Hello Rafael,
I put my "If you're still reading down this far" tip on my signature block
after seeing so many tales of woe from people who were left high and dry
through not having backed up their Normal template and, particularly, their
settings files. It isn't discussed much and it's something that as
individuals we tend not to realize until it's too late.
Why are these files so critical? You asked for it, so sit back and hear my
rant!...
Word is by far the most complex of commonly available software. Sometimes it
confuses itself*, and that confusion is most often seen in the Normal
template, which is intended to be the "scratch-pad" for each user.
Corruptions in the Normal template not only can make Word unstable, they can
be passed on to every document you create.
* [A shamelessly non-technical explanation, or more accurately a careless
paraphrasing of an eloquent and detailed account by John McGhie that I can't
find right now.]
Things go wrong with one of several settings files, described below.
By having a back-up strategy I haven't lost any of my work since moving to
Word 2001 two years ago. (Please note that in the following notes, some
references, especially to system matters, may be different if you're in OS
X.)
1. WHY YOU SHOULD BACK UP THE NORMAL TEMPLATE
A common solution to some problems is to quit Word and trash the Normal
template. Then when you open Word up again, Word discovers it isn't there,
and creates a new Normal template, which will not carry the fault of the
previous one (of course, the fault may turn out not to be in the template --
which is why it's best not to actually trash the Normal template but to
rename it to something else while you do this procedure).
If it turns out not to be the Normal template at fault, many people prefer
to revert to their earlier Normal template (by renaming back again) because
they want to retain the alterations they have made -- i.e., away from the
original default configuration of the Normal template when they started Word
up for the very first time.
For that reason, some people get into the habit of backing up their Normal
template quite often. That way, if you botch something up, you can always go
back to the last version that worked perfectly. Ideally, it's best to start
backing these up immediately after first installing Word on your Mac.
(When quitting Word after carrying out modifications to the Normal
template, you will be asked if you want to save the template if you have
put a tick in the box in Edit menu -> Preferences -> "Save" tab.)
2. ... AND OTHER SETTINGS FILES
While you're backing up the Normal template, it's worthwhile to back up the
settings files too so you can go back to any configuration you choose
without having to rebuild your AutoCorrect entries, customized toolbars etc
-- which can take a long time.
Here's the full list of the ones I back up (this is for Word 2001, but you
can make the leap from X, I'm sure):
* the Normal template in the Microsoft Office 2001 folder -> Templates,
* any other templates you may deliberately set up (usually Microsoft Office
2001 -> Templates -> My Templates), and
* the following files in System Folder -> Preferences -> Microsoft:
- Word Settings (9), <- or "10", "8" etc for Word X, 98 etc
- Microsoft Component Preferences,
- Microsoft Office settings (9), <- ditto
- Proofing Tool preferences,
- MS Office ACL [English], and
- the Custom Dictionary.
You should keep the backups without over-writing them with more recent
backups. Adding the date to the title of the file is the easiest way.
Make sure you save the backups to something other than your main hard disc
(e.g. to a CD) and store them well away from your computer, free from risk
of fire and theft. Apart from on-going backups while I work on a document, I
do two backups, one of which I store in a shed in the garden and one (a
week-older set) at my son's place.
3. WHAT THE FILES CONTAIN
The Normal template (and any other templates you may have deliberately
created) contains, among other things:
* macros,
* styles,
* keystroke assignments,
* custom toolbars,
* AutoText entries, and
* formatted AutoCorrect entries.
The file "MS Office ACL [English]" stores unformatted AutoCorrect entries.
Word Settings (9) files contain a small number of things like most recently
used files, printer defaults, background save options, etc. (It also
contains information from the system as well as information about Word,
which is why I rebuild my desktop quite frequently to ensure that the file
contains current information about the system.) <-(May not be necessary in
OS X.)
4. CUSTOMIZED TEMPLATES ALLOW INTENSIVE USERS TO USE WORD MORE EFFECTIVELY
Now for something extra, if you use Word intensively.
J.E. McGimpsey, in this newsgroup, described his practice thus:
"... I almost never create a document based on the Normal template. With
rare exceptions, I create templates for a class of documents, and base
documents on that template. I have a couple of templates for my personal
correspondence, a suite of templates for my business, and a whole raft of
templates for my non-profit work (including templates I use to turn
newsletters etc., into web pages)."
I do exactly the same as J.E. I have a button on a toolbar that allows me
to quickly attach a document to a template or check which template an
existing document is attached to. You'll see more info on pages 28, 63 and
68 of "Bend Word to your Will", some notes on the way I use Word,
downloadable at
www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/Bend/BendWord.htm
If you use customized templates most of the time, you tend not to modify the
Normal template but to leave it literally as your scratchpad. Having
customized templates instead of the Normal template for documents of a
particular type gives me more flexibility, in that the template is designed
around the requirements of say, one client, or in my case one type of
strategic plan. Like so many things in Word, it's quite easy to actually
*do* once you realize you need it and realize the capability is there -- and
when you end up doing it you wonder how on earth you managed in the past.
