Word Templates

Thanks to The Office Letter for this article

Word templates can be created for any type of document you use frequently. Templates let you get the "look" of a document just right -- set the margins, specify headers and footers, create macros, set up styles, define AutoText entries, and store toolbars. After you save the document template, you create new documents based on this template and the margins, headers/footers, macros, styles, AutoText definitions, and toolbars are set for you. No more reinventing the wheel!Besides saving time, templates provide consistency in the look of your documents by serving as a model for the documents you create using them. For example, since you can store graphics and text in a template, you can create a template for new memoranda. In your memo template you can store a company logo (as well as determine its position on a page), "To", "From", and "Subject" lines, and a signature block. When you create a new memo based on this template, all you need to do is fill in the contents -- the layout and boilerplate text is already taken care of.

Templates also let you specify the editing environment for documents. For instance, when creating a proposal, you might want to use a different set of buttons on your toolbar(s). Some of these buttons could call up macros that you only use for proposals; ordinarily they'd clutter up your standard toolbar and you only want to execute them when working with proposals. Other buttons (Insert Hyperlink, for example) will never be used in a proposal, so you wouldn't want to waste toolbar space with such a button when creating or editing proposals. A special template for proposals provides a simple way of having a customized toolbar appear only when you work with proposals; your standard toolbar is unchanged and available for all other documents.

Another advantage of using a template is that when creating a document based on the template, you can't accidentally alter the underlying template. If you create a proposal based on your proposal template and change a font style, the document text is changed but the template remains untouched. It's possible to change the template, of course; the point is that you can't accidentally change your template if you're editing a document based on the template.

BUILT-IN TEMPLATES

Word already contains several predefined templates, the most familiar of which is Normal.dot. As you can see, templates have a special file extension (.dot for DOcument Template) instead of .DOC (for DOCument). When you choose "Blank Document" from the File/New command, Word uses the page layout, styles, and other settings in Normal.dot when it creates your document. Even though you don't explicitly tell Word you want to use a template, you're using one! Normal.dot is so fundamental to Word that if you accidentally move or delete it, Word creates a new Normal template, using the standard document formats, menu, toolbar, and shortcut key settings that are assigned when you first installed Word).

Word also has some preset templates that are available by choosing the File/New command. In Office 97 and 2000, the Template dialog box will appear; click on the various tabs to explore the available templates. In 2002, choose General Templates in the "New from existing document" section of the Document pane.

Microsoft also has additional templates available at:

http://officeupdate.microsoft.com/templategallery/default.asp

CREATING A DOCUMENT TEMPLATE

You can base your new template on one of three things:

1. An existing document (for example, one formatted close to how you want your new template to be). Warning: if you choose this option, use the Tools/Options command, click on the File Locations tab, and write down the folder location (note the ENTIRE PATH) for the User Templates entry. You'll need it in step 5 below.

2. A blank document (typically a plain everyday document, based on Normal.dot by default). In Word 97, 2000: use the File/New command and choose Blank Document. In Word 2002, click on the Blank Document link in the Document pane

3. An existing template (you select the template you want to clone and then tweak it a little). Use the File/New command. In Word 97 and 2000, select an existing template (from one of the template tabs), choose the Template option in the "Create New" section, and click on OK. In Word 2002, click on the General Templates link in the "New from template" section of the New Document pane, select a template, select the Template option in the "Create New" section, and click on OK

Of course, Normal.dot is also a template, so using a blank document as your source (option 2) is really just a special case of option 3.

STEPS FOR SUCCESS

1. Open an existing document, a blank document, or an existing template.

2. Make the adjustments you want: choose different page format options, add signature blocks, create AutoText entries, and so on. If you are working with an existing document, remove all the text and graphics other than the objects you want included in new documents. Any styles you create or modify need special care. See note below.

3. When the options are exactly how you want them, use the File/Save As command.

4. At the bottom of the Save As dialog box you'll see the "Save as type" option. Choose "Document Template (*.dot)". (If you are creating a template based on a blank document or existing template, the option is pre-selected and unchangeable.)

5. If you used an existing document as the basis for your new template, navigate to the location of the default templates directory (the one we told you you'd need). If you built your template from a Blank Document or another template, Word automatically displays the Templates folder. (You can change this location; see Template Locations discussion below.)

6. Name your template and choose Save.

CAUTION: STYLES IN TEMPLATES

As you will see throughout this series, styles require special handling in templates. In Word 97 and 2000, if you are adding or creating a style in your template, you'll use the Format/Style command, then choose New or Modify. This is the same command sequence you'd use if you were creating or modifying a style in a regular document.

In Word 2002, you'll use the Format/Styles and Formatting command, then right-click the drop-down box underneath "Formatting of selected text", choose New Style or choose Modify.

No matter which version of Word you use, you'll need to be ABSOLUTELY SURE to check the "Add to template" check box in the New Style or Modify Style dialog box. Otherwise, the style will NOT be added to the template.

USING YOUR TEMPLATE

To create a document using your template:

1. Use the File/New command.

2. In Word 97 and Word 2000 you will see your template on the General tab. In Word 2002, you can find your template by choosing General Templates in the "New from existing document" section of the Document pane. (Note: if you saved your template in a folder other than the default folder, your template will reside on the tab matching the folder's name. See Template Locations discussion below.)

3. Select the template you want to use (click once on its icon).

4. In the lower right corner of the Templates dialog box you'll see a "Create New" section. Be sure the New Document option is selected.

5. If you don't expect the underlying template will ever change, move on to Step 6. If you think you might make changes to the template sometime in the future, take a simple precaution now. Use the Tools/Templates and Add-Ins command. In the Document section at the top of the dialog box, check the "Automatically update document styles" box, then click on OK. This ensures that future style changes in the template will be reflected in the current document.

6. Create your document. When you are done, save it with the familiar .doc file extension.

TEMPLATE LOCATIONS

When you create a new template, it is stored in the default templates folder. (You can find the location using the Tools/Options command; select the File Locations tab and look for the "User templates" entry.) You may wish to segregate your templates by placing them in other directories. For example, if you have a meeting agenda template and a meeting minutes template, you can locate these templates into a folder named Meetings.

Here's how:

Instead of saving your document in the default templates folder (Step 5 in Creating a Document Template, above), create a new folder under the default templates folder, then save your template to this new folder. Be sure to use a short folder name, such as "Meetings."

When you create a new document from a template, you'll now see a tab with a name matching the folder name you assigned.  In our example, you'll find a tab named Meetings. If you move templates between any of these custom folders, template icons are automatically placed on the proper tab when you use the File/New command.

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