Can't Share Normal Template With Others

S

Suzanne

Using Word X for Mac (OS X), I've made a new normal (global) template
with two macros. Here at work all our Macs (all OS X) are joined by a
server. Each Mac needs to use this new normal template as their
(permanent) normal template, but the macros won't copy. I've read the
Help files and found the description of the problem ("Macros, AutoText
entries, and custom toolbar, menu, and shortcut key settings that I've
used are missing") but just don't understand what to do. The Organizer
doesn't list the macros, by the way.
Please walk me through this! Thanks, Suzanne
 
D

Daiya Mitchell

You should *not* try to share a normal template, opening yourself up to way
too many problems, plus Normal has a tendency to corrupt and you don't want
to be that dependent on it for the smooth running of your office.

Create a template, put the macros in it, and make it global by putting it in
every one's startup folder (local copies) or using Tools | Templates and
Add-Ins to "globalize it" (should be able to point it to the copy on the
server). Don't mess with the existing Normal templates. Macros (or AutoText
or toolbars/menus) definitely don't need to be in Normal anyhow.

The Organizer usually only lists Macro Projects, not individual macros.
What do you mean by "macros won't copy"?

More info:
word.mvps.org/macWordNew/macWordNormal.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)
http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/GlobalTemplate.htm
(hit refresh a few times in Safari, or use a different browser)

Post back if you have more questions.

DM
 
S

Suzanne

I don't think I made it clear. I have already asked each user to drag a
copy of the Normal template that I made onto their own hard drives
and into the Templates folder. It works great. The problem is the
macros. They don't seem to be a part of the I am really not well
versed in this area of Word.
When you write
Create a template, put the macros in it, and make it global by putting it in
every one's startup folder (local copies)

the macros don't appear as part of the Normal template. They're
"missing."

When you say
or using Tools | Templates and
Add-Ins to "globalize it" (should be able to point it to the copy on the
server).

I'm lost. I can't figure out how to "point it". What it? Sorry, I
really need my hand held through this. I don't get the lingo.
Don't mess with the existing Normal templates. Macros (or AutoText
or toolbars/menus) definitely don't need to be in Normal anyhow.

I'm afraid the macros do need to be part of the Normal template for
each user. It's just the way we have to have it set up in order that
our documents are consistent for the art department.
The Organizer usually only lists Macro Projects, not individual macros.
What do you mean by "macros won't copy"?

Just that they don't appear in the Organizer. How can I get the macros
I've written to "follow" the new Normal template everyone's going to be
using--once they drag it from my shared folder onto their hard drives?
Thanks,
Suzanne
 
D

Daiya Mitchell

Hi Suzanne,
If you read the two articles I suggested, I think they make it clearer than
I can how Word works, so I'll defer many of your questions to them, repost
if necessary.

But see below.
I don't think I made it clear. I have already asked each user to drag a
copy of the Normal template that I made onto their own hard drives
and into the Templates folder. It works great.

Yeah, it works great until Normal corrupts, then you have to redo it. Or
until you decide everyone needs a third macro and want to do it again, and
then people who added more customizations to their Normal in the meantime
are unhappy because you just overrode their customized Normal. It's doable,
just not best practice.

When you say "into the Templates folder"--did you name the file Normal? Did
it replace the existing Normal? How did you create the template in the
first place?
How can I get the macros
I've written to "follow" the new Normal template everyone's going to be
using--once they drag it from my shared folder onto their hard drives?
Macros don't really follow a template. They are saved in the template file,
the template acts as a container for them. You can use *either* a template
to install the macros somewhere, *or* use the Organizer to copy them from
template to template, but you don't need to do both. If you overrode
everyone's Normal template with your created Normal template, then you don't
need to mess with the Organizer at all. If you put your created template in
the Word Startup folder to make it a global template, you don't need to mess
with the Organizer at all. Word will automatically load the macros from
either Normal or any global template.