A minor advantage of attaching documents to customized templates is that
you're asked whether you want to save the changes made to your template on
the first occasion you save the document after making changes to the
template, rather than when you quit for the Normal template.
Commands, toolbars etc etc are very easily transferred between these
templates, whereas customizations of default toolbars made in a Normal
template can't be transferred -- another point of limitation.
5. MORE INFO
Some discussion on whether to alter (= simplify, to save screen space)
toolbars for new documents (= reliant on the Normal template), or whether to
supplement them with other toolbars, is on page 28 et seq. of "Bend Word to
your Will".
Notes on what to do if you have a damaged Normal template start on page 35
of "Bend Word to your Will".
["Bend Word to your Will" is 120 pages long -- but don't let that bother
you. It's best to read the 12-page introduction because it has some
important info in it but -- apart from one narrative section on styles --
the document is in dictionary form, with lots of hyperlinked
cross-references. In addition to the table of contents, which is
hyperlinked, the best way to get hold of a topic is to use the Find
command.]
Hmm, a bit long-winded, and maybe more than you wanted to read about -- but
someone lurking might find it useful. And it's a rainy Sunday afternoon in
Canberra, I'm just starting to recover from a virus that's had me in its
grip for three weeks, and I'm bored witless with reading...
Cheers,
Clive Huggan
* Please post all comments to the newsgroup for the benefit of others who
may be interested.
* Remove "the" from my address above if you need to send an e-mail to me
directly (although that would be exceptional). Please note that e-mails
with an attachment will be automatically rejected.
============================================================
Hi Clive,
Thanks for all the good book leads.
Re: "...is it time for you to back up your Normal template and all your
Word settings?"
What is so critical about these two items.
Incidentally, Beth Rosengard had me recreate (?) both these items and that
may be the fix for a problem I am having with word characters and format
getting jumbled up. NG Topic: "Help: Word 98 for Mac: Characters Bunch Up &
Overlap".
Rafael
From: Clive Huggan <
[email protected]>
Newsgroups: microsoft.public.mac.office.word
Date: Sat, 11 Oct 2003 13:25:08 +1000
Subject: Re: Is there a bloody manual for Word X on OS X?
Nick,
I don't use Word X yet; someone else may nominate an advanced X-specific
publication in another post. But depending on whether there is an
expert-level book for X, the following will be useful to a greater or lesser
degree:
Books ‹ Word/Office for Mac
"Macworld Microsoft Office [year] Bible", Bob LeVitus and Dennis R. Cohen,
Hungry Minds Inc., is an example of a good reference book if you want to go
beyond the "quick guide" level. In a similar vein is "Office 2001 for
Macintosh: the Missing Manual", Nan Barber and David Reynolds, Pogue
Press/O'Reilly Associates.
Books ‹ Word for Windows
Books on Word for Windows are more comprehensive than Word for Mac books.
There are not many major differences beyond the appearance of the
interfaces.
The more detailed manuals available include Word for Windows manuals such as
Que Corporation's "Using Word [year]" series, which is very good.
"Word Pocket Guide", Walter Glenn, O'Reilly & Associates is a condensed,
well-written, mainly question-based book for people who aspire to be
intermediate or advanced users of Word.
"Taming Microsoft Word" is a good book available in PDF form from the
website of the author, Jean Weber
(
http://www.jeanweber.com/books/tameword.htm). Price is $15.00 Australian
(about $7 US). Again, don't be concerned that it's for the Windows versions.
Make sure you download the Word 2000 version, though, not 2002, if you're
using Word X.
Book recommendations by the Word newsgroup gurus are at:
http://www.mvps.org/word/Tutorials/BookRecommendations.htm
Bear in mind one disadvantage of most books about Word: possibly out of
perceived or actual commercial pressures, they rarely discuss bad features
and problems, especially ones that are persistent or wide-ranging in their
effects. Newsgroups are the place to learn about Word warts-and-all.
Some of the articles in the MVP newsgroup are excellent -- for some details,
see my post a couple of hours ago under the thread "Word thinks some styles
are headings". You may also find some useful info in notes about the way I
use Word 2001 (again, don't be bothered by its being a different version
from X), called "Bend Word to your Will", at
www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/WordMac/Bend/BendWord.htm
-- Clive Huggan
* Please post all comments to the newsgroup for the benefit of others who
may be interested.
* Remove "the" from my address above if you need to send an e-mail to me
directly (although that would be exceptional). Please note that e-mails
with an attachment will be automatically rejected.
* If anyone is still reading down this far, here's a question: is it time
for you to back up your Normal template and all your Word settings? (This
should be on a medium other than the internal hard drive and, to protect
against theft and fire, stored in a different building.)
============================================================
Hey All,
I'm trying to find out if there is any decent paper manual for Word X
on Mac OS X. I can't seem to find anything that is for a moderate (but
needs
to be an advanced) user. Most of the stuff out there is for "dummies"
stuff.
I need a book that assumes I have an IQ a little larger than a stone.
Thanks,
Nick
