Topic: Templates

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Batch Template Changes Changing the Template on a couple of documents is easy, but what if a whole directory needs to be changed? This VBA macro will do it very quickly. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Changing the Attached Template Templates, when attached to a document, can greatly affect how that document looks. You can change from one template to another at any time, as described in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Continually Saving Normal.dot If your Normal.dot file is continually saved when you exit Word, even when you haven’t made any changes to it, the culprit could be other programs you have operating on your system. This tip explains what you can do to help track down the problem. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Creating a Boilerplate Document If you have several boilerplate documents you need to routinely use in Word, then you should learn how to use templates. They can provide just the functionality and flexibility you need. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Determining Which Template is Attached to a Document If you’ve opened a document in Word, that document has a template attached to it. This tip looks at what those templates do and shows you how you can figure out which template is actually attached to the document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Disappearing Macro Menus Word is quite versatile in how you can customize it. You can add all sorts of macros to menus, but doing so may cause problems down the road. For instance, what do you do if your menus suddenly disappear? This tip discusses possible causes and how you can deal with this problem. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Editing a Template Templates are blueprints for how new documents should appear. If you want to edit a template, you load it in much the same manner as you do a regular document; this tip explains how. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Finding Where Templates Are Stored If you want to load a template, it is helpful to figure out where it is stored. Here's how to figure it out. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Fixing Persistent Template Corruption Do your templates seem to periodically become corrupted? Here’s a discussion of what can cause this and how you can fix it. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Getting Rid of Persistent Templates Word uses an open interface that allows add-ons and other programs to expand the way that Word works. Sometimes remnants of a removed program can remain behind in Word, causing problems. This tip discusses how you can search for an remove any vestiges of the old program from Word itself. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

How Word Treats Normal.dot Beginning with Word 2002, Microsoft changed the way in which the Normal.dot file functions in Word. This change somewhat diminished the role that the template plays, but you can still utilize the template to do what you want if you remember how to create it in the first place. Microsoft Word versions: 2002 | 2003

Inserting the Template Name in Your Document Templates are a powerful part of the Word experience, as they allow you to create and format documents based on patterns. Every document has an associated template, and you can insert the name of that template in the document itself by using a special field designed for that purpose. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Opening a Template If you have a template stored on disk, you can open it and make changes to it just as you do other documents. This tip explains, in detail, how to open a template file. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Preventing Changes to Styles in Documents If you’ve spent quite a bit of time setting up styles for a document or template, you know that it is aggravating if someone changes those styles. It is impossible to “lock” styles so they cannot be changed, but this tip explores a few ways you can protect the styles and reduce your stress level. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Protect Your Document Templates If you want to protect your templates from accidental changes, the best way to do so is by using Windows instead of Word. This tip provides step-by-step instructions on how to make a template read-only, so it can’t be changed. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Protecting Styles If you spend a lot of time getting your document styles set “just right,” you don’t want to take the chance that they will be corrupted through regular editing tasks. As this tip explains, the best way to protect your styles is to make sure you only paste plain text in your document. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Recovered Document becomes Default Word tries to help you recover unsaved files when the program runs into a problem. Sometimes recovering the files can mess up your document template, however, so that your recovered text is shown in the place of what should be new, blank documents. This tip explains why this can happen and provides a couple of ways you can correct the problem. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Recovering Macros and AutoText Entries from Normal.dot Many of your custom configurations of Word—most notably macros and AutoText entries—are stored in the Normal.dot template. When you try to move these entries from one system to another, you could run into problems. This tip explains what to do if trying to transfer macros and AutoText entries causes your system to hang. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Saving a Template with a Preview Word allows you to save templates so that they contain a preview that is useful when later creating a document based on that template. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Starting with a Different Template Don't want Word to start by using the Normal.dot template? This tip explains how to start using a different template. Microsoft Word versions: 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Startup Template Changes How to start Word with different templates for different purposes. Microsoft Word versions: 6 | 95 | 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

Templates and Page Setup Templates are a great way to share styles, macros, and other settings among various documents. One thing that isn’t shared through templates, however, is page setup. If you want to have this shared, you’ll love the macro presented in this tip. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Understanding Templates Templates are used to store a pattern for how a document should look. As such, they can be a very powerful tool for creating new documents in Word. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

What Changes Did I Make In That Template? When you make changes that affect a template, Word usually asks you if you want to save those changes when you exit the program. If you see such a question and you don’t remember making changes, then you should be wary. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Word Won't Take 'No' for an Answer If you choose to exit Word and it asks you if you want to save changes to your Normal.dot template, it can be very confusing if Word refuses to take “no” for your answer. This tip examines this problem and proposes some possible solutions. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003 | 2007

Working on Shared Templates Templates are a great way to implement consistency across a range of documents. For this reason, templates are used extensively in departments and companies, with common templates usually stored on a shared network drive. These shared templates, since they are normally always in use, are sometimes hard to change and update directly. This tip explains some ways you can get at and change your shared templates, when necessary. Microsoft Word versions: 97 | 2000 | 2002 | 2003

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