The Organizer only shows the contents of Normal, or templates that have
specifically been opened. Word will load and run macros in global templates
even if they do not show up in the Organizer because the global template is
closed.

Another possibility is that Word doesn't recognize anything pretending to be
Normal if Word didn't create it itself. Normal has special qualities,
creating a template and naming it Normal isn't the same as creating a Normal
template--though if you took your Word-generated Normal template and copied
it onto everyone's hard drive, Word would recognize that as a Normal (though
as I said, that's not a great long-term idea).

It's also possible that when you created the macros, they got saved into
your Normal (as is the default setting) and are not actually in the template
you are passing around, if that's a template you created from scratch.

Since I'm not clear on what you actually did, I can't quite say what the
problem is, but hopefully that and the suggested articles give you an
understanding of how it all fits together, at least to let you direct your
questions more specifically.
I'm afraid the macros do need to be part of the Normal template for
each user. It's just the way we have to have it set up in order that
our documents are consistent for the art department.

Normal has two separate tasks--to hold customizatons so that they are
available everywhere, and as a basis for new documents. If you want new
documents formatted in a certain way, then you have good reason for
demanding Normal have certain margins, certain default font, etc. But
putting macros in a global template instead of Normal still makes them
available everywhere to be used, and makes no difference to the consistency
of the document. I guess an AutoNew or AutoOpen macro might need to be kept
in Normal (I'll have to test that myself), but not any macro that provides
functions triggered after the fact.

Some lingo: Global templates are templates that are available
everywhere--Normal is a special type of global template. You can make
templates global by putting them in the Word Startup folder, OR by adding
the file, wherever it is, as a Global template via the Tools | Templates and
Add-ins dialog. If you look at the dialog that will make more sense.
Templates in the Templates folder are not global templates, except for
Normal.

Hope that helps,
DM
 
S

Suzanne

Okay, I'll read the links, but I can't resist replying to your very
informative post. Here's what I did to get to my confused state:
1. Went into the Normal template (hey, I thought Normal and global were
the same thing!) and removed all heading styles except for the default
ones they won't let you remove. I modified the default (i.e., normal)
font to be Arial 12 pt. Then I modified Headings 1-5 to Arial 18, 16,
14, 12bold, and 12bolditalic, and removed all others. Heading style
names can't be changed, so I just added an identifier that will be
familiar to our editors ("Heading 1,ChapHead", "Heading 2, Head A", and
so on). But I didn't save it in the Word Startup folder! I found a
Normal document in the Templates folder, so I just replaced theirs with
my new, stripped-down model. (BTW, I'm aware that if we use Track
Changes--which we do--Comments and Comments Reference styles, and maybe
others, will be created; that's okay.)
It appears from what you said that I put the darn thing in the wrong
folder. I should drag my new Normal from my Templates? or Word Startup?
folder. Which? That may solve the problem of the "missing" macros.
I will read the links...if this gets much more difficult to discuss
maybe you'd let me call you?
 
B

Beth Rosengard

Hi Suzanne,

Let me approach this a little differently and see if I can make it clearer.
First, the Normal template is a special kind of Global template but the two
are not synonymous. Word uses the Normal template as a scratch pad and
writes all kinds of things to it; that's one of the reasons it tends to
corrupt easily and that's why we advise people to keep their customizations
in Custom templates.

A Custom template is whatever you want it to be and it can be turned into a
Global template by (as Daiya explained) putting it in Word's Startup folder
or using Tools>Templates & Add-Ins to add it. (An Add-In is another term
for a Global template.

What you did was to modify your Normal template and then replace everyone
else's Normal templates with your modified version by putting it in each of
their My Templates folders. That will work BUT ... as Daiya noted, it is
not advisable since the Normal template has a bad habit of corrupting.

What you should do is create a Custom template, name it something like "Lark
Template" and then "globalize" it as above. To do so you open a new
document, customize it as you wish and then save it as a template. It will
automatically be saved to your My Templates folder. Then turn it into a
Global template and repeat for everyone else.

