formatting word document

[powerBoy]

i have to reset all the margins whenever i open a new document.

can the new document just stick to a certain format which i already
set? how?

please advice.

 

[The Criminal]

i have to reset all the margins whenever i open a new document.

can the new document just stick to a certain format which i already
set? how?

please advice.

Set everything you want in a normal blank document, and save it as
normal.dot in the templates folder.

 

[Michel Bintener]

Set everything you want in a normal blank document, and save it as
normal.dot in the templates folder.

Not exactly; on a Mac, the Normal file is called Normal, not Normal.dot, and
for Office 2004, Normal is no longer saved in the Templates folder, but in
the Microsoft User Data folder. If the original poster only wants to change
the margins, the easiest thing to do would be to launch Word (which version,
by the way?), open a new blank document and then go to Format>Document. In
the Margins section of that dialogue, apply your margin settings, then click
on the Default button in the lower left corner when you're done. Quit Word
to make it save the changes to the default Normal template, and when you
relaunch Word, every new document should have your modified margin settings.

 

[Daiya Mitchell]

Set everything you want in a normal blank document, and save it as
normal.dot in the templates folder.

No, do *not* do that, please. The Normal template (which is not called
Normal.dot on the Mac, but simply Normal) has special properties, and you
should not attempt to make your own. Rather, you should always let Word
create a Normal template--by quitting Word and moving Normal. Word will
create a fresh new Normal on launch if it cannot find one.

Then make changes to the existing Normal. As Michel said, the best way is
through the Default... Buttons in various dialogs. Or you can open up
Normal and make changes to it.

For instance, a self-created Normal.dot will not have any of the default
AutoText entries. I'm not sure what the other problems may be, but Word is
so dependent on Normal that I'm just a bit superstitious about messing with
it when it isn't necessary, and in fact makes life more difficult.

(slight repeat from Michel, sorry, but I wanted to emphasize the point)