macro keyboard shortcuts in normal.dotm

[Chuckmg]

I have long used shortcuts for simple macros: e.g., Alt+Ctrl+D = Date, Alt-T
= Time, etc. Now in Word 2007 I can't get these to work in normal.dotm.
They will work in a particular xxx.docx, but even though it indicates that
the customized shortcut is being placed in normal.dotm, it will not work in
normal.dotm or in any other doc. I have also installed the shortcut in
normal.dotm, but it doesn't even work there. Am very confused.

Chuck

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

FWIW, there's a built-in shortcut for the date: Alt+Shift+D.

 

[Terry Farrell]

Would you tell us what steps you are using to save an assigned shortcut?

 

[Chuckmg]

Thanks Suzanne. But with the built-in Alt-Shift-D, I can't specify the
format desired.

Chuck

 

[Suzanne S. Barnhill]

Well, yes, you can. In the Insert | Date and Time dialog, you select a
format and then click Default.... From then on, that format will be used by
the shortcut. And of course, since it inserts a field, you can modify the
field code as desired.

 

[Chuckmg]

Terry,

I have a macro called NewEntry which sets the style and creates a date in
the form "Sunday, November 09, 2008". When I run the macro it works fine.
I then go to Word Options > Customize > Keyboard shortcuts: Customize. Then
to Macros category, hightlight NewEntry, enter Alt+Ctrl+D, and assign. In
general, it doesn't work ... either when I enter it in the document or in
the dotm template.

There is one exception. I have an old word doc, my daily journal, in which
the shortcuts work fine. And!! ... not all of the shortcuts that work are
assigned in the document! Utter confusion!!

Chuck

 

[Terry Farrell]

The symptoms suggest that your daily journal is really a template and not a
document, so macros are being saved there instead of with normal.dot. Was
your journal ever a template? In Word, once a template, always a template.
The only way to change a template into a document is to open a new document
from the template: changing the extension from .dot to a .doc does nothing
and Word will still see it as a template regardless of the exention.

Terry

 

[Chuckmg]

Terry,

You're great!!! ... and right on the money! Many thanks ... wished I'd
asked sooner instead of spending the time trying to debug it myself.

Cheers,
Chuck

 

[Chuckmg]

Thanks, Suzanne, I never thought about doing it that way. Live and learn!

Chuck