One last step: You need to instruct everyone that whenever they need to
open a new document, they must open the Project Gallery, select the "Lark
Template" and open a new document from it. You should be able to do this
using a macro which could be called by a keyboard shortcut or added to
everyone's toolbars. In other words, instead of clicking on the new
document icon, everyone would click on the "Lark" icon.

Hope this helps.

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>
 
S

Suzanne

Wow! That's pretty clear. One question: will the macros go with it?
Okay, maybe two: this Lark Template idea is great for new documents.
But all "old" (existing) docs, created by authors--or even
in-house--must have every previous style, AutoFormat, Symbol font,
etc., etc. stripped off and the Arial Master Plan I described in an
earlier post applied to it. This is necessary, as I've explained,
because Quark will be handling the text later. We've run some tests,
and this is what we need. Clean docs!
To top it off, I really, really need to make all this super-simple for
everyone to use. That's why I recorded macros. One strips bulleted and
numbered lists and makes everything flush left. The other copies all
the stripped text into a new doc which in order to be able to use the
new (Arial Master Plan) Normal template attributes. And we work with
dozens of files for each book, so a "manual"
cut-and-paste-and-copy-and-new doc isn't practical.Clunky, I know, but
the best I could do on my own.
Wish I'd found this group before I made the presentation this morning!
I hate to have to change what I told them to do (drag a copy of the
Normal template into your Word Templates folder), but the macros aren't
working anyway. Oh dear.

Suzanne
 
D

Daiya Mitchell

Quick questions--from what you said you did, that should have worked to
replace everyone's Normal. You *should* be seeing the macros in the
Organizer.

1) When people start a new blank document, does it have the heading
definitions you set in the Normal that you rolled out to everyone?

2) If you open up the Organizer on your computer, and click on Macro
Project Items, what do you see in the list?

3) If you open up Tools | Macros on your computer, do you see the names of
the macros that you created? Do the macro names show up in Tools | Macros
on anyone else's computer?

DM
 
P

Paul Berkowitz

Off-topic commentŠ

Might I suggest that in future news postings you type a blank line every
once in a while to create paragraphs? (What in the world is your news reader
"G2/0.2" anyway?) That unreconstructed wadge of text you send is almost
unreadable - sorry, but it is. Of course it's not like Word where you may
have some 'space after' paragraphs - there's no such thing in plain text
news or email. You need to make the demarcations manually by typing two
Returns, not one. Thank you.

Please make life easier for those trying to read your messages by separating
text into clearly marked paragraphs. You're very lucky that neither Daiya
nor Beth was deterred.

--
Paul Berkowitz
MVP MacOffice
Entourage FAQ Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org/faq/index.html>
AppleScripts for Entourage: <http://macscripter.net/scriptbuilders/>

Please "Reply To Newsgroup" to reply to this message. Emails will be
ignored.

PLEASE always state which version of Microsoft Office you are using -
**2004**, X or 2001. It's often impossible to answer your questions
otherwise.
 
B

Beth Rosengard

Hi Suzanne,

Let me correct something I said in my last post. If you create a custom
"Lark Template," you do not need to "globalize" it. Just put a copy of it
in everyone's My Templates folder and make sure they use it for company
business.

As for why your Normal template with macros isn't working properly, I can't
say. Check Daiya's post, if you haven't already, for help diagnosing that
problem. You might also try a simple experiment: Create a "Test" custom
template with one macro in it. Open the Project Gallery and create a
document from it. Does the macro work? Assuming it does, then you
shouldn't have any trouble creating your "Lark Template" with the macros
you've described and then distributing it.

Now, as for how to get your macros to work with old documents ... I think
I'll leave that to someone who has more experience with macros than I do
:).

--
***Please always reply to the newsgroup!***

Beth Rosengard
Mac MVP

Mac Word FAQ: <http://word.mvps.org/MacWordNew/index.htm>
Entourage Help Page: <http://www.entourage.mvps.org>
 
S

Suzanne

Hi DM,

In answer to your questions:

1) When people start a new blank document, does it have the heading
definitions you set in the Normal that you rolled out to everyone?

