarly, an icon intended to mark motions might appear even if the associated text is blank. These are legacy quirks that carried over from the SharePoint method as well (not new to MS365, but still present).
- Solution/Best Practice: Wherever possible, fill in all mandatory fields in your document. If a field isn’t applicable, you have a couple of options:
  - Remove the content control from that document (if you have permission and it’s not needed) so it doesn’t produce an empty line. For instance, if a report template includes a “Sponsor” field but one report has no sponsor, you might delete that field for that document to avoid a blank label.
  - Or, enter a placeholder like “N/A” or a hyphen into the field. It’s better than leaving it truly empty, as it will then show something minimal instead of a blank.
    For meeting minutes and motions: ensure that dummy motions or any template entries are cleaned up before finalizing the minutes document. If you see an extraneous blank motion or line in the compiled view, it likely corresponds to an empty field in the document – opening the document and removing that empty field (or adding text) will resolve it.
    The development team has noted these content control display issues (empty motions, extra lines) and treats them as minor bugs to refine. Filling in or removing unused fields is the immediate fix on the user side.
“No Download” Prompt in iPad Browsers for Attachments
1. Workaround: If using an iPad, we recommend using Safari for viewing attachments – it tends to handle the preview better (only requiring a tap to expand the PDF to full view). Chrome on iPad might force a download to properly view the PDF. This doesn’t affect editing Word docs, but if you’re reviewing agenda packages on a tablet, be aware of this. The documents themselves are fine; it’s just how the viewer displays them. Using Safari or downloading the file will show it correctly. This is more of an attachment viewer note than the editor itself.
Minor Cosmetic Differences in Edit Mode
- Issue: You might notice minor cosmetic issues in the editing interface that do not impact the final document. For example, a table gridline might not show as it does in Word, or an image might look slightly lower resolution when editing. These are generally not significant, but we list them to reassure you: the final output (View Mode or PDF) will be fine.
- Workaround: There’s usually no action needed. If something looks odd, use View Mode to double-check. In almost every case, these are just differences in how the web browser draws the content. If something looks drastically wrong in Edit Mode and View Mode, then it’s a genuine issue to address. But small visual quirks in Edit Mode alone can be ignored.

Finally, remember that eScribe and Microsoft are continuously updating the system. Many initial limitations have been or will be resolved through updates (for example, the ability to directly save a copy from the editor was added by Microsoft after our initial rollout). We are listening to customer feedback. If you run into an issue not listed here, please report it to our support team so it can be investigated. We aim to ensure that using Microsoft 365 for document editing is a smooth and efficient experience for all our users.

Summary of Known Issues & Solutions:

Issue	Symptoms	Workaround/Resolution
Multi-level list formatting	Nested bullets or numbers misaligned in final output.	Simplify list levels; verify and manually adjust final formatting if needed. Fix pending from development.
Phantom bookmark icon	Bookmark symbol visible in document online.	Remove hidden bookmark via Word Desktop (Insert > Bookmark) or ignore (it won’t print).
Pasting with source formatting	Text pasted retains original font/size, messing up document style.	Use Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + V to paste as plain text. This strips formatting. Then format text as needed in document.
Empty content control shows blank entry	Blank lines or labels (e.g., empty “Motion” in minutes) appear due to empty fields.	Delete unused fields or fill with placeholder (like “N/A”). Ensure templates don’t include unnecessary fields, or remove them in the document if not used.
Attachment preview on iPad (Safari/Chrome)	PDF attachment preview initially small or requires download.	Use Safari for better inline viewing on iPad. Tap “Download” if needed to open fully. (No issue on computer browsers.)
Minor edit-mode visual quirks	Small differences in how content looks while editing (e.g., line spacing, fonts)	Usually no action needed. Use View Mode to confirm true appearance. These do not affect saved output.

We hope this information helps you navigate any hiccups in the new system. The majority of users edit documents without encountering these issues, but if you do, you now have some strategies to handle them. As always, if an issue is blocking your work or not addressed by the above, reach out to eScribe support for assistance. Our goal is to continually improve the experience and address all known bugs in upcoming releases.