Yes, the definitions are available to all.

2) If you open up the Organizer on your computer, and click on Macro
Project Items, what do you see in the list?

Only an item called NewMacros (not mine; must be default). My two
items, "Styler" and "RemoveNumList" aren't in copies of my Normal
template that are on others' computers--only on my HD.

3) If you open up Tools | Macros on your computer, do you see the names
of
the macros that you created?

Yes, they're there.

Do the macro names show up in Tools | Macros
on anyone else's computer?
One computer has one macro; another has none.
 
D

Daiya Mitchell

Hi Suzanne,

I don't know, I'm rather stumped.
1) When people start a new blank document, does it have the heading
definitions you set in the Normal that you rolled out to everyone?

Yes, the definitions are available to all.
Which suggests it is loading properly...presumably Word was quit while the
Normal switch happened, and has since been relaunched. That's always a good
thing to try, anyhow.
2) If you open up the Organizer on your computer, and click on Macro
Project Items, what do you see in the list?

Only an item called NewMacros (not mine; must be default). My two
items, "Styler" and "RemoveNumList" aren't in copies of my Normal
template that are on others' computers--only on my HD.
Unless you changed it deliberately, Styler and RemoveNumList are saved
inside the NewMacros project, which is the default module to contain macros.
3) If you open up Tools | Macros on your computer, do you see the names
of
the macros that you created?
That's how to test whether the macros are loaded, since Organizer is not
specific.
Yes, they're there.
Do the macro names show up in Tools | Macros
on anyone else's computer?
One computer has one macro; another has none.
*Very strange.* Tools | Macros has a dropdown below the pane of macro
names, to change the listings of "macros in." Does changing that make any
difference?

On your computer, make sure both macros show up when you have the "macros
in" set to Normal, to confirm that your macros really got saved to your
Normal.

You could also try going into the Visual Basic Editor (Tools | Macros,
Visual Basic Editor, I think) and looking for the macros, on one of the
other computers.

If none of that helps, and you've confirmed the macros are in your Normal, I
would try making a copy of your Normal template (with the macros), naming it
(eg) LarkGlobal, and putting it on someone's computer to test if you can get
it to work a different way: Quit Word, put LarkGlobal in
/Applications/Microsoft Office X/Office/Startup/Word/, restart Word. That
should load the macros from the global template. To see if they are there,
go to Tools | Macros and set the dropdown "macros in" to "all active
documents and templates" or to "LarkGlobal".

Daiya
 
S

Suzanne

*Very strange.* Tools | Macros has a dropdown below the pane of macro
names, to change the listings of "macros in." Does changing that make
any
difference?

As a matter of fact, no it doesn't. The two macros appear in Normal and
Normal (global).

On your computer, make sure both macros show up when you have the
"macros
in" set to Normal, to confirm that your macros really got saved to your
Normal.

Yes, they really did.

You could also try going into the Visual Basic Editor (Tools | Macros,
Visual Basic Editor, I think) and looking for the macros, on one of the
other computers.

If none of that helps, and you've confirmed the macros are in your
Normal, I
would try making a copy of your Normal template (with the macros),
naming it
(eg) LarkGlobal, and putting it on someone's computer to test if you
can get
it to work a different way: Quit Word, put LarkGlobal in
/Applications/Microsoft Office X/Office/Startup/Word/, restart Word.
That
should load the macros from the global template. To see if they are
there,
go to Tools | Macros and set the dropdown "macros in" to "all active
documents and templates" or to "LarkGlobal".

Very good suggestion. I did this one one computer and both macros came
along, and function fine. On another computer neither did. So I
restarted the computer and repeated. No go.

I'm thinking of going another route, to simplify (based on our IT
people's recommendations). Convert existing docs with MacLinkPlus to
plain, then apply styles.
It's the inconsistency that bugs me most!

Thanks, ST
 

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